Editing Flintlock mechanism (section)

==Flints==
[[File:19th century knowledge primitive tools gun flint knapper at work.PNG|thumb|right|An 1879 illustration showing Brandon gun flint knappers at work]]
[[File:John L knapping gunflints.jpg|thumb|Making a gun flint by hand, by [[knapping]], 2014]]

A ''gun flint'' is a piece of [[flint]] that has been shaped, or [[Knapping|knapped]] into a wedge-shape that fits in the jaws of a flintlock. The gun flints were wrapped in a small piece of lead or leather (known as a ''flint pad'') to hold them firmly in place<ref name="flintlockFAQ" /><ref name="Gunsandshooting">{{cite web | url=http://www.chuckhawks.com/flintlocks.htm | title=Flintlocks: How to Shoot Them | publisher=GUNS AND SHOOTING ONLINE Muzzleloader and Black Powder Information | access-date=16 August 2015 | author=Vallandigham, Paul | archive-date=25 August 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150825175122/http://www.chuckhawks.com/flintlocks.htm | url-status=live }}</ref> and were made in different sizes to suit different weapons.<ref name="whittaker" /> Pieces of the mineral [[agate]] could be used instead of flint, but this was difficult and expensive to shape and only used by countries such as [[Prussia]] that were without access to flint deposits.<ref name="white" />

The experience of modern flintlock shooters shows that a good quality flint can be used for hundreds of shots, although for reliable shooting it must be sharpened periodically.<ref name="flintlockFAQ">{{cite book | url=http://home.insightbb.com/~bspen/flintlockfaq.html#10 | title=FLINTLOCK FAQ Beginners Guide to Flintlock Shooting | author=Finch, Brad | year=1997 | access-date=2015-08-16 | archive-date=2015-02-18 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150218033956/http://home.insightbb.com/~bspen/flintlockfaq.html#10 | url-status=live }}</ref> The use of a worn flint could also be continued if it was removed from the gun and replaced the other way up.<ref name="Austin2011" /> Despite this, it was the British practice to include a new flint in each box of 20 rounds of ammunition for the [[Brown Bess]] musket.<ref name="Gunsandshooting" /> Contemporary American military manuals suggested a flint could last for around 50 shots, but the American military followed the British practice of supplying soldiers with one flint per 20 rounds. Archaeological investigation of American military sites shows soldiers discarded flints after very little use, suggesting they preferred new flints to ensure the reliability of their weapons.<ref name="Austin2011" /> A skilled craftsman could make several thousand gun flints a day<ref name="whittaker">{{cite journal | url=http://web.grinnell.edu/anthropology/Faculty/JohnWhittaker/Articles/2001_The_Oldest_British.pdf | title=The Oldest British Industry: continuity and obsolescence in a flintknapper's sample set | author=Whittaker, John | journal=Antiquity | year=2001 | volume=75 | issue=288 | pages=382–90 | doi=10.1017/s0003598x00061032 | s2cid=163235035 | access-date=2015-08-18 | archive-date=2020-04-28 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428192652/http://web.grinnell.edu/anthropology/Faculty/JohnWhittaker/Articles/2001_The_Oldest_British.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Austin2011" /> so they were individually quite cheap items.

In times of war, millions of gun flints were needed and in the United Kingdom, mining flint and then knapping it became a substantial cottage industry around [[Brandon, Suffolk]], an area that previously saw large scale flint mining in the [[Neolithic]] area.<ref name="QuinnFelix2012">{{cite book|author1=Tom Quinn|author2=Paul Felix|title=Book of Forgotten Crafts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Njkq3fmYUvIC&pg=PT202|date=1 April 2012|publisher=David & Charles|isbn=978-1-4463-5399-8|pages=202}}</ref> In 1804, Brandon was supplying over 400,000 flints a month to the British military.<ref name="whittaker" />  However flint knappers suffered from [[silicosis]], known as ''Knappers Rot'' due to the inhalation of flint dust.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Knapper's Rot, Silicosis in East Anglian Flint Knappers | author=Batty Shaw, A | journal=Medical History | year=1981 | volume=25 | issue=2 | pages=151–168 | doi=10.1017/s0025727300034359 | pmid=7012479 | pmc=1139012}}</ref> It has been claimed this was responsible for the early death of three-quarters of Brandon gun flint makers.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ancientcraft.co.uk/Flintknapping/Flintknapping.html#Health | title=Basic Tool Production Techniques, Health and Safety | publisher=ancientcrafts.co.uk | access-date=23 August 2015 | archive-date=14 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150914071404/http://www.ancientcraft.co.uk/Flintknapping/Flintknapping.html#Health | url-status=live }}</ref>

Brandon gun flints were well regarded as they had a lower rate of misfire than flints from other sources.<ref name="Aggsbach">{{cite web |title=Stone age after the Stone age: Gunflint |url=http://www.aggsbach.de/2011/10/stone-age-after-the-stone-age-gun-flint/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150516085207/http://www.aggsbach.de/2011/10/stone-age-after-the-stone-age-gun-flint/ |archive-date=16 May 2015 |access-date=18 August 2015 |work=Aggsbach's Paleolithic Blog}}</ref> The industry reached its height during and after the [[Napoleonic Wars]], when Brandon flints were exported worldwide with a near global monopoly. It later declined rapidly as flintlocks were replaced by percussion locks.<ref name="white">{{cite web | url=http://prehistorics-uk.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/brandon-gun-flint-knapping.html | title=Brandon Gun Flint Knapping | date=12 August 2014 | access-date=16 August 2015 | author=White, David | archive-date=21 February 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160221171808/http://prehistorics-uk.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/brandon-gun-flint-knapping.html | url-status=live }}</ref> However, Brandon still supplied 11 million flints a year to the [[Military of the Ottoman Empire|Turkish army]] during the [[Crimean War]]<ref name="Aggsbach" /> and was exporting flints to Africa as late as the 1960s.<ref name="ancientcrafts" />

In France, gun flint production between the 17th and 19th centuries centered around the small towns of [[Meusnes]] and [[Couffy]].<ref name="ancientcrafts">{{cite web | url=http://www.ancientcraft.co.uk/Flintknapping/flint.html | title=Flint | publisher=ancientcrafts.co.uk | access-date=23 August 2015 | archive-date=25 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925144146/http://www.ancientcraft.co.uk/Flintknapping/flint.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Meusnes has a small museum dedicated to the industry. A different colour, and a slightly different method of manufacture can allow archaeologists to distinguish between British-made and French-made flints.<ref name="Austin2011" /><ref name="toddkristensen2019">{{Cite web |url=https://albertashistoricplaces.com/2019/07/10/flash-in-the-pan-the-archaeology-of-gunflints-in-alberta/ |title=Flash in the pan: The archaeology of gunflints in Alberta |last=Kristensen |first=Todd |date=2019-07-10 |website=RETROactive |language=en |access-date=2019-09-02 |archive-date=2019-09-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190902130544/https://albertashistoricplaces.com/2019/07/10/flash-in-the-pan-the-archaeology-of-gunflints-in-alberta/ |url-status=live }}</ref> France was a globally dominant supplier of gun flints until about 1780. After which the British industry began to eclipse it.<ref name="Austin2011" />

In North America, imported French and British flints were mostly used. In 1776 the US Congress authorized domestic production of gun flints, but no industry was ever established.<ref name="Austin2011" /> In the Eastern United States, Indigenous American people reportedly made their own gun flints by re-working stone spear heads.<ref name="toddkristensen2019" /> They also made flints from scratch using local [[chert]], but they preferred imported European flints if they could get access to them.<ref name="Austin2011">{{Cite journal |last=Austin |first=Robert |date=2011 |title=Gunflints from Fort Brooke: A Study and Some Hypotheses Regarding Gunflint Procurement |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309101812_Gunflints_from_Fort_Brooke_A_Study_and_Some_Hypotheses_Regarding_Gunflint_Procurement |journal=Florida Anthropoligist |volume=64 |pages=85-105}}</ref>

Small scale suppliers of gun flints still exist in the 21st century, supplying historic gun enthusiasts who continue to shoot original and replica flintlock firearms.<ref name="flintlockFAQ" />