Editing Flintlock (section)

===Rifles===

In Germany, the [[German military rifles#Early Jäger rifles|Jäger rifle]] was developed by the late 18th century. It was used for hunting, and in a military context, skirmishing and by specialist marksmen.

[[Image:Drevnosti RG v3 ill111 - Rifle of Alexei Mikhailovich.jpg|thumb|Russian flintlock rifle made in 1654 by master Grigory Viatkin.]]
In the United States, the small game hunting [[long rifle]] ("Pennsylvania rifle" or "Kentucky rifle") was developed in southeastern Pennsylvania in the early 1700s. Based on the Jäger rifle, but with a much longer barrel, these were exceptionally accurate for their time, and had an effective range of approximately {{convert|250|m|abbr=on}}.<ref>"What about the rifle?", Popular Science, September 1941</ref> They tended to fire smaller caliber rounds, with calibers in the range of {{convert|.32-.45|in|abbr=on}} being the most common - hence being sometimes referred to as a "pea rifle."<ref>"American Rifle: A Treatise, a Text Book, and a Book of Practical Information in the Use of the Rifle" By Townsend Whelen, Publisher: Paladin Press (July 2006)</ref>

The [[Jezail]] was a military long flintlock rifle, developed near and popular throughout [[Afghanistan]], [[India]], [[Central Asia]] and parts of the [[Middle East]].

However, while European military tactics remained based on loosely-aimed mass volleys, most of their flintlocks were still smoothbore - as the spiral grooves of rifling made rifles take more time to load, and after repeated shots [[black powder]] tended to foul the barrels.

Rifled flintlocks saw most military use by sharpshooters, skirmishers, and other support units. While by the late 18th century there were increasing efforts to take advantage of the rifle for military purposes, with specialist rifle units such as the [[King's Royal Rifle Corps]] of 1756 and [[Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own)|Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)]], smoothbores predominated until the advent of the [[Minié ball]] – by which time the [[percussion cap]] had made the flintlock obsolete.