MUZZLE LOADER RIFLES

The Chinese are believed to be the first to use gunpowder, now called black powder.
The first firearms were tubes closed at one end, usually made of brass or cast iron.
They were loaded by pouring black powder and shoving a projectile into the tube from
the muzzle end, and then igniting the powder using a lighted wick or match. The powder
burned, creating pressure that launched metal objects or arrows. These firearms are
now called muzzleloaders to distinguish them from more modern guns.

Matchlock ignition was developed in 1475, enabling

portable firearms. When the trigger is pulled, a lighted
wick is lowered into a priming pan located next to a
vent hole drilled into the closed end of the barrel.
When the priming powder ignites, it lights the main
charge.

The faster and more reliable wheel lock

ignition replaced the matchlock in the 1500s. When
the trigger is pulled, a coiled spring forces the roughedged steel wheel to spin against a piece of iron
pyrite, creating sparks to ignite the powder in the
priming pan.
.

The flintlock ignition, still more reliable, appeared in

the late 1600s. When the trigger is pulled, the
hammer, holding a piece of flint, falls against a steel
cover (the frizzen) sitting over the priming pan. The
hammer knocks the cover out of the way, and the
striking of flint and steel causes sparks that ignite the powder in the priming pan.

The percussion lock (also called caplock) replaced the flintlock in the early
1800s. Early percussion locks used priming compounds inside a metallic foil cap
placed over the vent hole. When the hammer strikes the cap, the resulting spark
ignites the main charge. The percussion lock was more simply and inexpensively

built,

and

easier

to

clean.

The next advance, in 1835, was to arrange a series of

percussion locks and barrels on a rotating wheel
(cylinder) to allow a rapid succession of shots
(Patterson revolver). With a single hammer and trigger,
multiple shots can be fired without reloadinga
repeating firearm. The percussion cap revolvers are the forerunners of modern
revolvers.

The percussion cap also paved the way to the self-contained ammunition we
have todaycartridges and shot shells. In the mid-1800s, gunpowder, the
projectile, and the primer were put together into a single housing that could be
loaded quickly.

Caplock Rifle

The Caplock Rifle was the successor of the Flintlock

Rifle in firearm technology, and used a percussion cap
struck by the hammer to set off the main charge,
rather than using a piece of flint to strike a steel
frizzen.
The caplock offered many improvements over the
flintlock. The caplock was easier to load, more
resistant to weather, and was much more reliable than
the flintlock.
A Typical Caplock
The percussion cap replaced the flint, the steel "frizzen", and
the powder pan of the flint-lock mechanism. It was only
generally applied to the British military musket (the Brown
Bess) in 1842, a quarter of a century after the invention of
percussion powder and after an elaborate government test
at Woolwich in 1834. The first percussion firearm produced

for the US military was the percussion carbine

version (c.1833) of the M1819 Hall rifle.
The Enfield P53 was introduced to Indian troops
under British colonization in 1856. [2] The Enfield
rifle-musket was a contributing cause of the Indian
rebellion of 1857. Sepoys in the British East India
Company's armies in India were issued with the
new rifle in 1857, and rumours began to
spread[citation needed] that the cartridges (referring here to paper-wrapped powder and
projectile, not to metallic cartridges) were greased with beef tallow, lard, or a
combination of the two - a possibility abhorrent to Muslim and Hindu soldiers or both,
respectively, for religious reasons.
British military drills of the time required soldiers to bite open the cartridge, pour the
gunpowder contained within down the barrel, ram the cartridge (which included the
bullet) down the barrel, remove the ram-rod, bring the rifle to the ready, set the sights,
add a percussion cap, present the rifle, and fire. The musketry books also
recommended that, "Whenever the grease around the bullet appears to be melted
away, or otherwise removed from the cartridge, the sides of the bullet should be wetted
in the mouth before putting it into the barrel; the saliva will serve the purpose of grease
for the time being".[3]
The idea of having anything which might be tainted with pig or beef fat in their mouths
was totally unacceptable to the sepoys, and when they objected it was suggested that
they were more than welcome to make up their own batches of cartridges, using a
religiously acceptable greasing agent such as ghee or vegetable oil. This seemed to
prove that the issued cartridges were, in fact, greased with pig and/or beef fat. A further
suggestion that the sepoys tear the cartridges open with their hands (instead of biting
them open) was rejected as impractical - many of the sepoys had been undertaking
musket drill daily for years, and the practice of biting the cartridge open was second
nature to them. Incidentally, after the Mutiny, manuals amended the method of opening
the cartridge to, "Bring the cartridge to the forefinger and thumb of the left hand, and
with the arm close to the body, carefully tear off the end without spilling the
powder."[4] The indifference of many British commanding officers to the problem
perceived by the sepoys only added more fuel to the already volatile situation, and
helped spark the Mutiny in 1857.

The Shotgun Making in Balochistan has a History. The Lehri Tehsil of District Sibi is very
known for its shotguns of 16, 20 & 12 Guage. However, before making shotguns, this
market was known for making of Muskets. The British-Indian Army utilized this Gun
Market to make Musketes for British Soldiers Locally. having made Muskets Britishers
named that Musket after the historical city of Dhadar (Head Quarter of District
Bolan) the Masket is known as DHADARI.