766 



The Shot- Gun. 



MECHANISM OF THE MATCH-LOCK. 



hammer which was sent for- 

 ward by a spring on pull- 

 ing the trigger. This, the 

 match-lock, is the first and 

 the simplest of gun locks. 



In 1 515, a notable im- 

 provement in fire-arms was 

 made at Nuremburg in the invention of the wheel-lock, by which fire 

 was obtained by the friction of flint against pyrites, a method of pro- 

 curing fire which Europeans had used since prehistoric times. A steel 

 wheel, B, with a grooved and roughened edge, was set in rapid rota- 

 tion by the action of a spring coiled in its interior. This wheel was 

 wound up by a key turning the axis C. The piece of pyrites, E, 

 carried in the hammer, D, was thrown onto the rotating 

 wheel when the trigger was pulled. The friction of these 

 substances caused a stream of sparks to fly into the flash- 

 pan. The wheel-lock greatly 

 increased the rapidity of fire, 

 especially at game which unex- 

 pectedly came in sight ; it also 

 allowed the marksman to use 

 freely both hands in aiming 

 and firing his piece. 



With the improvement of the wheel-lock, the gun began to sup- 

 plant the long-bow and cross-bow among European sportsmen. The 

 invention of "hail-shot," about 1550, added to the popularity of the 

 gun (which now first became a shot-gun) by giving greater success 

 to the sportsman when shooting at moving game. But the long- 

 bow and the arbalest by no means disappeared from the hands of 

 sportsmen or from the armies of Europe. The bow had its peculiar 

 advantage over the shot-gun as a hunting arm in being noiseless, 

 and its inexpensiveness placed it within the reach of all who were 

 privileged to carry arms. Besides, in those days, the art of shooting 

 on the wing was unknown ; and at still game, the arrow launched 

 from the long-bow of a skillful archer was probably as effective 

 as the wheel-lock gun. The killing range of the arrows of the 

 long-bow, their accuracy of flight, and the rapidity with which 

 they could be discharged, gave the long-bow the glory of holding 



THE GERMAN WHEEL-LOCK. 



