SPANISH FLINT-LOCK. 



The Shot- Gun. 767 



its own against fire-arms long after their introduction into armies 

 of Europe. It is stated that an English archer could pierce any 

 armor at two hundred yards distant, except that made -of Milan 

 or the best Spanish plate ; and the ancient accounts of men in 

 armor having been shot through is confirmed by breast and back 

 plates, in European museums, perforated with arrow-holes. Indeed, 

 so well did the English appreciate the peculiar excellence of the 

 long-bow as a military arm, that it retained a place in their army 

 even as late as 1627. 



The wheel-lock hunting arm received improvements in work- 

 manship and in matters of detail, but 

 remained essentially the same for a cent- 

 ury, when, in 1630, the flint-lock was in- 

 vented in Spain. To Spanish artisans are 

 also due great advances in the manu- 

 facture of gun-barrels, in which art they 

 continued to improve so much that those 

 of their best artisan, Nicholas Biz, of Mad- 

 rid, sold as high as two hundred dollars. 



The flint-lock fowling-piece held its own during two centuries,, 

 during which period it was gradually improved in all its parts, — in 

 the texture and chambering of the barrels, in the locks, and in the 

 general proportions of the gun, — till it reached the zenith of its ex- 

 cellence, about 181 5, "when," says Mr. W. W. Greener ("The Gun 

 and its Development"), "the renowned Joseph Manton — the king 

 of gun-makers — had so improved and added to its mechanism as to 

 make a first-rate sporting gun veritably an engine; for it is from that 

 word that the term 'gun' is derived. The various improvements to 

 effect self-priming and to render the flash-pan water-tight greatly 

 added to the mechanical parts, and a pair of the best pattern flint- 

 locks, well made and finished, were well worth the seven pounds 

 paid for their manufacture. Manton's latest improvement in flint- 

 locks was the gravitating stop, which rendered it impossible for the 

 cock to fall upon the hammer whilst loading the gun. The use of 

 them was, however, superseded by detonating guns, to which Man- 

 ton also devoted a portion of his time. This wonderful maker 

 appears to have led the fashion in everything relating to fire-arms ; 

 and hi-, pattern locks, stocks, and furniture were minutely copied by 



