Snaphaunce: The precursor to the 18th-century flintlock, the snaphaunce is a mechanism whereby a flint held in a cock was struck against a steel battery that was separate from the pan cover. This example has the typical S-shaped cock, which is still grasping a fragment of the flint. The large ornamental “button” at the end of the flashpan (center of the exterior view) appeared on most snaphaunce locks. The battery would have been anchored toward the right end of the plate (exterior view) but is missing here. This type of gun-lock, in various sizes, is found on many Virginia 17th-century sites.
This snaphaunce was recovered from a mid-17th-century site
