“English” Flintlock: This English lock or Jacobean flintlock is a type of gun-lock that became popular in England in the early 17th-century. It is characterized by the fact that the flashpan cover and battery are one integral L-shaped unit (missing in this example).
Here you can make out in the central area of the external view that there is a small buffer instead of the ornamental “button” seen on the snaphaunce. The “English” lock was the earliest true flintlock.
Archaeological examples of gun-locks rarely survive with all the parts intact. But after cleaning and conservation there are often enough clues to identify the mechanism. This example was recovered from Gloucester County, Virginia.
Updated April 10, 2018
