What were the common Black powder firearms during the 1600 to 1700's
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gewehr76
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Swords and pikes.
Any firearms in those days were super expensive. Only rich people could afford any sort of fancy lock work firearm. Most armies in the early part of 1600's used mainly match lock for its simple use of manufacture and reliability. Later in the 17th century flint lock slowly became more prevalent and surpassed all other forms of ignition until percussion caps were invented in mid 1800s
Any firearms in those days were super expensive. Only rich people could afford any sort of fancy lock work firearm. Most armies in the early part of 1600's used mainly match lock for its simple use of manufacture and reliability. Later in the 17th century flint lock slowly became more prevalent and surpassed all other forms of ignition until percussion caps were invented in mid 1800s
Here is some interesting reading on how firearms and steel tools shaped the Native cultures at the time . Firearms were actually fairly readily available as trade items and heavily desired by the native populations in exchange for goods . Often leading to some of the native groups being better armed than the troops of the day. Match locks were probably some of the first guns but by the 1630's the flintlock was highly sought after . Records show my Family first arrived in 1616-1619 I am not sure if they were trading or settling or part of the expeditions. https://aeon.co/essays/how-did-the-introduction-of-guns-change-native-america
I think that you have chosen a time period when guns were of limited usefulness. Earliest guns at that time would have been matchlocks and powder and probably lead were expensive and probably only came from Europe (at that time period). Matchlocks also required a lot of slow match and my own experience has been that it was difficult to keep the slow match burning. Lucifers (matches) would not be invented until the mid 1800s so that each time your slow match went out, out with the flint and steel to light it again. Wheel locks, apart from being expensive, also depended on iron pyrite to create a spark and in my experience, not all iron pyrite sparks over and above the question of where do you get it. The flintlock was developed in France around 1650 (I think) and was probably expensive enough that mostly the wealthy owned them, at least until you approach 1700. While I think of it, iron was also extremely expensive up until 1854 and the Bessemer process. I think there was a major change in technology between 1600 and 1700 that was much greater than the period from 1700 to about 1860 when another major wave of experiment and change took place with the development of breach loaders and cartridges
cheers mooncoon
About the best source of information about the guns available in North America in the 17th century is the massive volume on Indian trade guns published by the Museum of the Fur Trade. It details not only what was being traded to the Indians but also what was in general use in the various areas of North America. A lot of firearms came to the New World. The HBC alone shipped thousands of guns during the first few decades of its existence.
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I have a book titled Arms and Armor in colonial America 1526 -1783 and it shows the early arms of the colonists to be a variety of matchlocks,wheellocks,Snaphaunces etc.The better arms belonging to the wealthier colonists.Of course most of the arms were smooth bore with the except of the wheellocks
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gewehr76
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Do You mean wheel lock firearms were not smooth bore?
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