Wheellock
Firearm action / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Wheellock?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
SHOW ALL QUESTIONS
This article is about firearm mechanisms. For other uses, see Wheelock.
A wheellock, wheel-lock, or wheel lock is a friction-wheel mechanism which creates a spark that causes a firearm to fire. It was the next major development in firearms technology after the matchlock and the first self-igniting firearm. Its name is from its rotating steel wheel to provide ignition. Developed in Europe around 1500, it was used alongside the matchlock (c. 1410s), the snaplock (c. 1540s), the snaphance (c. 1560s), and the flintlock (c. 1610s).