Flintlock

The **flintlock** is the first firearm introduced by Roland to counter demonic beasts and Duke Ryan forces. It was eventually replaced by revolver rifles in First Army, but still used in combat training of loyal Sandpeople. Crude prototypes of flintlocks (mostly Fire Lances and are implied to use a matchlock mechanism instead of a flintlock mechanism) appeared within ranks of Western Region rebel nobility, provided by Timothy Wimbledon.

## Gallery

Roland holding one of the first flintlock rifles, as illustrated in the manhua adaptation.Roland's blueprints for the flintlock.Iron Axe using the flintlock.
## Overview

Flintlock is a muzzle-loaded gun, which shoots lead balls after gunpowder and ball have tampered into the barrel and another portion of gunpowder loaded into the flash pan. Trained soldiers could make 3 shots per minute; its effective distance is 100 meters.

Initially, it was made manually by craftsmen, and because of this Roland could produce only four flintlocks before Months of Demons has begun. With constructing of more precise Steam Engine II he could start boring of barrels from iron bars, making 10 barrels per day and equipping a hundred of soldiers by the end of winter.

For defence in melee, Roland invented a casing bayonet. The end of the shank had a corner and was connected to a casing. The casing diameter, which was slightly larger than the barrel, was attached to the Z-shape tongue and groove joint. The barrel only needed to be welded with a small iron bar, so that the tongue and groove joint could be embedded in to fix the blade. The blade was a sharp triangular iron cone, its cross-section similar to a V-shape. Such a form did not affect the pulling out, yet leaving a wound that was difficult to heal.

## Use against demons

Roland's intention was to make the flintlock firearm. This kind of weapon was already tested through history; the difficulty was to make a gun similar to a harquebus. First the gunpowder had to be inserted and then the lead ball was to be loaded. The firing rate was close to three rounds per minute, so it really didn’t require much skill in order to deal with the demonic beasts.

Most of the demonic beasts couldn’t climb the walls, so the shooting distance was approximately equal to the height of the walls, which was twelve feet. At this distance, even with a bad aim it should be possible to hit the beasts, and the lead ball would also not lose much of its power. If only the skin of the demonic beasts evolved to be as hard as steel, then they could be easily shot and killed.

The disadvantage laid in the production time of a flintlock. It started with the matchlock; the smith had to slowly hammer it into form from the barrel to the trigger. The entire production of a gun would take about three months, wherein the barrel needed the largest part of it. First it had to be beaten into a thin and cylindrical shape, and then the spiral grooves could be engraved. Although without the right equipment it was quite sophisticated, but it should still be possible for a well-learned blacksmith to make a good barrel.

This was also one of the reasons that Roland created the steam engine first.

With the steam engine, he could use a steel drill to bore the drill directly into the solid iron, so with this the production speed could significantly be increased. He didn’t need a master blacksmith to do the work, he only needed one table on which he could affix the barrel.

## References

1. ↑ Chapter 38
2. ↑ Chapter 88
3. ↑ Chapter 93
4. ↑ Chapter 27 (novel)