Firing a flintlock pistol of the English Civil Wars - how difficult can it be?

The English Civil Wars were fought with all sorts of firearms including matchlock muskets, flintlocks muskets, wheellocks and flintlock pistols. The flintlock pistol was widely used by cavalry and officers. It is essentially a small musket which used gunpowder and flint and steel to create the ignition.
The pistol would fire a very small pistol ball from a smooth bore barrel. The lack of rifling, and the ill-fitting pistol ball meant the weapon would be very inaccurate and had a limited range.
In this video, we look at how the flintlock pistol was loaded and how it fires. It is amazing to see the delay in the priming powder igniting and then the main charge.
Hope you enjoy!
To see a video on how an English Civil War musketeer was armed, click here - THE 12 APOSTLES OF THE CIVIL WAR

#history #army #military