It produced a spark by a flint striking steel producing a spark and igniting the priming powder. From 1660 to 1840, flintlock muzzleloading rifles and pistols were used by every European and American army. He was variously an artist, a crossbow maker and a gunsmith ( harquebuzier). Marin le Bourgeoys, a Frenchman is credited with inventing the Flintlock mechanism sometime in the 1620s. It took another 200 years to improve on the matchlock. But they were expensive to produce and cheaper (by half) so matchlocks remained in use. It did not have a match to keep lit and generated a spark mechanically with a wheel mechanism. In about 1509 the wheellock was the next advance in muzzleloader technology. Very few pistols used this design but some shotguns from this period were matchlocks. Those who used muskets were called 'musketeers'. The gun barrels were smooth inside and used round ball ammunition. The matchlock mechanism was used to produce muskets. Matchlocks appeared in Europe in about 1400. The design allowed a cloth or stick with a flame on the end-called a 'match'-to be lowered into a 'flashpan' filled with gunpowder which ignited the main charge, firing the gun. The matchlock, named for its firing mechanism, was the first invention that made it possible to keep both hands on the weapon and at the same time keep the shooter's eyes on the target. Some of the earliest muzzleloaders were matchlocks. It usually, but not always, involves the use of a loose propellant (like gunpowder) and a projectile, as well as a separate method of ignition or priming. But in modern use the term most commonly applies to black powder small arms. Muzzleloading can apply to anything from cannons to pistols. These include sidelock, flintlock and percussion models of the Pennsylvania rifle (after the early 1800s called the Kentucky rifle). Modern muzzleloading firearms a variety of firing mechanisms. There are several different calibers of muzzleloading firearms.

The term of art includes rifled muzzleloaders and smoothbore muzzleloaders. The term 'muzzleloader' may also apply to the marksman who shoot muzzleloading firearms. This is distinct from the more popular modern designs of breech-loading firearms. A muzzleloader is any firearm where the projectile and usually the propellant charge is loaded from the muzzle of the gun.

Muzzle loader guns