An improvement in firearms took place in the first year of the reign of
Henry VII., or at the close of Edward IV., by fixing a cock (Fr.
_serpentine_) on the hand gun to hold the match, which was brought down
to the priming by a trigger, whence the term matchlock. This weapon is
still in use among the Chinese, Tatars, Sikhs, Persians and Turks. An
improvement in the stock was also made during this period by forming it
with a wide butt end to be placed against the right breast. Subsequently
the stock was bent, a German invention, and the arm was called a
hackbutt or hagbut, and the smaller variety a demihague. The arquebus
and hackbutt were about a yard in length, including barrel and stock,
and the demihague was about half the size and weight, the forerunner of
the pistol. The arquebus was the standard infantry firearm in Europe
from the battle of Pavia to the introduction of the heavier and more
powerful musket. It did not as a rule require a rest, as did the musket.
The wheel-lock, an improvement on the matchlock, was invented in
Nuremberg in 1517; was first used at the siege of Parma in 1521; was
brought to England in 1530, and continued in partial use there until the
time of Charles II. This wheel-lock consisted of a fluted or grooved
steel wheel which protruded into the priming pan, and was connected with
a strong spring. The cock, also regulated by a spring, was fitted with a
piece of iron pyrites. In order to discharge the gun the lock was wound
up by a key, the cock was let down on the priming pan, the pyrites
resting on the wheel; on the trigger being pressed the wheel was
released and rapidly revolved, emitting sparks, which ignited the powder
in the pan. The complicated and expensive nature of this lock, with its
liability to injury, no doubt prevented its general adoption.
[Illustration: From General Hardy de Perini's _Turenne et Conde,
1626-1675_.