When did the flintlock gun become obsolete and why?

Answer 1

The flintlock gun became obsolete at the advent of the percussion firearm. It was flawed due to the necessity to first prime its flash pan with fine grain gun powder before firing.

The firing sequence (ignition) for the flint lock is as follows

1. Cock lock(half cock).

2. Prime pan with powder

3. Fully cock lock

4. Fire (Flint strikes metal in pan causing a spark, spark ignites gun powder, gun powder burns, passes through flash hole in barrel, ignites propellant gun powder charge, propellant charge burns, creates gas, pressure pushes ball down bore to target)

The firing of the gun was very complex, and there was not an instant shot, it could take a long time, causing wobbling and loss of accuracy.

The priming gun powder charge was also very prone to getting wet in the rain or having a lot of trouble with any kind of moisture, which renders the gun inoperable.

The percussion cap relied on pressure to activate a chemical reaction which was not prone to moisture related problems and the flash immediately transferred to the propellant charge, thus reducing firing time.