It was originally fired by means of a match, or matchlock, for which several mechanical appliances (including the flintlock, and finally the percussion lock) were successively substituted
A musket was an early type of gun with a long barrel, which was used before rifles were invented. a type of gun used in the past (mousquet, from moschetto , from mosca ). Muzzle-loading shoulder firearm developed in 16th-century Spain. Designed as a larger version of the harquebus, muskets were fired with matchlocks until flintlocks were developed in the 17th century; flintlocks were replaced by percussion locks in the early 19th century. Early muskets were often handled by two persons and fired from a portable rest. Typically 5.5 ft (1.7 m) long and weighing about 20 lbs (9 kg), they fired a ball about 175 yards (160 m) with little accuracy. Later types were smaller, lighter, and accurate enough to hit a person at 80-100 yards (75-90 m). The musket was replaced in the mid-19th century by the breech-loading rifle
A smooth-bore gun used by soldiers during the Revolutionary War English muskets could be loaded and fired rapidly--as quickly as four times per minute They were also designed to be used with a bayonet attached for hand-to-hand fighting
A species of firearm formerly carried by the infantry of an army. It was originally fired by means of a match, or matchlock, for which several mechanical appliances (including the flintlock, and finally the percussion lock) were successively substituted. This arm has been superseded by the rifle