A short article on flintlock ignition has just been printed in the October
1995 issue of Muzzle Blast (58:2:50-53).  Fred Stutzenberger and Larry
Pletcher, the authors, tested and report the ignition times of a small
series of historic and modern reproduction flintlocks. The authors very
briefly comment on the development of the lock and its workings.  The
majority of the article describes the method by which the locks were
time-tested and the results which are provided in a series of tables.  One
of the more interesting discoveries is that the orientation of the
flint--bevel up or down--significantly effected firing time on some locks.
The article is well worth the read for anyone interested in history and
operation of flintlock firearms.