Belton flintlock

Belton flintlock
TypeMusket
Place of originUnited States
Production history
DesignerJoseph Belton
DesignedPrior to 1777
Specifications
ActionRepeating flintlock
Rate of fire30–60 rounds/min theoretically
Effective firing range30 yd (27 m)
Cover page of Belton's first letter to the Continental Congress, sent April 11, 1777

The Belton flintlock was a repeating flintlock design using superposed loads, conceived by Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, resident Joseph Belton some time prior to 1777. The musket design was offered by Belton to the newly formed Continental Congress in 1777. Belton wrote that the musket could fire eight rounds with one loading,[1] and that he could support his claims "by experimental proof."[2] Belton failed to sell the musket to Congress, and later was unable to sell the design to the British Army a year after the American Revolution.[1] There are no records that indicate that the gun was ever supplied, and it is uncertain if or how exactly the Belton improvement operated.[2]

  1. ^ a b Diamant, Lincoln (2004). Chaining the Hudson: The Fight for the River in the American Revolution. New York: Fordham University Press, p. 210.
  2. ^ a b Peterson, Harold Leslie (1956). Arms and Armor in Colonial America, 1526-1783. NY: Courier Corporation, pp. 217-218.