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A powder flask is a small container for gunpowder, which was an essential part of shooting equipment with muzzleloading guns, before pre-made cartridges became standard in the 19th century. They range from very elaborately decorated works of art to early forms of consumer packaging, and are widely collected. Many were standardized military issue, but the most decorative were generally used for sporting shooting.〔Timeline; Landers〕 Although the term powder horn is sometimes used for any kind of powder flask, it is strictly a sub-category of flask made from a hollowed bovid horn. Powder flasks were made in a great variety of materials and shapes, though ferrous metals that were prone to give off sparks when hit were usually avoided. Stag antler, which could be carved or engraved, was an especially common material, but wood and copper were common, and in India, ivory. Apart from the horns, common shapes were the Y formed by the base of an antler (inverted), a usually flattened pear shape with a straight spout (''poire-poudre'' or "powder pear" is a French term for these), a round flattened shape, and for larger flasks a triangle with concave rounded sides, which unlike the smaller flasks could be stood upright on a surface. Many designs (such as horn and antler types) have a wide sealed opening for filling, and a thin spout for dispensing. Various devices were used to load a precise amount of powder to dispense, as it was important not to load too much or too little powder, or the powder was dispensed into a powder measure or "charger" (these survive much less often).〔Fadala, 53-55〕 As early as ''c.'' 1600 a German flask had a silver spout with a "telescopic valve, adjustable for different sizes of powder charges".〔Grancsay (1929), 134.〕 ==Use== Although forms of pre-packed cartridges go back to the Middle Ages,〔MacLachlan, 1955〕 these were for several centuries made up by the shooter or a servant,〔As late as 1859 British soldiers were still expected to make up their own paper cartridges, following War Office instructions, with supplied bullets and other materials. See Browne, 83-85〕 requiring a container for the gunpowder which came loose. Many forms of early firearms did not use cartridges, or users preferred to load each charge before firing, so gunpowder was loaded just before firing. An important safety concern was that when reloading a muzzle-loading gun soon after a shot there might be small pieces of wadding burning in the muzzle, which would cause the new load of powder to ignite as a flash. So long as no part of the loader faced the end of the barrel this was not likely to lead to serious injury, but if a spark reached the main supply in the powder flask a dangerous, even fatal, explosion was likely. General Sir James Pulteney, 7th Baronet, was one such victim; he died in 1811 from complications after losing an eye when a powder flask accidentally exploded in his face in Norfolk.〔Sylvanus, Urban (1811). The Gentleman's Magazine. part I. London: John Nichols and Son. p. 499〕 Charles Kickham, prominent in the Irish Republican Brotherhood, grew up largely deaf and almost blind as the result of an explosion when he was 13, in about 1840.〔O’Sullivan, 347-349〕 Various precautions were taken in the design and use of powder flasks to prevent this from happening, and expensive examples from as early as the 16th century usually have springs to automatically close the dispensing spout (this is much less common with the cheaper horn type).〔Timeline, Landers, see also the other sources.〕 Modern manuals on muzzle-loading guns all say the flask should never be used to pour powder directly down the muzzle,〔for example Fadala, 53.〕 but from the English sporting press of the 18th and early 19th centuries, it is all too clear that this was then common practice, resulting in many accidents.〔See for example (''The Field Book'' ), William Hamilton Maxwell, 1833, or from the same year this letter to the English magazine ''The Sportsman's Cabinet, and Town and Country Magazine'' explaining graphically the need for such safety devives, (google books ).〕 Some YouTube videos demonstrating loading maintain the old traditions.〔(example ), (another example, see 2nd comment )〕 Instead, the powder should be poured into an intermediate container known as a charger or powder measure. Sometimes, the cap to the spout represented the measure, especially for priming flasks.〔Grancsay (1929), 133〕 Sometimes, the spout itself was the measure, with a sliding device to shut off the supply at the base, as well as a cap. This type became the norm in the mid-19th century.〔Grancsay (1931), 77, German example about 1620; Landry〕 High-quality guns would often have come with a matching flask, chargers, and other accessories.〔(Victoria & Albert Museum ), note on gun and flask in gallery〕 Many flasks have small rings for a cord, which was slung around the neck to carry them, especially before large pockets on hunting clothes arrived in Europe in the 18th century. Some examples have original elaborate cords with knots and tassels.〔Grancsay (1929), 132-134〕 Many types of early guns required two different forms of gunpowder (such as a flintlock with finer priming powder for the pan, and a coarser standard powder for the main charge), necessitating two containers, a main flask and a smaller "priming flask".〔Garry, 192〕 During roughly the 18th century, paper cartridges became more and more popular, and a higher proportion of flasks made were the smaller priming variety. It appears that the British Army in the Peninsular War, despite regulations specifying the issue of powder horns and priming flasks, found the former inferior in action to cartridges, with the measuring spout prone to get detached and lost, and informally switched to cartridges during the war.〔Haythornthwaite, 18-19〕 The powder flask was finally rendered obsolete by the spread of breech-loading guns and the innovations brought about by Hall, Sharps, Spencer, and the later development of self-contained cartridges that were developed and marketed successfully by Oliver Winchester, after which manufactured cartridges or bullets became standard. Powder flasks were also used for priming naval cannon; such a flask would be as large as, or even larger than, a main flask for a personal sidearm. The large, rectangular boxes from which the main muzzle charges for cannon were scooped are called powder boxes; these were used either when making up cartridges in advance, or loading loose powder when firing. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Powder flask」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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