gun hammers?

[George]

Searching 18th-century newspapers I'm always coming across items I can't decipher. My latest puzzle is "gun hammers". They are frequently mentioned, as these examples show.

Sometimes they are mentioned alone:

The South-Carolina GAZETTE
Date: November 2, 1747
Location: CHARLES-TOWN

"FOUND between Charles-Town and the Quarter-House , a parcel of Gun-hammers ...."

Sometimes along with a variety of items for sale, none gun related:

The SOUTH-CAROLINA GAZETTE
Date: May 6, 1756
Location: CHARLES-TOWN

".... snuff boxes, shoes and knee buckles, lancets, gun hammers, snuffers, wafers, sealing wax and quills, ink powder...."

And sometimes for sale along with gun related items:

The South-Carolina GAZETTE
Date: October 29, 1753
Location: CHARLES-TOWN

"B & NEYLE, have just imported, in the Alxender , Capt. Carking, from London.... black Pepper and Spices. F and FF Gun powder, all sorts of Shot and Bullets, very neat fowling Pieces and trading Guns, Pistols, gun Locks., gun Hammers and Worms with sockets, powder flasks, cartouch Boxes, shot and bullet Moulds, bar and [sheet] Lead, silver and mourning hilted Swords, cuteau and sword Belts, sword Blades, fencing Foils..."

That one "gun hammers and worms with sockets" makes me wonder if they might be screw-on jags. Any ideas?

Spence

 

[Stumpkiller]

The "hammer" in c.1750 is what we call the frizzen today. The "cock" is what we now call a hammer on a percussion arm and most incorrectly call on a flintlock as well.

To "hammer your flint" was to lower the heel of the frizzen across the tip of the flint to freshen the edge. Not the little toy hammers some sutlers sell for knapping the flint.

 

[George]

Yes, the term for frizzen was hammer in those days, but considering the context of the term in the papers, I don't believe that is what they meant. They are frequently mentioned along with gun worms, and I've never found any offer for other gun lock parts for sale as separate items. But...?

Spence

 

[Tumblernotch]

And some early writers back in those days called the frizzen a "battery".

 

[flintriflesmith]

Yes, the term for frizzen was hammer in those days, but considering the context of the term in the papers, I don't believe that is what they meant. They are frequently mentioned along with gun worms, and I've never found any offer for other gun lock parts for sale as separate items. But...?

Spence

You are correct! These references are to the small combination tools that often looked like a hammer or a tommahawk (the blade was a srew driver). Jon Laubach of Williamsburg Forge sells reproductions of one of the many styles that were made. His has a hammer for flint knapping, a turn screw, and a worm.
gary

 

[George]

That seems a reasonable possibility, and I had considered it. The only question I had was about the time line. I know those combination tools were used in the Rev War period, they are shown in Neumann, but the references I mentioned start as early as 1741, 35 years before, so I don't know if they were available then.

Spence