Hi CC,
The video is by our friend and fellow forum member, Raszpla. He probably makes the best wheelocks made today and ones that exhibit the reliability of the originals, unlike most of the low cost reproductions available today. Wheelocks went out of favor because:
1. They were expensive to make
2. Compared with the flintlock, the mechanism was complicated and they required highly skilled workmen to repair and adjust.
3. The iron pyrite was fragile and more difficult to obtain compared with flints
4. Flash from the pan built up between the wheel and the lock plate often causing the wheel to jam. That is why mainsprings on wheelocks usually were very stout.
5. Most required a spanner to wind, an additional tool that could get lost.
6. Ignition was generally very fast but the added complexity, size, weight, care, and expense out weighed that advantage and favored the flintlock.
Finally, there was strong financial incentive for gunmakers to pursue military contracts and the wheelock was very limited (largely owing to the reasons above) as a military gun. That is why most armies transitioned from matchlocks directly to flintlocks. Certainly, there was an elite civilian market for wheelocks but most gunmakers struggled financially in that realm, with some famous exceptions.
dave
