Frizzen

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The frizzen is a curved plate of steel used in flintlock firearms. When the trigger is pulled, the hammer -- which includes a shaped piece of flint held into a set of jaws by a scrap of leather or thin piece of lead -- snaps forward causing the flint to hit the frizzen, throwing it back to expose the black powder in the pan. The flint striking the steel causes a shower of sparks to be thrown into the pan, igniting the black powder and sending flames through the touch hole, which in turn ignites the main charge of black powder in the breech of the barrel, shooting the projectile out the barrel.