Flints

The Copp family of Stonington, Connecticut owned these three gun-flints for flintlock rifles. In a flintlock rifle, a wedge-shaped flint would be held in the jaw of the hammer. Once cocked, the trigger pull propels the hammer forward, the flint strikes the steel frizzen, simultaneously creating a spark and opening the pan to reveal the gunpowder. The spark ignites the gunpowder, firing the rifle.

The Copp Collection contains a variety of household objects that the Copp family of Connecticut used from around 1700 until the mid-1800s. Part of the Puritan Great Migration from England to Boston, the family eventually made their home in New London County, Connecticut, where their textiles, clothes, utensils, ceramics, books, bibles, and letters provide a vivid picture of daily life. More of the collection from the Division of Home and Community Life can be viewed by searching accession number 28810.

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