M.D. said:
...Another thought along these lines is why did flint locks become so nostalgically prominent and not match or wheel locks?
I think it's for a couple of reasons;
Flint guns are generally more graceful looking, and similar in appearance to more modern stocks. Yes, they are fussy to deal with, but not nearly as fussy as wheel guns. Wheelies need a great deal more attention to keep them functioning. Match lock guns suffer from the same affliction of being somewhat different looking, but also the issue of keeping the match lit, and fussing with a glowing ember around a bunch of powder--a notable safety hazard.
Then there is the issue of cost. A match lock or percussion lock are relatively simple, and will cost about the same. A FL (and predecessors such as the snaphaunce, dog lock and miquolet, etc. ) will be about the same level of complication to produce, and in theory, should cost about the same. A wheel lock is much more complicated and expensive to produce. Pyrites are harder to find and more expensive than flints. All of them (including the cap lock) can be charged and left loaded for an indeterminate length of time, and in that way, they are far more convenient to be made ready for use than the match lock.
Then there is the notion of history. The self-contained flint lock persevered for several hundred years, and was instrumental in the formation of our country through the AWI, and early exploration. It served similarly in Europe and the British Empire. It was also much more prolifically produced than the others over the course of it being the "front line technology of the day".
Those are my thoughts anyway, but they are absent any emperical data. Doubtless others know a great deal more about it than I do.
