[wrench]

A well made flintlock will often fire without powder in the pan.

[Chainmail]

First time I’d ever heard of it. Guess the good news is that I have a “well-made flintlock”.

[Swordmaker]

When you buy an old percussion or flintlock gun, don't assume it's not loaded. I always recommend using the ramrod to check if there's something in the barrel. I bought an antique percussion pistol last year and as is my usual practice followed my own advice. I checked the length of the ramrod (important) on the outside of the barrel, and then put it down the bore. It failed to reach the end of the bore by an inch and a quarter or so. There's something down there. Most likely a ball and a powder charge still in it since it was last fired perhaps 150 years or so ago.

Black Powder can be very volatile, or it can, if it has gotten wet over the years, completely deteriorated. Need I say DON'T LOOK DOWN THE BARREL OF AN OLD GUN TO TRY AND SEE WHAT'S IN IT?

I got an old screw type bullet puller and, sure enough, there was an old lead ball, a greasy patch, and a powder charge.

I could have tried to unload the gun by firing it, but I had no guarantee that who ever had loaded it did not load it with a charge of smokeless powder which could destroy the gun and possibly injure me.

IT'S NOT A GOOD IDEA TO UNLOAD AN OLD PERCUSSION OR FLINTLOCK GUN BY FIRING IT IF YOU DID NOT LOAD YOURSELF. . . You can't know what it was loaded with.