Are there examples of old flintlocks that can still be used today?
Ask and you shall receive.....
W.H. Wilson, circa 1815, made in London. Sixteen gauge with 30" welded barrels (pre damascus). Incredibly solid and all original. Very strong locks and very, very quick ignition.
Bores are near perfect and my wall thickness gauge shows it to have been struck better than any breechloader I have measured. And this was well before micrometers or any other such tools were known! But they had a mechanical tool, called a "compass" to accomplish the same thing. Picture a rod that has been shaped into a "U" about 20" long. On the end of the leg to be inserted into the bore was a ball or pin to press against the bore. On the other leg that is outside the barrel a hole was drilled through the rod and a sharpened pin was threaded through it. Inserting the "U" rod into the bore the outside pin would be hand turned till it touched metal and then the tool was turned around the barrel, making scratches on any high spots. Very simple but also very accurate. As the saying goes' "there is nothing new under the sun" . (This description is found in "An Essay On Shooting" by Cleator, 1791).
Here Are a couple pages from Essay that describes the compass:
