It took another 200 years to improve on the matchlock. Marin le Bourgeoys, a Frenchman is credited with inventing the Flintlock mechanism sometime in the 1620s. He was variously an artist, a crossbow maker and a gunsmith ("harquebuzier"). From 1660 to 1840, flintlock muzzleloading rifles and pistols were used by every European and American army. It produced a spark by a flint striking steel producing a spark and igniting the priming powder. By covering the priming powder until the gun was fired, it would usually work even in windy or damp weather. In 1722, the British Army called for a standard pattern of muzzleloading flintlock musket. The resulting model and its variants were called the Brown Bess. It remained in service until the 1830s.