Slow match
Encyclopedia
Slow match or match cord is the very slow burning cord or twine fuse
Fuse (explosives)
In an explosive, pyrotechnic device or military munition, a fuse is the part of the device that initiates function. In common usage, the word fuse is used indiscriminately...

 used by early gunpowder
Gunpowder
Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...

 musketeers, artillerymen, and soldiers to ignite matchlock
Matchlock
The matchlock was the first mechanism, or "lock" invented to facilitate the firing of a hand-held firearm. This design removed the need to lower by hand a lit match into the weapon's flash pan and made it possible to have both hands free to keep a firm grip on the weapon at the moment of firing,...

 musket
Musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....

s, cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...

s, and petard
Petard
A petard was a small bomb used to blow up gates and walls when breaching fortifications. The term has a French origin and dates back to the sixteenth century...

s. Slow matches were most suitable for use around black powder weapons because a slow match could be roughly handled without going out, and only presented a small glowing tip instead of a large flame that risked igniting nearby gunpowder
Gunpowder
Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...

.

The slow match attached to the lock of the matchlock
Matchlock
The matchlock was the first mechanism, or "lock" invented to facilitate the firing of a hand-held firearm. This design removed the need to lower by hand a lit match into the weapon's flash pan and made it possible to have both hands free to keep a firm grip on the weapon at the moment of firing,...

 gun was usually a length of hemp
Hemp
Hemp is mostly used as a name for low tetrahydrocannabinol strains of the plant Cannabis sativa, of fiber and/or oilseed varieties. In modern times, hemp has been used for industrial purposes including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food and fuel with modest...

 or flax
Flax
Flax is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India and was probably first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent...

 cord that had been chemically treated to make it burn slowly and consistently for an extended period of time. In Japan however, match cord was made from braiding together strands of bark from the Japanese cypress
Chamaecyparis obtusa
Chamaecyparis obtusa is a species of cypress native to central Japan.It is a slow-growing tree which grows to 35 m tall with a trunk up to 1 m in diameter. The bark is dark red-brown...

. The rate of burning was approximately 1 ft (305mm) per hour. The British Army estimated that a single soldier on guard duty, for one year, could use an entire mile worth of match cord. In practical use on a matchlock, both ends of the match cord were often ignited, as the flash of gun powder in the flash pan could often extinguish one end of the match cord, and the remaining end could then be used to re-ignite the firing end of the cord upon reloading the matchlock musket. To prevent dragging the match cord on the wet ground, a linstock
Linstock
A linstock is a staff with a fork at one end to hold a lighted slow match. The name was adapted from the Dutch lontstok, "match stick"...

 was often carried and used, it being a forked wood support inserted into the ground and used for holding the end of the match cord farthest removed from the matchlock.

Many formulas for match cord exist, providing varying burn rates. The predominant chemical used was potassium nitrate
Potassium nitrate
Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the formula KNO3. It is an ionic salt of potassium ions K+ and nitrate ions NO3−.It occurs as a mineral niter and is a natural solid source of nitrogen. Its common names include saltpetre , from medieval Latin sal petræ: "stone salt" or possibly "Salt...

, although sodium nitrate
Sodium nitrate
Sodium nitrate is the chemical compound with the formula NaNO3. This salt, also known as Chile saltpeter or Peru saltpeter to distinguish it from ordinary saltpeter, potassium nitrate, is a white solid which is very soluble in water...

, and lead acetate
Lead acetate
Lead acetate can refer to:* Lead acetate , Pb4* Lead acetate , Pb2...

 also appear to have been used. Potassium nitrate, however, had an advantage over sodium nitrate, through being less likely to absorb atmospheric moisture.

Match cord was often used from the 15th Century until about 1630, when the flintlock
Flintlock
Flintlock is the general term for any firearm based on the flintlock mechanism. The term may also apply to the mechanism itself. Introduced at the beginning of the 17th century, the flintlock rapidly replaced earlier firearm-ignition technologies, such as the doglock, matchlock and wheellock...

 started its rise to prominence. (The arrival of the snaplock
Snaplock
A Snaplock is a particular type of mechanism for firing a gun .A snaplock ignites the weapon's propellant by means of sparks produced when a spring-powered cock strikes a flint down on to a piece of hardened steel...

 after 1540 had only limited impact on match cord use, snaplocks generally being considered a peasant's weapon.) Match cord remained in use with limited numbers of match locks in Europe until approximately 1730, and in Japan until the early 1900s.

Modern-day slow match (used with replica matchlock firearms) is sometimes made of cotton cord, instead of hemp, due to legalities associated with growing hemp plants.

For faster burning and modern-day applications such as for igniting fireworks, tubed black match
Black match
In pyrotechnics, black match is a type of crude fuse, constructed of cotton string fibers intimately coated with a dried black powder slurry....

, sometimes termed quick match, or punk
Punk (fireworks)
A punk is a smoldering stick used for lighting firework fuses. It is safer than a match or a lighter because it can be used from a greater distance and does not use an open flame. Punks often resemble sticks of incense. They are made of bamboo and a brown coating of dried manure or compressed sawdust...

 are generally used instead of slow match.

See also

  • Black match
    Black match
    In pyrotechnics, black match is a type of crude fuse, constructed of cotton string fibers intimately coated with a dried black powder slurry....

     (quick match)
  • Gonne
    Gonne
    A hand cannon is an early form of firearm. It is possibly the oldest type of portable firearm, as well as the simplest type of early firearm, as most examples require direct manual external ignition through a touch hole without any form of firing mechanism. It may also be considered a forerunner...

  • Flash pan
    Flash pan
    The flash pan or priming pan is a small receptacle for priming powder, found next to the touch hole on muzzleloading guns. Flash pans are found on gonnes, matchlocks, wheellocks, snaplocks, snaphances, and flintlocks....

  • Fuse (explosives)
    Fuse (explosives)
    In an explosive, pyrotechnic device or military munition, a fuse is the part of the device that initiates function. In common usage, the word fuse is used indiscriminately...

  • Matchlock
    Matchlock
    The matchlock was the first mechanism, or "lock" invented to facilitate the firing of a hand-held firearm. This design removed the need to lower by hand a lit match into the weapon's flash pan and made it possible to have both hands free to keep a firm grip on the weapon at the moment of firing,...

  • Linstock
    Linstock
    A linstock is a staff with a fork at one end to hold a lighted slow match. The name was adapted from the Dutch lontstok, "match stick"...

  • Punk (fireworks)
    Punk (fireworks)
    A punk is a smoldering stick used for lighting firework fuses. It is safer than a match or a lighter because it can be used from a greater distance and does not use an open flame. Punks often resemble sticks of incense. They are made of bamboo and a brown coating of dried manure or compressed sawdust...

  • Touch hole
    Touch hole
    A touch hole is a small hole, through which the propellant charge of a cannon or muzzleloading gun is ignited. In small arms, the flash from a charge of priming held in the flash pan is enough to ignite the charge within...


External links

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