Slow Match Help!

[Smokey Plainsman]

So I have a new Veteran Arms handgonne and it’s really cool. I used the 1/4” cotton cord that veteran arms sells to make some slow match using their recommended method of dissolving a few tablespoons of black powder in water and letting the match soak for several hours, then dried it.

Well, it didn’t work too well! It didn’t want to stay lit and didn’t even light the powder in the pan on the handgonne. I resorted to lighting a leaf on fire and using that!

Can someone either recommend a source for good quality usable slow match, or let me know what I need to do to prepare this cord properly? Thanks gang!

 

[Pukka Bundook]

Look up hemp rope or twine Smokey.
Susan Wallace at Silver Shuttle used to sell it. (Memphis, TN) I got a few rolls and there's maybe a hundred yards to a roll!
its twisted and stays twisted.
Thickness is about an eighth on an inch. Thicker would be better but it works awful well!

Soak this in gunpowder or potash, and it will work fine. Wood ashes works about as well.
Apart from tree fungus, this is all I use.
That cotton clothesline is pretty sad stuff!

 

[Teleoceras]

Smokey:

I made a video 10 years ago to show how I make slowmatch at home. Slowmatch video

 

[Rudyard]

There you are good advice from experts . For my own part .For the common matchlock musket or caliver needing bigger sizes I use old sash cord that has unlike modern stuff no inner plastic like core if it often comes hard & waxy it should soften with boiling for the small typically Indian Matchlocks & one of my snap M locks I platted some macrame string & I sized it once treated & dried with a smearing of wallpaper paste glue so it won't unravel . Hope that helps .Happy Hand Gonneing .
Regards Rudyard

 

[Canute Rex]

Smokey,

Rudyard is right that you need larger diameter cord. I get braided hemp from R&W Rope, but I have to buy it by the spool. Generally 10-12mm (3/8" to 1/2").

The most important thing is to buck the match. That is, boil it in wood ash liquor (potassium carbonate) and rinse it. That gets the lignin out so there is less ash and it burns more evenly. I have used double bucked hemp as-is, without saltpeter. If you use potassium nitrate/saltpeter/gunpowder, go light on it. Just enough to give is a little boost. Otherwise you get a dangerous snap crackle pop.

Really good match will burn to a cone shape like a sharpened pencil on the end.

I've written several posts with detailed instructions on making match.

Good luck!

 

[Rudyard]

Canute Rex. You clearly know your matchcords " Make a better match cord & the world will beat a path to your door "! I once engraved that on the underside of a Matchlock it hasn't resulted in too much beaten paths . or not physical ones . But we in NZ bought my snap matchlocks and we had a " Brother Hood Cup" vis' ' Brother Hood of the burning rope' sort of fun group mostly with MLAIC competition in mind . I never aspired to Worlds events. But hunted with mine The stocks usually made from old Church roof because it was available probably Miro a NZ Native . I often fitted rifled brl options ones a 50 smooth with a 54 rifled same stock some 40 cal smooth & 45 rifled most all having copious Dragons . Well naturally .
Regards Rudyard

 

[Pukka Bundook]

Good to see some of your pictures again Rudyard!
Although the slow match I have is a bit thin, it works very well with a lovely hot cone to the tip. It can be used in a snaplock that will not take the proper sized slow match the later guns took.
I had a niggling doubt that I was remembering the thickness wrong so just measured some.
Being hand twisted apparently, it varies a bit and goes from just under a quarter inch, to a bit more than a quarter, so I lied when I told you an eighth! (1/8) !!

 

[Rudyard]

Good to see some of your pictures again Rudyard!
Although the slow match I have is a bit thin, it works very well with a lovely hot cone to the tip. It can be used in a snaplock that will not take the proper sized slow match the later guns took.
I had a niggling doubt that I was remembering the thickness wrong so just measured some.
Being hand twisted apparently, it varies a bit and goes from just under a quarter inch, to a bit more than a quarter, so I lied when I told you an eighth! (1/8) !!

Dear Pukka No worries if it works don't fix it Pics mixed bag but the Mud hut & my mate Paul Hosier the mechanic who I rescued when my boy told me he was penniless & asking for food from their compound . he was good company & a' brother chip' re travels. Going 17th c you can be rough & still right. The Squatting me shows the rock drill Cape Dutch flint affair .
Regards Rudyard

 

[russellshaffer]

I am having really good results with hemp cord from Joanne's Fabric. It works OK right off of the spool but better if bucked and treated with potassuim nitrate. Follow the suggestions posted here for that. Our club had a fun shoot recently, very informal, and my homemade matchlock was fired by several people. 10 to 15 (??) shots with zero misfires. My cord starts out at 1/8 and ends up at 3/16 after being soaked. A small very hot coal works far better for me than a larger (cotton) cooler one. I bought my potash from a garden supply, easier and cleaner than wood ashes. It has been quite an adventure getting the gun to fire reliably.

 

[RAEDWALD]

A few years ago I did some assorted trials of match cord using my integrated pan match lock, less gun. To see how fast and easily it set off the powder in the pan and how long the cord lasted. Hemp proved to be the best material. The key treatment was the alkaline wash of ‘bucking’ to remove the lignin which builds up the soft ash. Soaking in a saturated solution of lead acetate allowed the cord to last longer, gave a hotter coal and far less ash. Cool red coals covered in soft ash gave some misfires and momentary hang fires. I imagine that the heat took time to penetrate into the powder. Occasionally the only result was the cool cord just mechanically splashed the powder out of the pan with no ignition. The addition of lead acetate into bucked hemp cord was well worth the extra work. Soaking in saltpetre just added to the tendency to produce sparks and dribbling ash and the sparks gave a couple of NDs.

FWIW I found lead acetate even helped fungus short sticks lit from a long cord kept in a safe match holder. I liked the fungus system best.

 

[Pukka Bundook]

Can I ask where you find the lead acetate John?
It may prove useful, although my hemp match seems to work very well!

 

[RAEDWALD]

I used lead birdshot left in strong vinegar (ie acetic acid) over the summer, topping up the vinegar from time to time and shaking the mix. Afterwards I let the vinegar dry out, gave the shot a good shake and strained out the shot into a bowl of water. Then let the water dry out and collected the spiky lead acetate crystals. Next time I did it I cheated and added hydrogen peroxide to the lead and vinegar to speed it all up. Same result but it took an afternoon and not a whole summer. There are doubtless health and safety reason not to do what I did with the hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid…………..

Or you can just order some lead acetate powder on line. My Amazon has it. Do look up the health and safety considerations. For the task in hand it should be no problem unless you are in the habit of drinking and eating random chemicals.

To use the lead acetate I heated up enough water that would cover the ball of bucked cord, added lead acetate until no more would dissolve (ie a saturated solution) then put the coiled bucked cord into a ziplock bag and added the water and left it overnight. Lastly spread the coil out flat to dry in the sun. Flat so that it does not drain away from the higher parts. When dry, job’sa good’un.

 

[Carteret Kid]

https://www.gggodwin.com/Slow-Match-246S_p_744.html

 

[Loyalist Dave]

So I have a new Veteran Arms handgonne and it’s really cool. I used the 1/4” cotton cord that veteran arms sells to make some slow match using their recommended method of dissolving a few tablespoons of black powder in water and letting the match soak for several hours, then dried it.

Well, it didn’t work too well! It didn’t want to stay lit and didn’t even light the powder in the pan on the handgonne. I resorted to lighting a leaf on fire and using that!

Can someone either recommend a source for good quality usable slow match, or let me know what I need to do to prepare this cord properly? Thanks gang!

I just went on eBay and bought a small amount of Potassium Nitrate powder, that may be listed as KNO₃. It's sold for folks to make biodiesel. Do Not buy "stump killer" as it may not be very pure, and you don't necessarily know what else with be in the smoke when you burn a slow match made with stump killer.

I took a plastic pitcher, hot water, and a couple tablespoons of the stuff, and dumped my hemp cord and a piece of all cotton cord into the solution, and let it soak overnight.

I removed the cords and hung them up to air dry for a couple days, and I saved the KNO₃ solution. I use my slow match to set off my mortar cannon, and the procedure worked just fine. IF it hadn't worked very well, I would've added another teaspoon or so to the solution and tried it again. What you're looking for, I'm sure you know but I add this for anybody just starting out, you want a good smoldering "match" with a red hot tip, tough to put out without water. IF you get too much KNO₃ in the match, it burns a lot faster, and you have a slow fuse, not a match. It will still work but you will waste a lot of it between shots as it burns faster..., though not nearly as fast green canon fuse on fireworks, etc

LD

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

Dry flat ... don't hang it ...

 

[Billy-by-gosh]

There are a number of options - some seem a bit better, based on preference & need.
Material for your cord: Cotton works, some prefer Hemp or Sisal. My own view is to use BRAIDED cord (instead of twisted rope).
The primary thing is to remove the lignin fiber present in your cord. Lignin causes soft ash to form while burning, and that stuff is problematic for match cord. Remove lignin by boiling the cord in lye water for 15-60 minutes. I suppose any strong basic solution might work, but lye is the historical item.
[You may purchase lye, but it's cheaper for me to use the ashes from the fireplace or grill to make lye water.]
Take cord out of the solution and Rinse it Very well. It's important to dry it laying flat.
At that point, I test the dried cord to see if it will work acceptably, and it usually does. If not, you may soak it your preferred accelerant (saltpeter, lead acetate, black powder, etc).
Main thing, as always, take joy in doing the work!

 

[thesethawa]

So I have a new Veteran Arms handgonne and it’s really cool. I used the 1/4” cotton cord that veteran arms sells to make some slow match using their recommended method of dissolving a few tablespoons of black powder in water and letting the match soak for several hours, then dried it.

Well, it didn’t work too well! It didn’t want to stay lit and didn’t even light the powder in the pan on the handgonne. I resorted to lighting a leaf on fire and using that!

Can someone either recommend a source for good quality usable slow match, or let me know what I need to do to prepare this cord properly? Thanks gang!

I'm making my first match for my homemade handgonne today. I'm using an older method, where you boil the rope in a wood ash solution and rinse it til the water is clear. I'm using 3/8" sisal rope... Probably overkill and too big, but I've never done this before and I didn't want it to be too small. I'll let you know how it works out.

 

[flintlock75]

So I have a new Veteran Arms handgonne and it’s really cool. I used the 1/4” cotton cord that veteran arms sells to make some slow match using their recommended method of dissolving a few tablespoons of black powder in water and letting the match soak for several hours, then dried it.

Well, it didn’t work too well! It didn’t want to stay lit and didn’t even light the powder in the pan on the handgonne. I resorted to lighting a leaf on fire and using that!

Can someone either recommend a source for good quality usable slow match, or let me know what I need to do to prepare this cord properly? Thanks gang!

I use 3/8” cotton cord, soak it in potassium nitrate over night then hang to dry, glows hot and is very reliable.

 

[Pukka Bundook]

Best dried flat, as the solution drains to the ends when hanging, Flintlock.

 

[Irishmusket]

100% pure cotton woven sash cord slightly smaller than quarter of an inch available from rope and knot on the web.1wash and soak in boiling water about 15 minutes take it out and let dry.2 When it completely dry .place a solution 3 table spoons of saltpeter per pint of water in your pot heat it up to almost a boil place your cord in the pot
4 turn off heat let soak at least a hour to assure total saturation about an hour if cord has completely submerged if not soak until it dose .5 remove match from pot to dry never hang to dry.Always lay flat on to to prevent cold spots this match will be very good it dose burn a little faster than some recipes but more than good enough for the job I have been making for matchlock for over 40 years never failed me I hunt with these alot