Slow Match

[rickystl]

Hello All. Sometime back I read here on the Forum of someone who sold ready-to-use, autentic looking slow match. I wrote it down, but have since mis-placed it. I know I can buy it from DGW, or make it myself. But do any of you know of another source ?
Thanks for any help.

Rick

 

[curator]

Rick,

Try these folks, I have bought slow match from them, very good quality. http://www.sykesutler.com/musket2.htm

 

[rickystl]

That's it. Thanks Curator.

Rick

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

FWIW if you need matchcord, I've had great success with the cord sold here - reliable shipping and even more - a reliable product; always consistent, never sputters, easily takes the char/spark and works!

It is cheaper than Sykes too, as $4 per 5-feet ( $0.80/ft) versus $3.50 per yard ($ 1.17/ft) but I have not used Sykes product.
http://www.metamuseum.com/us/slowmatch/index.cfm

If nothing else, having an alternate source is a good thing!

 

[rickystl]

THANK YOU !!!!

Rick

 

[Gene L]

Several years ago, a woman posted a thread on some other site about a matchlock gun. At the bottom of the stock was a cup about the size of a quarter (looked that way) with a perforated cover.

What I thought at the time was it was a container for a match, but the more I think if it, I now believe it was a cup to hold smouldering material to relight the match.

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

What I thought at the time was it was a container for a match, but the more I think if it, I now believe it was a cup to hold smouldering material to relight the match.

Interesting ... probably a burning/smoldering punk or such.

 

[Gene L]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking, just couldn't come up with the word "punk." Smoldering bit of material.

Just the other day when looking at snap-matchlock guns did the little light bulb go on over my head. It's been probably about ten years since I saw the original post, but mention of a snap lock frequently putting out the match made me think how helpful it would be to have a way of re-lighting the match.

IIRC, it was a nice gun the feature was in. But beyond that, I can't remember.

 

[coloradoclyde]

It's an idea that "makes sense"....but I don't think is very practical....
I wish you had a picture....
Match cord is very easy to light with a flint and steel.....I also haven't been able to find any examples of such.....so this tell me it wasn't widely popular...

One could keep his entire match in the box during inclement weather.... :hmm: :idunno:

 

[Gene L]

It's the only one I ever saw, so I doubt it was popular. It does make sense, so I suppose in this one instance, someone MIGHT have done it. I can think of no other reason for a perforated cup container inlet into the butt of a match lock.

It was a long time ago since I saw it and beyond a cursory memory, I have nothing to add. I have almost zero knowledge of match locks over what I've read here and other places.

Flint and steel will certainly do the trick on a match, but not as quickly as an ember in the container in the butt. Plus you don't have to lay your gun down and strike a spark.

I don't even remember if it was a cheek-fired gun or a shoulder-fired gun. I do remember a woman owned it and was asking about it. No one had any good ideas, including me. I thought at the time it was to hold more match, but the depth IIRC wasn't sufficient to do so.

 

[Cpl. Ashencheeks]

I have two hanks of braided cord from DGW.

While it does burn fairly slow, it is somewhat narrow in diameter. Mine burns about an inch every 2.5 to 3 minutes. Burn time varies, but it does burn slow and clean with with no spatter or unravelling. It would be good stealth cord because of the low amount of smoke, it might be advantageous to hunting purposes.

I think they had Japanese matchlock weapons in mind when they started making these. You would have to make some kind of adapter to accommodate the smaller diameter to use them in most European style matchlocks with maybe the exception of some Italian petronel or pistol matchlocks.

Although I have not tried it yet, it is said hemp has more reliable ignition properties and burns hotter than cotton cord though.

To make your own there is website called The Slow Match Web Site:
http://www.metamuseum.com/us/SlowMatch/

Look at the links at that website and you will also find a Swiss website that has great instructions for making your own match cord.

 

[Cpl. Ashencheeks]

I had not noticed the link I placed has already been posted.

 

[coloradoclyde]

I made some match cord by soaking it in BP and water for a week and then drying it....
I made some from cotton sash cord and some from sisal rope....The sisal seems to work better. the sash cord has too tight of a weave, but the sisal tend to unravel.

 

[Grullaguy]

I have been experimenting with making my own match cord. I am pleased with the results of using a variety of cotton materals, braided and boiled in a solution of wood ash. No potassium nitrate added.

My demands might be less than others, but for the sake of other's reviews, I would be willing to mail cord for others to try at no cost. The bad news is that postage from Canada would be a little over $6 Canadian dollars.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Have you tried the nitrated cord for comparison?

 

[Grullaguy]

I haven't, as nitrate is a controlled substance up here and black powder is expensive and often hard to obtain.

 

[coloradoclyde]

How about stale urine?

It doesn't take much BP to make match cord...About one rifle shot's worth will do....

Makes me wonder what you're using the cord for if you can't get BP?

 

[Zonie]

You might try to see if anyone is selling a powdered "stump remover".

This is mixed with water to break down the wood fibers.

It is also, often, potassium nitrate.
Check the label before buying it.

If it contains potassium nitrate, your in business. :grin:

 

[Grullaguy]

Stale urine adds not much else than stale urine to match cord.

That said, stale urine is a very important ingredient when making a nitre bed.

I have a small quantity of KNo3 gleaned from such a bed, which was gathered with a great deal of labour. It is probably about 80-90% pure. I have been keeping it only because it was so much trouble to make. Maybe, I should just move on and test it on a slow match experiment.

 

[Grullaguy]

All the easy sources of saltpetre have long dried up in Canada including agricultural and gardening supplies.

My intent was to try bp or some nitrate if the wood ash solution did not work.
I was so pleased with the ash results that I experimented no further.

As I said in the post above, I will dig into my half cup of saltpetre and do a comparison test for the curious.

I saw somewhere on a historic site, a recipe calling for 1 cup of ashes, a heaping tbsp of nitrate into a gallon of water. The cord would then be boiled and left in the solution until it was cool. I since have boiled the ash and water and strained off the water to later boil the cord in. Otherwise, everything in the vicinity of the cord becomes coated with ash, when the cord is dry.