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Hi, all.

I thought this was a neat picture, so i said; "i'll share, why not?" It's not mine, I stole it from online.

A revolving matchlock. I assume it's a musket, but it might have a rifled bore.

Cool, no? Ok, the things were expensive, and relatively fragile, and some pressure was lost with each shot as the gases from the exploding powder would escape through the gap between cylinder and breech... But... It looks cool, so that's all that counts... Right?

It does look cool and I would certainly give it house room.

Trouble with match locks is it is hard get decent pyjama cord nowadays.

You can make your own, my father made several of those 'thingys' for making pyjama cord and once you have one it quite a quick job to produce lengths of cord.

Ah but there was pyjama cord and then there was pyjama cord.

Not all pyjama cords were equals.

This is very nice stuff made from finest cotton or silk if so desired, I have just had a look but cannot see any here.

The core is important.

What about sash cord?

I have found it too tight a weave.

Actually the best match I've used was twisted sisal, I've also made some up from twisting tow it worked well to but I had problems getting a consistent diameter.

The trick seems to be the matches ability to hold the requisite amount of saltpeter. Old recipes talk about ashes and lye in the mix as well.

Fascinating isn't it?

I've often wondered about the slow match used for touching off fireworks. It seems to have a controlled burn rate so might it be treated with a combustant?
The other source I have told was used by old aquaintances in the Sealed Knot is hurricane lamp wick, which can be bought by the roll and comes in different width and quality.
Mind you, I haven't shot a matchlock in over 30 years, so memory is not what I think it is/was