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Early German musket with serpentine lock. A matchlock or firelock [1] is a historical type of firearm wherein the gunpowder is ignited by a burning piece of flammable cord or twine that is in contact with the gunpowder through a mechanism that the musketeer activates by pulling a lever or trigger with their finger.
Japanese ashigaru firing hinawajū.Night-shooting practice, using ropes to maintain proper firing elevation. Tanegashima (), most often called in Japanese and sometimes in English hinawajū (火縄銃, "matchlock gun"), was a type of matchlock-configured [1] arquebus [2] firearm introduced to Japan through the Portuguese Empire in 1543. [3]
This toradar is probably used for hunting. The decoration on the stock shows various animal figures e.g. buffaloes, panthers, etc. The toradar (Hindi: तोरादार, Persian: تورادار, Punjabi: ਤੋਰਾਦਾਰ) was a type of matchlock musket that played a pivotal role in shaping the military landscape of South Asia, particularly within the Mughal Empire, from the 16th to ...
Antiquated Tanegashima matchlock guns are also known to have been used by the bakufu however. [25] Imperial troops mainly used Minié rifles, which were much more accurate, lethal, and had a much longer range than the smoothbore "geweer"-style guns, although, being also muzzle-loading, they were similarly limited to two shots per minute.
The firing mechanism was typically either a matchlock or a flintlock. Since flintlock mechanisms were complex and difficult to manufacture, many jezails used the lock mechanism from captured or broken Brown Bess muskets. The stocks were handmade and ornately decorated, featuring a distinctive curve which is not seen in the stocks of other muskets.
A wall gun's barrel could be over 4.5 feet (140 cm) in length with a bore of at least 1 inch (2.5 cm). This made them more accurate than the standard flintlock or matchlock musket. George Washington acquired several wall guns during the American War of Independence.
The Malays also made small mallets to drive the musket balls down the barrel. [28]: 99–100 A Japanese arquebus (135 cm (53 in) long) and a Balinese istinggar (190.5 cm (75.0 in) long). Minangkabau people of interior Sumatra are renowned for their manufacture of gunpowder-based weapons.
Muskets of the 16th to 19th centuries were accurate enough to hit a target of 50 cm (20 in) in diameter at a distance of 100 m (330 ft). At the same distance, musket bullets could penetrate a steel bib about 4 mm (0.16 in) thick, or a wooden shield about 130 mm (5.1 in) thick. The maximum range of the bullet was 1,100 m (1,200 yd).