snapping matchlock
Snapping Matchlock is a type of matchlock mechanism used to ignite early firearms. It was used in Europe from about 1475 to 1640, and in Japan from 1543 till about 1880.
The serpentine (a curved lever with a clamp on the end) was strongly spring-loaded, and released by pressing a button, pulling a trigger, or even pulling a short string passing into the mechanism. The slow match held in the clamp swung into a flash pan containing priming powder. The flash from the flash pan travelled through the touch hole igniting the main propellant charge of the gun. As the match was often extinguished after its relatively violent collision with the flash pan, this type fell out of favour with soldiers, but was often used in fine target weapons.
The technology was transported to Japan (in 1543) by Portuguese and flourished there until the 1900s. The Japanese Matchlock, or Tanegashima was based on an unknown model of Portuguese snapping matchlock, but was refined so that the difficulties with self-extinguishing matches were almost eliminated.
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