matchlock
Sign in to saveAlso known as Matchlock gun / Arquebus
thumb|Early German musket with [[serpentine lock.]] A matchlock or firelock 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 his finger. This firing mechanism was an improvement over the hand cannon, which lacked a trigger and required the musketeer or an assistant to apply a match directly to the gunpowder by hand. The matchlock mechanism allowed the musketeer to apply the match himself without losing his concen
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thumb|Early German musket with [[serpentine lock.]] A matchlock or firelock 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 his finger. This firing mechanism was an improvement over the hand cannon, which lacked a trigger and required the musketeer or an assistant to apply a match directly to the gunpowder by hand. The matchlock mechanism allowed the musketeer to apply the match himself without losing his concentration.
==Description== thumb|left|Engraving of musketeers from the Thirty Years' War thumb|left|Various Japanese (samurai) Edo period|Edo-period matchlocks (tanegashima) thumb|left| Jochong (조총/鳥銃), the Korean matchlock musket