Perhaps the powder then was of a very poor sort compared to today . Rudyard
Those original examples that I've seen were some kind of hard wood, with the stoppers surrounded by a thin felt banding to act as a seal.
An account like that is interesting. But I’m wonder how much organization, esprit de corps and leadership counts.Another Opium War example of matchlock vs. flintlock combat, although again I can't say how much these results were down to the weapons themselves compared to the quality of the soldiers:
"[the British] flintlocks were immeasurably superior to the ancient matchlocks which the Chinese were using. In the Chuenpi land engagement no British soldier was killed [...] though thirty-eight were injured".
That's from 'The Opium Wars in China' by Edgar Holt.
The battle being referred to above was the Second Battle of Chuenpi in 1841: Second Battle of Chuenpi - Wikipedia
I think one of the major things hindering the Chinese matchlocks compared to the British flintlocks in this war was the fact that Chinese muskets weren't usually made with proper shoulder stocks. Instead they had a sort of truncated grip a bit like a pistol grip, which I imagine didn't make for very accurate shooting. You can see this on the 19th-century photo of the Chinese matchlock musketeer that I've posted before (reposted below):
Another Opium War example of matchlock vs. flintlock combat, although again I can't say how much these results were down to the weapons themselves compared to the quality of the soldiers:
"[the British] flintlocks were immeasurably superior to the ancient matchlocks which the Chinese were using. In the Chuenpi land engagement no British soldier was killed [...] though thirty-eight were injured".
That's from 'The Opium Wars in China' by Edgar Holt.
The battle being referred to above was the Second Battle of Chuenpi in 1841: Second Battle of Chuenpi - Wikipedia
I think one of the major things hindering the Chinese matchlocks compared to the British flintlocks in this war was the fact that Chinese muskets weren't usually made with proper shoulder stocks. Instead they had a sort of truncated grip a bit like a pistol grip, which I imagine didn't make for very accurate shooting. You can see this on the 19th-century photo of the Chinese matchlock musketeer that I've posted before (reposted below):
A conflict like this, between the Victorian English and the Chinese I would take any personal account with a grain of salt. The English would probably exaggerate their success and the Chinese government is not particularly open to research in this period of their history.Another Opium War example of matchlock vs. flintlock combat, although again I can't say how much these results were down to the weapons themselves compared to the quality of the soldiers:
"[the British] flintlocks were immeasurably superior to the ancient matchlocks which the Chinese were using. In the Chuenpi land engagement no British soldier was killed [...] though thirty-eight were injured".
That's from 'The Opium Wars in China' by Edgar Holt.
The battle being referred to above was the Second Battle of Chuenpi in 1841: Second Battle of Chuenpi - Wikipedia
I think one of the major things hindering the Chinese matchlocks compared to the British flintlocks in this war was the fact that Chinese muskets weren't usually made with proper shoulder stocks. Instead they had a sort of truncated grip a bit like a pistol grip, which I imagine didn't make for very accurate shooting. You can see this on the 19th-century photo of the Chinese matchlock musketeer that I've posted before (reposted below):
Not to sound like a huge nerd, but if you play video games, Total War Shogun 2 and it’s expansion Fall of the Samurai, let’s you have big set piece battles between Tanegashima infantry and cap lock/needle file troops. It’s very fun for this type of thing.Since we're talking about East Asia, I should perhaps also mention that Japan was one of the (seemingly) few nations that produced matchlock pistols! I have no idea how these fared in combat compared to a "firelock" pistol, though it would be interesting to know, if anyone here knows anything about them?
I suspect though that many of these Japanese pistols were intended more as a status symbol for the samurai elite, rather than an actual combat weapon. One thing I've noticed about them is that, similar to the East Asian muskets, they seem to have fairly short grips. Not sure how ergonomic they'd be. To my knowledge these were all smoothbore, I haven't yet encountered any examples with rifled barrels, although I admit I'm no expert.
During the 1850s-60s some of these matchlock pistols were converted to percussion, and may have seen service in the Boshin War, although I'm not nearly as familiar with that conflict as I am with the Opium Wars, so I don't know offhand any accounts of their use. However they still retained the awkward ergonomics that they'd had when they were matchlocks (namely the tiny grip).
Here's an example of a Japanese matchlock pistol, and also one that was converted to percussion in the 19th century:
I own it
That why you gotta have crazy uneven custom matches. It’s hard to lose when you have chassepot armed French marines against Yari AshigaruI own it
I'm absolutely awful at strategy games though, so my troops tend to get their butts kicked no matter if they're using matchlocks, caplocks, or gatling guns
Custom battles with an AI ally are usually the way I role. Get the AI friend to manage the big part of the army while I just control one company of grunts to "help"
Restock the barrel be my guess Rudyard
Dear Crableg.You have introduced a refreshing facet of the study of arms , good on you nice change from the usual .& the dedicated TobJohn has found us great research as has the priceless Cyten .
