Slow match

The slow match attached to the lock of the matchlock gun was usually a length of hemp or flax cord[2] that had been chemically treated to make it burn slowly and consistently for an extended period.

The British Army estimated that a single soldier on guard duty, for one year, could use an entire mile's worth of match cord.

Match cord remained in use with limited numbers of matchlocks in Europe until approximately 1730, and in Japan until the early 1900s.

Even once it became obsolete for small arms use, some artillery users (notably the Royal Navy) continued to deploy it as a backup until the end of the flintlock era.

Historic England published a well illustrated account of the investigation of conservation work on a slow match pouch found in the intertidal zone at Medmerry, West Sussex, now in the collection of the National Museum of the Royal Navy.