linstock
Sign in to savethumb|A linstock thumb|Firing of a field gun of the early 17th century with a linstock A linstock (also called a lintstock) is a staff with a fork at one end to hold a lighted slow match. The name was adapted from the Dutch lontstok, "match stick". Linstocks were used for discharging cannons in the early days of artillery; the linstock allowed the gunner to stand further from the cannon as it was dangerous applying the lighted match to the touch hole at the breech of the gun. Not only could the charge flash back, but the recoil of the cannon might send the carriage toward the gunner.
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- Design
- Obsolescence
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thumb|A linstock thumb|Firing of a field gun of the early 17th century with a linstock A linstock (also called a lintstock) is a staff with a fork at one end to hold a lighted slow match. The name was adapted from the Dutch lontstok, "match stick". Linstocks were used for discharging cannons in the early days of artillery; the linstock allowed the gunner to stand further from the cannon as it was dangerous applying the lighted match to the touch hole at the breech of the gun. Not only could the charge flash back, but the recoil of the cannon might send the carriage toward the gunner.
== Design == Linstocks had curving arms called a serpentine that ended with a pinching metal jaw to grip the slow match, and a sharp point at the base to stick in the ground. In emergencies, gunners could use the spear blade as a weapon to defend the cannon.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “linstock” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.