# Friction primer

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{{short description|Cannon firing device}}
thumb|Most of these British friction primers do not have the wire loop attached.
A '''friction primer''' is a device to initiate the firing of muzzle-loading [cannon](/source/cannon). Each friction primer consists of a [copper](/source/copper) tube filled with [gunpowder](/source/gunpowder). The tube fits into the cannon [touch hole](/source/touch_hole) burying its lower end in the gunpowder chamber. The top end of the tube extending above the touch hole has a short perpendicular spur tube filled with a priming mixture of [antimony sulfide](/source/antimony_sulfide) and [potassium chlorate](/source/potassium_chlorate). A roughened wire slider extends from the outer end of the spur tube through the priming mixture and the gunpowder tube. This slider wire is twisted into a loop on the opposite side of the gunpowder tube.<ref name=manucy1994>{{cite book |last=Manucy |first=Albert C. |title =Artillery Through the Ages |publisher =DIANE Publishing |date =1994 |pages =26-27|oclc=52131217|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250209102330/https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/source/is3/is3b1.htm|archive-date=9 February 2025|url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/source/is3/is3b1.htm|url-status=dead|via=National Park Service}}</ref>

==Operation==
[[File:Early friction primer tube.jpg|thumb|Early friction primer tube photographed in [Heinola](/source/Heinola), [Finland](/source/Finland) in 2015]]
The wire loop may be attached to a [lanyard](/source/lanyard). A sharp tug on the lanyard pulls the roughened slider wire through the priming mixture which responds like a [match](/source/match), igniting the gunpowder in the tube through the touch hole into the main powder charge within the chamber of the cannon. The length of the lanyard allows the person firing the cannon to avoid injury by standing to one side as the cannon [recoil](/source/recoil)s.<ref name=manucy1994/> Friction primers were packed in sawdust in tinned metal boxes for storage and transport.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.civilwarartillery.com/equipment/otheritems.htm |title=Friction Primer Tin |last=Melton |first=Jack W. |website=Civil War Artillery |access-date=10 June 2019 }}</ref>

==See also==
*[Fire piston](/source/Fire_piston)

==Sources==
{{reflist}}

Category:Artillery
Category:Ammunition

{{artillery-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Friction primer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friction_primer) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friction_primer?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.