The projectile arms of the Pilgrims were their most important weapons. The American Indian usually preferred to do battle against Europeans in loose formation and at long range, resorting to hand-to-hand combat only in surprise attacks or when he believed that the enemy had been sufficiently decimated and disorganized by his sniping tactics. In addition to their value in warfare, projectile arms were also important in providing the settlers with fresh meat. For these reasons, the evolution of design in such weapons was swifter and more striking than in any other form of military equipment. The most common type of firearm that came to America on the _Mayflower_ was the musket. This was a smooth-bored weapon, usually slightly more than five feet long with a caliber ranging between .69 and .80. The majority of those that the original settlers brought with them were matchlocks. They were fired by pressing the lighted end of a slow match made of a loosely woven rope soaked in nitre into the powder in the priming pan. This was effected by fastening a length of the match to a forked holder known as the serpentine on the outside of the lock which corresponded to the hammer on a modern gun. Pressure on the trigger caused the serpentine to swing in an arc toward the priming pan, thus bringing the match into contact with the powder. Although the mechanism was simple, the loading of a matchlock was a long and complicated procedure. After having fired his musket, the first task of the soldier was to remove his match (which according to regulations was lighted at both ends) so that he would not accidentally ignite any of his powder. To do this he loosened the thumb screw which clamped the match in the fork of the serpentine and grasped the cord with his left hand, holding one of the lighted ends between his second and third fingers and the other end between his third and fourth fingers. Then, seizing the barrel of the gun with the thumb and forefinger of the same hand, he would hold it while he loaded. Having thus prepared the piece to receive the charge, he would use his right hand to open one of the wooden cylinders on his bandolier or the nozzle of his powder flask, depending on which he carried, and pour the contents down the barrel. Next came a ball from his pouch or from his mouth if it was during an action, and finally, a wad of tow or paper. All this was forced home with a rammer. Then he would prime the piece by filling the flash pan with fine-grained powder from a little flask which was suspended from his belt, close the pan cover, and carefully blow away any loose powder.