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Caplock usage in South

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rdillion

40 Cal.
Joined
Jul 14, 2007
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At what timeframe did caplock mountain rifles
begin seeing common usage? I know about when the
percussion cap was invented, but when did these
rifles see usage by the common settler/farmer? :confused:
 
rdillon,

There is an overall concensus that starting around the mid 1830s the caplock halfstock and full stock "plains" type of rifle was seeing some usage in the south. I really mean to emphasize the word SOME.There are a couple of good threads in the reinacting area on a forum titled The Plains. In Texas the was such a dukes mixture of people moving here in the 1820s through 1840's. Now you are using the words common usage. Yep, means alot, What do you say gents..... common usage 1845 and on?

Jay
 
My family had a full stock, brass furniture caplock they brought to Texas from Switzerland pre-1845. Belgian gunmaker named Freres Pierlot. Unfortunately, the rifle was stolen while we were living in Laredo!
 
Common usage began only after production of reliable caps was sufficient to allow an adequate long term supply out West. I think its safe to use mid-40s when talking about Common Usage in the West.

Remember, everything that was used out there was carried on foot, horseback, or on a few steamships, and wagons. That included caps, flints, powder and lead. Flints could be made when certain kinds of rocks were found, in the West, when needed, and supplies ran low, but caps had to be brought from an Easter supplier, often 1,000 miles or more away. Its hard, today, to really understand what those kinds of distances mean, when you don't have cars, trucks, railroads, or airplanes, and no airports, RR terminals, or Interstate highways to get you there.
 
Allmost all of the original Southern mt. rifles
I have seen were flintlocks that at sometime had
been converted to caplock. I guess the common
man would do this when he had a reliable way to get caps. But, I believe he probably bought his
flints instead of making them himself. I know there is flint to be found here in the Arkansas
Ozarks. I have never found any personaly but, I've seen some that was picked up in creek beds.
You would also have to learn how to knapp flint
which is an art in itself.
 
rdillon,

I think you make a durn good point there. Others have made this point also, And it bears attention. Folks in that day and time that were moving had to use what they had when they left home. I would say flintlocks would, in the main probably be in much wider use by settlers due to most having limited means and looking for a new start in the 1830s. They probably knew how to knap flints it would have been an aquired skill.

Jay
 
I've read and talked to old-timers who told me about using caplock blackpowder rifes up until the 1920s and 30s. The Ozark people, at least until recently, are a very resourceful and self-sufficent breed. Don't buy it unless you absolutely need it. The Southern Mt. rifles are my favorite and I quess I'm just looking for an excuse to build one in caplock. I recently finished a 40cal flinter. I really enjoyed making the steel trigger guard, side plate, and
ramrod pipes myself. I purchased the buttplate from TOW, but I'm going to try my hand at making
that part next time.
 
rdillon,

You don't need no excuse pard, the architecture of the southern mountain rifle is one heck of a beaut. And would there have been caplock variants of this rifle? Heck yeah. Go for it and have a blast I say. Send us some pics of them if you can pard we all here appreciate good lookin southern mountain rifles.

Jay
 
Thanks for the info. Enjoyed the conversation. I'll post some photos if I can figure out how. I'll probably have to get the wife to help. Going to be out of pocket for a couple of days. Hope to talk with you soon.

Ross
 
my first deer hunting was with my Dad and an Old Timer named 'Doc Owen' that carried a SXS 12ga caplock shotty. this was in the early '60's, he got his deer and other game with that smoke pole every year until the '70's when he couldn't roam the woods anymore.
I have been bear hunting with dogs 3X (didn't get one - basically it's an excuse for these ol' boys to set up camp in the woods and run their dogs, they have taken bears and look at it as a real bonus when they did) with a group that had fella's toteing caplock rifles (.45 cal) myself I carried my ROA.
 
should have added in the post that these rifles were repro's - CVA's. and the load was a 'double ball' load. other guns the fellas carried were moderns, pistols and rifles, rimfire (.22Mag) and centerfire.
 
I guess my experiences have been somewhat different in that most of the Southern rifles I have seen have been percussion. I have an original plain Southern mountain rifle in my collection that has a percussion lock on it and is about 36 caliber if you want to see pictures of it.
 
I admit I haven't seen many Southern rifles here in Arizona but I have seen a few. They were percussion guns.

In fact just about all of the original muzzleloaders that I see here are percussion. These include full stock and half stock rifles.

Maybe there is something too them cap guns?
 
I used to do volunteer work at the Conner Prairie Museum. The time frame was 1836. Research showed that caps were plentiful in Indiana by then. Flintlocks were still being used but a common fix for flinters then was to convert them to caplock with a drum and nipple and a new hammer. In 1836 Indiana had been a State for 17 years so it was fairly well civilized and settled by then.

I guess you need to look at the presence of water transport,railroad lines and good roads in your area to decide if percussion caps were available.

Flint was on the way out in 1836.

Many Klatch
 
Many Klatch,

That's my opinion also. I am a amatuer Texian historian and have really studied hard, put many hours into numerous tomes and conversation with others more knowledgeable. The flint weapon was not gone but decidedly on it's way to obsolesence by 1836.

Jay
 
The Arkansas Ozarks were pretty well settled by the mid 1830s so I quess those who could afford it were having their flint guns converted to caplock and most new rifles were being built as caplocks. My experiance with a flintlock makes me not blame them one bit. I love shooting my flinter but to tell the truth it can be difficult even in perfect conditions. I have yet to get more than 26 shots out of a flint and most of the time I average around 15 shots. Not meaning to bad-mouth flint locks, I enjoy mine, but I can understand why they upgraded to caplocks.
 
This has been discussed many times and the general concensus is the 1840s. By the middle of that decade the military had adopted the percussion system in earnest.
Considering the remoteness of Appalatia, It would be good to supose flint and percussion were in equal use in the 1860s and 70s.
A percussion gun was no stranger to the Eastern Mountains in 1840. With that being said a new made flint rifle could be found there in 1890.
 
I most always get 50 shots out of a flint. Usually more with careful knapping. I've never been able to get more than one shot out of a cap, even if I knap the hell out of it! :rotf:
 

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