Were percussion single shots carried capped?

What it says on the tin. How were martial single shot percussion pistols carried when anticipating action? Would they be at half cock and capped in the saddle holster or tucked in a belt? Would they be carried with the hammer lowered onto the cap for retention (a bit sketchy)? Would they be uncapped, or even unloaded, until being drawn for use? Anyone have any regulations from the period on this?

AtlatlMan said:

pistols carried when anticipating action?

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It's kind of simple in that case, capped hammer down with complete awareness that it's in that condition

Betcha they didnt do appendix carry back then.

necchi said:

It's kind of simple in that case, capped hammer down with complete awareness that it's in that condition

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As necchi said. It would have based on what conditions they expected to encounter. Certainly loaded the majority of the time. And capped, hammer down if trouble was close. They would have carried in what ever fashion that allowed a quick response. The only regulation that I'm aware of when single shot percussion pistols were carried was to stay alive.

Carrying with the hammer down on the cap to retain it certainly makes the most sense. I ask however only because I was always taught to never leave the hammer down on a cap on account of the thin risk a drop or hard bonk on the hammer might just set the thing off, but for all I know that's a modern safetyism our ancestors were far less fussy about.

You are correct.

I carry mine on half cock. I routinely test half cock to be certain that it is properly working.

The five shot load is at least mentioned. Hammer down on an empty chamber

Those guys weren't as safety conscious as we are today

Remember that Flintlock Muskets were primed from the cartridge, at half cock, and then loaded. If the cock slipped off half cock on a worn lock or something gave out, oh well , say goodbye to some of your fingers or a hand. I get the chills just thinking about having my hand over the muzzle, ramming a cartridge down the pipe on a primed and half cocked musket. Then again I'm not facing a Battalion of Redcoats either.

Carrying a pistol capped on half cock or with the hammer down on a cap was the least of those guys concerns. Also, they didn't load up until combat was expected, even if the day prior or hours prior.......or even when the troop lines were forming up just like Infantryman with rifles or muskets. No one was riding or walking around for extended periods with loaded weapons.

It would have been situationally dependent. If you were in Indian Country and ambushes or bushwacks were possible, you'd have loaded and capped pistols. If you were a Cavalryman in the Mexican War, where it was pretty well known when a Mexican Division was located somewhere, you'd load when battle was joined.

The nipple cover, or cone cap, or whatever it was called that was on a chain hanging off the Enfield rifle also covered the percussion cap, so it was safer to carry with the hammer on a capped nipple. So maybe something like that was sometimes used.

nick_1 said:

I carry mine on half cock. I routinely test half cock to be certain that it is properly working.

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The half cock was most likely often used as a "safety" back then. I've seen original pistols and rifles with a half cock that puts the hammer nose just above the cap. I think these particular weapons were capped at full cock then the hammer was lowered to half cock.

Loaded flintlock pistols would have been carried half cocked and I doubt many frizzen covers were used

Stantheman86 said:

Those guys weren't as safety conscious as we are today

Remember that Flintlock Muskets were primed from the cartridge, at half cock, and then loaded. If the cock slipped off half cock on a worn lock or something gave out, oh well , say goodbye to some of your fingers or a hand. I get the chills just thinking about having my hand over the muzzle, ramming a cartridge down the pipe on a primed and half cocked musket. Then again I'm not facing a Battalion of Redcoats either.

Carrying a pistol capped on half cock or with the hammer down on a cap was the least of those guys concerns. Also, they didn't load up until combat was expected, even if the day prior or hours prior.......or even when the troop lines were forming up just like Infantryman with rifles or muskets. No one was riding or walking around for extended periods with loaded weapons.

It would have been situationally dependent. If you were in Indian Country and ambushes or bushwacks were possible, you'd have loaded and capped pistols. If you were a Cavalryman in the Mexican War, where it was pretty well known when a Mexican Division was located somewhere, you'd load when battle was joined.

The nipple cover, or cone cap, or whatever it was called that was on a chain hanging off the Enfield rifle also covered the percussion cap, so it was safer to carry with the hammer on a capped nipple. So maybe something like that was sometimes used.

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It's called Situational Awareness, very few professions these days demand that one truly understands what that means.

TDM said:

It's called Situational Awareness, very few professions these days demand that one truly understands what that means.

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Situational Awareness was the difference between getting caught in a 2-sided Indian ambush with empty pistols vs being able to shoot back or just knowing when enemy troops were in the vicinity

Most people these days live in a bubble

I have busted hundreds of miles of brush with my hawken loaded on half cock. I uncap to negotiate really dangerous terrain like stream crossing on slippery rocks, very steep sections and climbing into tree stands.

I would never Carry Hammer down on a cap. One little bump ....

AtlatlMan said:

I was always taught to never leave the hammer down on a cap

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Yeah, but you were obviously never taught what it's like to be in a situation where "anticipated action" was required,,
,that was your question.
I don't know about you, but I was taught to be ready to shoot back if shot at,,
I'm not going to risk loosing a cap that's needed with a half-cock safety mode
Safety goes out the window when your life is at risk,,
You framed the question.

necchi said:

Yeah, but you were obviously never taught what it's like to be in a situation where "anticipated action" was required,,
,that was your question.
I don't know about you, but I was taught to be ready to shoot back if shot at,,
I'm not going to risk loosing a cap that's needed with a half-cock safety mode
Safety goes out the window when your life is at risk,,
You framed the question.

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In point of fact, yes, I have. Just not with muzzleloaders. I was seeding in an idle anecdote from when I learned to shoot when I was ten. There's no need to get insulting.

Any answer to if anything was done in the period is almost always "yes"

Some guys probably half cocked , some put the hammer down on a cap, I'm sure some guys were as inventive as we are today and in their down time laying around camp for weeks or months at a time made home brew cap covers out of whatever they could fashion

If they were smart enough to tie Walker loading levers up they would have been inventive enough to rig up something out of leather or scrap fabric to cushion the cap that dropped off when you cocked the gun

AtlatlMan said:

In point of fact, yes, I have. Just not with muzzleloaders. I was seeding in an idle anecdote from when I learned to shoot when I was ten. There's no need to get insulting.

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I don’t believe anything insulting was said. It’s just not possible to equate habits of the past where guns were used for survival, either for food or defense, with all the modern do’s and don’ts.

AtlatlMan said:

Carrying with the hammer down on the cap to retain it certainly makes the most sense. I ask however only because I was always taught to never leave the hammer down on a cap on account of the thin risk a drop or hard bonk on the hammer might just set the thing off, but for all I know that's a modern safetyism our ancestors were far less fussy about.

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didn't matter back in them times., you had to worry about keeping your top not, not getting shot by it if and when it hit the ground! a verry different time!

Stantheman86 said:

The half cock was most likely often used as a "safety" back then. I've seen original pistols and rifles with a half cock that puts the hammer nose just above the cap. I think these particular weapons were capped at full cock then the hammer was lowered to half cock.

Loaded flintlock pistols would have been carried half cocked and I doubt many frizzen covers were used

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I have several muzzle loading long guns that do not have a half cock on the tumblers. so carried with the hammer on the cap or at full cock, just pull the trigger.