When did percussion replace flint?

[capnwilliam]

The first percussion cap was invented, if I remember correctly, around 1807. But when did percussion weapons start to become common? At what point could they be said to have "replaced" flintlocks as the normal, every-day gun for the common man?

 

[Rick Presley]

here some answers to your question. I hope it helps.

Flintlock vs. Percussion

Flintlocks were developed during the early 1600s to replace several other cumbersome arrangements. This system employed a piece of flint (a hard quartz-like stone) that was clamped into the top of the musket hammer. When fired, the hammer fell forward and drove the flint into a vertical, spring-held piece of steel. The steel served a dual purpose: when not being actively used, it was a cover for a small "pan" that contained a priming charge of about ten grains of black powder. In operation, when the flint struck the steel, the steel snapped back exposing the priming charge at the same time a shower of sparks fell into the pan. The sparks ignited the priming charge and passed fire through a small hole in the side of the barrel that communicated with the main powder charge in the barrel. The system worked well when it worked, but was very prone to misfires. The failure of the sparks to ignite the priming charge, a damp priming charge, or a lost priming charge were just some of the reasons the flintlock system was less than adequate.

The percussion system of priming that used the copper percussion cap is popularly credited to the Englishman, Joshua Shaw, who was issued a U.S. patent in 1822. For shoulder arms, the percussion cap looked like a tiny "top hat" and was about the size of a modern pencil eraser. Pistol caps were usually straight-sided without the "brim" and were smaller still. The interior of the percussion cap had a small deposit of fulminate of mercury or another "salt" formed by dissolving a metal in acid. The correct formula produced a substance that exploded when it was struck a sharp blow. After loading the weapon with powder and ball or an externally primed cartridge, a percussion cap was placed by hand onto a hollow tube, called a cone or nipple, at the breech end. With the percussion cap, there was no priming powder to blow away or get wet. The frizzen would not fail to spark during humid conditions. The vent hole (the hole that the spark from the initial explosion traveled through to ignite the powder in the barrel) was not as likely to become fouled with gun powder, thus eliminating the "flash in the pan" that occurred when the powder in the priming pan ignited but the powder in the barrel did not.

The percussion system of priming was more reliable and easier to clean and to use. Dragoon units in the army were armed with percussion weapons from the creation of the unit in 1833. The infantry was slower to adapt, however the regular Army units were armed with percussion weapons by the Civil War, but some of the volunteer units still used flintlocks during the early part of the war.

 

[Zonie]

The Reverend Alexander John Forsyth of Belhlvie in Aberdeenshire, Scotland was an avid bird hunter and he was aware of mixtures of powders which were so unstable they would detonate when subjected to a blow. Although these powders were known in the late 18th Century a practical method of using them was yet to be developed.
In 1807 Forsyth patented a percussion ignition system which is sometimes refered to as a "scent bottle" because the powder was stored in a container which looked like one. The powder was deposited from the bottle into a tube which screwed into the breech of the gun. This was fired when the hammer hit a firing pin which rested on the powder. This system was known as a Tube Lock.
This system (and later designs) were greatly favored by the professionals who competed in Pigeon Shoots in England. There was great interest and very large amounts of money bet on the outcome of these "shoots" so the speed and dependability of the ignition system was of major importance.

I am having a problem finding who came up with the percussion cap as we know it and the exact year, but by the 1820s it seemed to be in wide use by sportsmen and its popularity grew rapidly from then on.
Dillon in THE KENTUCKY RIFLE says that between 1835-1855 over 80% of the flintlock rifles in use had been converted to use the type of precussion cap we use today.

The Mountain Men seemed to like its dependability, especially on the Plains where the high winds could blow the priming powder and flash out of the pan of a flintlock.

The Springfield Armory produced the model 1842 musket which was the first percussion gun adapted by the military for general use. This was a .69 caliber smoothbore first used in the Mexican American War. It was very popular in the Civil War when loaded with buck and ball.

 

[gordy]

Zonie: All that I've read would pretty much agree with You.The percussion cap was being used prior to 1820 but not great in numbers,by 1820 it was becomming quite common.As to who should get credit for it's conception,it is still being debated. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif ::

 

[gordy]

Rick: Great post,very informative! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[musketman]

The percussion lock was invented in 1807 and began to replace flintlocks in large numbers by the 1830's.

Percussion firearms were the dominant technology until the rise of the modern cartridge in the 1860's...

 

As ell, the US, in 1833 only adopted the percussion ignition system in the breech-loading Dragoon carbine (Hall), and in 1841-42 formally extended it's sanction to cover rifles and muskets.
: "EVEN while the Armouries were making it, the M1840(flintlock) was obsolescent."
: The M1842 was the first musket to be formally made in percussion. As well, the M1841 .54cal. (mississipi rifle) was the first rifle to be made in percussion.
: Springfield finished the last of the flintlock M1840's(.69), early in 1844, and by the end of that year, had turned out more than 2,900 of the percussion M1842's.(percussion .69's)
: With the change to minnie-type bullets, most, but not all of the .54's were re-bored to .58 & M1820 muskets to 1840 muskets in good condition, were rifled for the 730gr., .69 Minnie. I would like one of those for personal hunting, I do believe. The Model 1840 had a heavier barrel & tighter tolerances than the earlier muskets, and therefore shot more accurately. Of course, it would remain flint.- HA!
: Bedford County was still turing out flintlocks in 1880, apparently, according one source.
; Many hunters, trappers, mountain men, never did believe the cap-lock would catch on and resisted it. My bother, a modern-mountain man of sorts, says the same thing today.
Daryl

 

[Stumpkiller]

Zonie,

I think I gotta take a polite contrary with you on what a tube lock was as opposed to a Forsythe bottle. My understanding of a tube lock is that a tiny tube with fulminate of mercury is inserted in the touch-hole and the hammer crushes the tube - igniting the fulminate in the tube. Forsythe's bottle (mounted on the side plate so it could tip and deposit the priming) held little loose pellets of fulminate - no tube involved. It may well be that Forsythe invented both - but they are different systems.

Each system had faults. A split tube plugged the vent, and a spark hitting the bottle next to the vent made a very impressive eye-level grenade.

I'm going from memory here at work - but I'm pretty sure.

 

[Zonie]

Stumpkiller: You may be right.
My original source was from SPORTING GUNS by Richard Akehurst, pp45-46 in which he says: "...The original Forsyth precussion ignition involved a small magazine, which from its shape is often referred to as the 'scent bottle'. When turned, this magazine deposited a small quantity of detonating powder into a tube that screwed into the breech and at the same time formed the axis for the magazine; which was then returned to its upright position. The powder was ignited when the firing pin, fitted with a return spring, was hit by the hammer..."

The Encyclopedia Britannica 1971 Vol 20 page 668 says:
"...Working at his manse, Forsyth made his first precussion lock in 1805 and patented it in 1807 after some months of experimenting...His compound was basically potassium chlorate. When placed in a tube communicating with the bore of a gun and struck by the hammer it produced a flash strong enough to ignite the charge..."
"...Pellets and tubes filled with the compound were tried in the so-called pill and tube locks.(ed.: note they do differentiate between them) Then came the precussion cap claimed by several as an invention. Joshua Shaw, an Anglo-American living in Philadelphia developed the device in the United States but was refused a patent because he was not a U.S. citizen at the time. The first caps, shaped somewhat like the top hat of the period, were made first of iron (1814), then of pewter(1815) and finally (1816) of copper..."

The Encyclopedia goes on to describe how these things work.

 

Here's the formula - 5 parts potassium clorate, 1 part sulfer, 1 part charcoal.
: I used this for my own percussion caps, combined & mixed into a slurry, then one drop per cap from the Forester tap-o-cap.
: I got this formula from my book on Underhammer guns. I wrote about this to the Association of Primitive Riflemen, back in the 80's or 70's - can't remember. I received a letter from a chemical engineer who stated that this formula was OUTLAWED as a priming mixture in 1898 due to it being unstable. It certainly was explosive & made a nice hot cap, however a bit corrosive if not cleaned same day as shooting, even in a dry climate.
It was stated that a change in climate could detonate it. Well, mine never has and there still is a bunch of pwder around somewhere in the shop - perhaps 1/4 ounce of it in a tiny glass bottle for 20 years. I used sublimed sulfer(flour of sulfer) which is more highly refined than anything they had. I also used, instead of charcoal, ground up briquets for their gritty properties, which is what the charcoal was for, apparently. The stuff worked great, but was corrosive and worlds better than kids toy caps. Oh, BTW- this compound was used in the tube locks, probably Forsythe's scent bottle, and for pill locks & percussion caps. When dry, it is a grey dust. I've even ground small chunks in a mortor and pestile without detonating it. A smack with a hammer, will detonate this stuff, even in a fine powder. Quite a mix, it's chemicals are all available at a pharmacy, except perhaps the briquets - be warned, in it's original formula, it is sensitive to all changes, atmospheric and impact & may detonate withou warning- danger, danger. I really liked it. OK - so lock me up already.- HA!
Daryl

 

According to my 1940 Bannerman's Catalog, the first was made in 1805 and was called a Forsyth Magazine Lock (tube lock) and looks like this:

The second, patented in 1807, was the Forsyth Lock and looked like this:

Hope this helps. The Bannerman Catalog is chock full of all the old firearms. :winking: