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caplock
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MikeChapin
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I believe that Jed Smith was carrying a Hawken caplock when he disappeared in 1836.
navaman said:
If that's why you asked your original question, here's a discussion that may be of interest.
[url] http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/193336[/url]
Last edited by a moderator:
You asked and I looked it up on the website. Wasn't meant as a smart remark just facts that I found to help you out. Take it for what is is worth. I am guessing that the good Rev. might have worked on the cap in order to feed his family. Also not many Rev. at that time were full time ministers. Maybe he was a trapper on the side or pehaps a blacksmith, who knows. Just know what the web said when I looked up the history of the muzzleloader/percussion cap.
Many Klatch
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I used to volunteer at the Conner Prairie Museum. They do first person and the year is 1836. We were told that in Indiana, in 1836, percussion caps were available. A lot of really pretty flintlocks were getting turned into percussion about that time. However, the farther west you went the caps were less available. Percussion caps could have been used at the Alamo, but that was way out on the Frontier and most shooters would have been carrying flintlocks. I would imagine that there were some caplock pistols there, but I would be surprised to see any caplock long guns. Just my opinion.
Many Klatch
Many Klatch
paulvallandigham
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There were percussion guns at the Alamo. The pepperbox " revolver " was available for many years before that fight, but Colt's Paterson revolver came out later that same year. It is a 5-shot revolver using percussion caps. 1820 is generally used to define when percussion ignition systems, and workable caps became available. However, they were slow to take hold here, until the Military began converting rifles to the system, and then brought out percussion rifles in the early 1840s. It took awhile to make a cap with a compound that stayed potent, and reliable enough to depend on firing after being carried on horseback in all kinds of weather. Only then did the public begin to trust the new system. Most of the guns used at the Alamo would have been flintlocks, on both sides of the battle. Colt's factory in New Jersey was chartered on March 5, 1836, the day before the Alamo fell.
The 1807 and 1814(ish) dates agree with the information I have.
The Rev Alexander John Forsyth was a minister of Belhelvie in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
It is said that Rev Forsyth was an avid bird hunter and was unhappy with the way birds would change their flight pattern when they saw the flash of the powder in a flintlocks pan. He decided to try using one of the fulmates which had been known for some time, but no practical use for them had been found.
He patented the first percussion system in 1807. This was the "scent bottle" style which deposited a small amount of potassium chlorate into a tube that fit into the breech of the barrel. This tube contained a pin or piston, which when struck by the hammer transfered the impact to the powder causing it to explode.
Following this, many different methods of containing and firing the fulminate was tried.
Around 1814 according to W. W. Greener, the cap method of containing the fulminate was first used by Joshua Shaw of Philadelphia who used a reloadable steel cup for priming. By 1816, he had replaced the steel cup with a copper cap very similar to what is now in use.
By the mid 1820's the percussion cap was becoming common and by 1830, very few flintlock guns were being made for the general population.
To answer the Posts original question, by 1836 the use of percussion caps was common and the Flintlock was considered obsolete by the general population.
As for the U.S. Military's not using the percussion system, their reluctance to use the new system was (is) to be expected. They tended to stick to the "proven" rather than accept new ideas which were commonly used by the general public.
The first U.S. Military gun using the Percussion cap (aside from a few Halls which were not widely issued) was the 1842 Springfield, a .69 caliber smoothbore. This gun was issued to the troops in fairly large numbers and saw use in the Mexican/American war as well as the Civil War.
zonie
The Rev Alexander John Forsyth was a minister of Belhelvie in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
It is said that Rev Forsyth was an avid bird hunter and was unhappy with the way birds would change their flight pattern when they saw the flash of the powder in a flintlocks pan. He decided to try using one of the fulmates which had been known for some time, but no practical use for them had been found.
He patented the first percussion system in 1807. This was the "scent bottle" style which deposited a small amount of potassium chlorate into a tube that fit into the breech of the barrel. This tube contained a pin or piston, which when struck by the hammer transfered the impact to the powder causing it to explode.
Following this, many different methods of containing and firing the fulminate was tried.
Around 1814 according to W. W. Greener, the cap method of containing the fulminate was first used by Joshua Shaw of Philadelphia who used a reloadable steel cup for priming. By 1816, he had replaced the steel cup with a copper cap very similar to what is now in use.
By the mid 1820's the percussion cap was becoming common and by 1830, very few flintlock guns were being made for the general population.
To answer the Posts original question, by 1836 the use of percussion caps was common and the Flintlock was considered obsolete by the general population.
As for the U.S. Military's not using the percussion system, their reluctance to use the new system was (is) to be expected. They tended to stick to the "proven" rather than accept new ideas which were commonly used by the general public.
The first U.S. Military gun using the Percussion cap (aside from a few Halls which were not widely issued) was the 1842 Springfield, a .69 caliber smoothbore. This gun was issued to the troops in fairly large numbers and saw use in the Mexican/American war as well as the Civil War.
zonie
cowpoke1955
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I have heard that people, especially on the frontier and remote places, held on to their flintlocks well beyond the introduction of percussion caps. For these folks, it could be weeks, months or longer before they could get to a settlement to obtain caps. They could always find a suitable rock to work in a flintlock. People back then depended upon their weapons for food and defense. They would not be caught with a weapon they couldn't use (no caps). Not until the west became more settled and caps were readily available, were they excepted. This is what I've heard. Don't know how true it is, but it sounds logical. I wasn't there. :v
My recollection of that "praise the Lord and pass the ammunition" phrase is that it came from a Navy chaplain in WWII, I believe on a ship in the Pacific. There was a popular song on that theme. However, I was a mere tad at the time and my rememberer doesn't always work so hot any more. I seem to remember chasing girls, but I can't recall why. graybeard
runner, to you and everybody else i want to apologize if ya'll think i was running down religion. i myself am a strong believer and i would never do that. that remark was made to me by a person during the waco siege when they were speaking about koresh. i hope i hann't offended anyone.
