Percussion, ok I get it, but...

[cornstalk]

It's been almost 40 years since I've had or fired a percussion gun. Flintlocks, for me, are just way sexier. But now I have this gun that uses both, and after a bit of a hard time today I located a tin of percussion caps. Had a big empty shopping cart to put them into and said as much to the guy behind the counter (I really did ). 100 to a tin, I'll take two tins even though I'll likely never shoot that many (did I say I was a flintlock guy?).

I pop this little tin out of the blister pack, open it, and there are 100 caps taking up no more room then a couple of flints. Have to admit, if I was alive back in the day I'd of switched over from flint to caps in a second. But fortunately (or unfortunately) I don't live back in the day. I don't rely on my blackpowder guns for protection, I've got a sub-gun for that. And I do love the sexiness of a flint gun.

Having said that I'm really looking forward to shooting the gun with both, seeing what kind of perceived difference there may or may not be, and if there is any accuracy difference (which would all be me of course).

And now that we are below zero it will be fun to see if there is any ignition difference. Figure the cap might be the winner just because the flame is not exposed to the outside air like the flame for the flint will be.

If I learn anything of interest I'll report back.

 

[Gtrubicon]

What is it that shoots both percussion and flint? I only have percussion and am interested in a flintlock.

 

[cornstalk]

Double Barrel Double Ignition

 

[hanshi]

Cool!

 

[Woody Morgan]

Flintlocks are cool, percussion lights faster.

wm (aaaaand...DUCK)

 

[appalichian hunter]

Neat piece there. cornstalk

 

[necchi]

If I learn anything of interest I'll report back.

Well Ok,, keep us posted
I gave up flint, 30yrs ago, for percussion, haven't looked back.
It's a different school friend, and it comes along with different traits.
You don't need to forget your history/experience,, just be open to different.
It's called "learning". Learning is fun,,

 

[Cattywompuss]

I was raised on percussion, but yes, flint is sexier. It harks back even further. But percussion evokes the early stages of the industrial revolution. It was the standard when trains were already traversing Britain and the U.S. 50 years is the difference between a very early western mountain man with a flinter, and a train riding rifle-musket regular. Heck, call it 60 years and the Dreyse needle gun and Henry are already happening.

Flints are more fun and more "steam-punk" in a sense, but percussion is as big a step as flintlock was over the wheel-lock, and as much as the wheel and dog were over the matchlock. So I can't be mad at percussion.

Heck, we took winged flight more than 100 years ago. We made it to the moon 52 years ago. Maybe my grandchildren will prime their pans on Mars. Or maybe they will use a flechete rail-gun to hunt Mars Moose's

 

[tnlonghunter]

Double Barrel Double Ignition

I remember seeing that in another thread a while back. It's a gorgeous piece of work.

But what's the purpose of having both kinds of ignition? Is it a belt-and-suspenders thing?

 

[cornstalk]

I remember seeing that in another thread a while back. It's a gorgeous piece of work.

But what's the purpose of having both kinds of ignition? Is it a belt-and-suspenders thing?

I wish I knew the answer. I've come up with three possibilities:

1. This was a percussion cap "proof of concept" gun, meaning are percussion caps as reliable as flint. Don't think this is very likely as it is a high end gun. Proof of concept would probably be done on a cheap platform.

2. Purchaser liked the idea of percussion caps but was going somewhere (or sometime) where percussion caps weren't readily/consistently available such as America or Africa. This seems somewhat a possibility.

3. Gunsmith built this as a "differentiator". Jones, the gunsmith, was in Birmingham London which was "gunsmith central". I could see him building this to get potential clients attention showing them not only does he do high-end work, but he can build them anything they want. To me this seems like a good possibility.

Or of course it could be for some other reason altogether. Maybe someday I'll run across some kind of documentation.

 

[tnlonghunter]

Interesting. I didn't realize it was a vintage/original piece. It's still really awesome.

 

[andy52]

All my rifles are flint, all my original SxSs are percussion. I've been lusting for flint SxS for years but the originals just cost more than I'm willing to spend.

 

[Boston Bill]

SxS?

 

[cornstalk]

Side by Side

 

[Boston Bill]

TY

 

[Woody Morgan]

TY

TY?

wm

 

[Rudyard]

Cornstalk makes the best summation what all the other stuff other than Side By Side, Ive no idea & don't really want to persue it .
Rudyard

 

[Boston Bill]

TY?

wm

lol, Thank You

 

[Woody Morgan]

lol, Thank You

Heh. Yeah. I know. Just being a jerk.

wm

 

[Boston Bill]

Heh. Yeah. I know. Just being a jerk.

wm