Editing Percussion cap (section)

==Origins==
Earlier firearms used [[flintlock]] [[flintlock mechanism|mechanism]]s causing a piece of [[flint]] to strike a [[steel]] [[frizzen]] producing sparks to ignite a pan of priming powder and thereby fire the gun's main powder charge. The flintlock mechanism replaced older ignition systems such as the [[matchlock]] and [[wheellock]], but all were prone to misfire in wet weather.{{Cn|date=January 2021}}

The discovery of [[fulminate]]s was made by [[Edward Charles Howard]] (1774–1816) in 1800.<ref>Howard, Edward (1800) [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_dlFFAAAAcAAJ/page/n220 <!-- pg=204 --> "On a New Fulminating Mercury,"] ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London'' '''90''' (1): 204–238.</ref><ref>[https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp02292/edward-charles-howard Edward Charles Howard] at National Portrait Gallery</ref> The invention that made the percussion cap possible using the recently discovered fulminates was patented by the [[Reverend]] [[Alexander John Forsyth]] of [[Belhelvie]], Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in 1807.<ref name="Fadala2006"/> The rudimentary percussion system was invented by Forsyth as a solution to the problem that birds would startle when smoke puffed from the powder pan of his flintlock shotgun, giving them sufficient warning to escape the shot.<ref name="Fadala2006"/> This early percussion lock system operated in a nearly identical fashion to flintlock firearms and used a fulminating primer made of fulminate of mercury, [[chlorate of potash]], [[sulfur|sulphur]] and [[charcoal]], ignited by concussion.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/technology/percussion-lock Percussion lock]</ref><ref>[[Samuel Parkes (chemist)|Samuel Parkes]], ''The chemical catechism : with notes, illustrations, and experiments'', New York : Collins and Co., 1818, page 494 [https://archive.org/details/chemicalcatechi02parkgoog/page/n508 (page 494 online, see "LVI. A New Kind of Gunpowder.")]</ref> His invention of a fulminate-primed firing mechanism deprived the birds of their early warning system, both by avoiding the initial puff of smoke from the flintlock powder pan, as well as shortening the interval between the trigger pull and the shot leaving the muzzle. Forsyth patented his "scent bottle" ignition system in 1807. However, it was not until after Forsyth's patents expired that the conventional percussion cap system was developed. [[Joseph Manton]] invented a precursor to the percussion cap in 1814, comprising a copper tube that detonated when crushed.<ref>{{cite book|author=Sam Fadala|title=The Complete Blackpowder Handbook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dzxyneq43AEC&pg=PA158|year=2006|publisher=Krause Publications|isbn=978-0-89689-390-0|page=158}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> This was further developed in 1822 by the English-born American artist [[Joshua Shaw]], as a copper cup filled with fulminates.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.researchpress.co.uk/firearms/ignition/shaw02.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218221926/http://www.researchpress.co.uk/firearms/ignition/shaw02.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-02-18 |title=Joshua Shaw |access-date=2018-11-05}}</ref>

The first purpose-built caplock guns were [[fowling piece]]s commissioned by sportsmen in [[Regency era]] England. Due to the mechanism's compactness and superior reliability compared to the flintlock, gunsmiths were able to manufacture pistols and [[double-barreled shotgun|long guns with two barrels]]. Early caplock handguns with two or more barrels and a single lock are known as turn-over or [[twister pistol]]s, due to the need to manually rotate the second barrel to align with the hammer. With the addition of a third barrel, and a ratchet to mechanically turn the barrels while cocking the hammer, these caplock pistols evolved into the [[pepper-box]] [[revolver]] during the 1830s.<ref>{{cite book|author=Martin J. Dougherty|title=Pistols and Revolvers: From 1400 to the present day|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MloqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT53|year=2017|publisher=Amber Books Ltd|isbn=978-1-78274-266-1|page=53}}</ref>

The caplock offered many improvements over the flintlock. The caplock was easier and quicker to load, more resilient to weather conditions, and far more reliable than the flintlock. Many of the older flintlock weapons were later converted to the caplock, so that they could take advantage of these features.<ref name="Fadala2006"/>

<gallery>
File:Japanese 19th century percussion pistol 1.jpg|Japanese [[samurai]]'s matchlock converted to caplock
File:Pair of Four-Barreled Turnover Percussion Pistols with Pair of Box-Lock Turn-Off Pocket Pistols, Case, and Accessories MET DP-13844-009.jpg|A pair of caplock twister pistols
File:Pistolet à percussion inversée IMG 3074.jpg|Inverted percussion pistol, 9.5&nbsp;mm; made by gunsmith Correvon, [[Morges]], 1854
File:Booth deringer.jpg|[[John Wilkes Booth]]'s single-shot caplock [[derringer]] used to assassinate [[Abraham Lincoln]]
</gallery>