Percussion cap and priming
Fulminante y cápsula de percusión
- Date
- 1807 (cápsula c. 1814-1822) · confidence medium
- Place
- Belhelvie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- Alexander Forsyth (percussion primer, 1807); Joshua Shaw (copper cap, Philadelphia, c. 1814-1822); Edward Howard (mercury fulminate, 1800)
- People
- 👤 Alexander Forsyth👤 Edward Charles Howard1774–1816👤 Joshua Shaw1776–1860
- Field
- Conflict
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Priming firearms with mercury fulminate, which detonated on impact, replacing the flintlock spark. It made firing reliable in the rain and speeded up reloading, a step towards the metallic cartridge.
Forsyth patented the percussion primer in London in 1807 (invented in his parish of Belhelvie); the copper cap is claimed by Shaw, Prélat, Egg and Manton; Shaw patented it in the United States in 1822.
What it led to
- The end of the flintlock musket in armies (1830s-1840s)
- The metallic cartridge and breech-loading weapons
- The Colt revolver
- Detonators for mining
Built on
- Flintlockc. 1610
- Mercury fulminate (Howard, 1800)
- Berthollet's chemistry