Caplock firearm

How it differs from the flintlock

A caplock firearm changes the ignition system to a hammer-struck percussion cap. It is one implementation of a complete firearm using percussion ignition and should not be equated with all percussion mechanisms. Forsyth’s 1807 patent is also not proof that the copper-cap firearm had already reached its established form. Caplock firearms gradually came into use during the first half of the 19th century, both as newly manufactured guns and as conversions of older firearms.

Caplock firearms can be smoothbore or rifled, and they need not all be muzzleloaders. The next entry, “percussion rifled muzzleloader,” is therefore an important combination of these features, rather than a next generation through which all caplock firearms necessarily passed.

Additional Chinese history

Qing-dynasty sources use names such as “铜帽枪” (tongmaoqiang, or copper-cap firearm). Research by Hu Jianzhong of the Palace Museum cites records from the 25th year of the Daoguang reign and discusses Qing-court records of manufacturing percussion firearms. The National Museum of Taiwan History also uses “火帽擊發槍” (percussion-cap firearm) as a collection-object name. Adoption and manufacture in China should be recorded here, rather than jumping directly from flintlocks to modern bolt-action rifles. Tongmaoqiang is a historical term; individual objects must still be distinguished by their rifling and loading mechanisms.