A Brief History Of Firearms: The Self Contained Cartridge - NRA Blog

Home Top Stories Competitive Shooting Events Hunting History Self Defense Recreational Shooting Safety & Education Training Fundraising Charitable Giving Gun Rights TV Shows Series Press Releases Videos Partner Shooting Sports USA American Hunter American Rifleman NRA Family Shooting Illustrated Hunters Leadership Forum Americas 1st Freedom NRA ILA Youth SIGN UP FOR UPDATES

NRAblog

About the NRA About NRAblog Comments Policy Privacy Policy

Series

Guns of the Week Friday Feast Sweepstakes Who Taught You How to Shoot Buying and Selling a Firearm Infographics 12 Days of Firearms Freedom Journal NRAstore Join | Renew | Donate |

Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

CLOSE

Quick Links

• NRA.ORG
• Manage Your Membership
• NRA Near You
• Friends of NRA
• State and Federal Gun Laws
• NRA Online Training
• Politics, Policy and Legislation

• Clubs and Associations
  • Affiliated Clubs, Ranges and Businesses
• Competitive Shooting
  • NRA Day
  • Competitive Shooting Programs
  • Collegiate Shooting Programs
  • America's Rifle Challenge
  • Competitor Classification Lookup
  • Shooting Sports USA
  • Adaptive Shooting
  • Great American Outdoor Show
  • NRA Whittington Center
• Events and Entertainment
  • Women's Wilderness Escape
  • NRA Whittington Center
  • Friends of NRA
  • Great American Outdoor Show
  • NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits
  • NRA Day
  • NRA Country
  • Competitive Shooting Programs
  • NRA Gun Gurus
• Firearms Training
  • NRA Gun Safety Rules
  • Firearm Training
  • Become An NRA Instructor
  • Become A Training Counselor
  • NRA Range Safety Officers
  • Shooting Sports Coach Development
  • Adaptive Shooting
  • NRA Gunsmithing Schools
  • NRA Online Training
  • NRA Program Materials Center
  • NRA Marksmanship Qualification Program
  • Find A Course
  • NRA CCW
  • NRA Training Course Catalog
• Giving
  • The NRA Foundation
  • Friends of NRA
  • Ring of Freedom
  • Institute for Legislative Action
  • NRA Whittington Center
  • NRA Firearms For Freedom
• History
  • History Of The NRA
  • NRA Museums
  • I Have This Old Gun
  • NRA Gun Gurus
• Hunting
  • Hunter Education
  • Youth Hunter Education Challenge
  • NRA Whittington Center
  • NRA Hunters' Leadership Forum
  • Great American Outdoor Show
  • Hunters for the Hungry
  • American Hunter
  • Hunting Legislation Issues
  • State Hunting Resources
  • NRA Institute for Legislative Action
  • American Rifleman
  • Adaptive Hunting Database
  • Outdoor Adventure Partner of the NRA
• Law Enforcement, Military, Security
  • Law Enforcement, Military, Security
• Media and Publications
  • NRA Blog
  • American Rifleman
  • America's 1st Freedom
  • American Hunter
  • Shooting Illustrated
  • NRA Family
  • Shooting Sports USA
  • NRA All Access
  • NRA Gun Gurus
  • NRA Hunters' Leadership Forum

• Membership
  • Join The NRA
  • NRA Member Benefits
  • Manage Your Membership
  • NRA Store
  • NRA Whittington Center
  • NRA Endorsed Member Insurance
  • NRA Membership Recruiting
  • NRA State Associations
  • NRA Membership For Women
  • NRA Life Membership
  • Renew or Upgrade Your Membership
  • NRA Junior Membership
  • NRA Business Alliance
  • NRA Industry Ally Program
• Politics And Legislation
  • NRA Institute for Legislative Action
  • NRA-ILA Gun Laws
  • Register To Vote
  • Candidate Ratings
  • Write Your Lawmakers
  • America's 1st Freedom
  • NRA-ILA FrontLines
  • NRA Political Victory Fund
  • NRA State Associations
• Recreational Shooting
  • America's Rifle Challenge
  • NRA Whittington Center
  • Women's Wilderness Escape
  • NRA Day
  • The NRA Range
  • Home Air Gun Program
  • Adaptive Shooting
  • Range Services
  • NRA Member Benefits
  • Great American Outdoor Show
  • NRA Springfield M1A Match
  • Shooting Illustrated
  • Firearm Training
  • NRA Marksmanship Qualification Program
  • NRA Training Course Catalog
  • Women On Target® Instructional Shooting Clinics
• Safety and Education
  • NRA Gun Safety Rules
  • Eddie Eagle GunSafe® Program
  • Eddie Eagle Treehouse
  • NRA School Shield
  • Whittington University
  • Firearm Training
  • NRA Online Training
  • Become An NRA Instructor
  • Hunter Education
  • NRA Gunsmithing Schools
  • Refuse To Be A Victim®
• Scholarships, Awards and Contests
  • Scholarships, Awards & Contests
• Shopping
  • NRA Store
  • NRA Country Gear
  • NRA Program Materials Center
  • NRA Member Benefits
  • NRA Whittington Center Store
• Volunteering
  • Volunteer For NRA
  • Get Involved Locally
  • Volunteer At The Great American Outdoor Show
  • Institute for Legislative Action
  • Volunteer at the NRA Whittington Center
• Women's Interests
  • NRA Membership For Women
  • Women's Wilderness Escape
  • NRA Women's Network
  • Women On Target® Instructional Shooting Clinics
  • Women's Programs Endowment
  • Sybil Ludington Women's Freedom Award
  • Women's Wildlife Management / Conservation Scholarship
  • Become An NRA Instructor
• Youth Interests
  • Eddie Eagle Treehouse
  • Scholarships, Awards & Contests
  • NRA Day
  • NRA Marksmanship Qualification Program
  • Youth Education Summit
  • Adventure Camp
  • Youth Hunter Education Challenge
  • National Junior Shooting Camps
  • Youth Wildlife Art Contest
  • Home Air Gun Program
  • NRA Junior Membership
  • NRA Family
  • Eddie Eagle GunSafe® Program
  • NRA Gun Safety Rules
  • Collegiate Shooting Programs
  • National Youth Shooting Sports Cooperative Program
  • Request for Eagle Scout Certificate

Menu × APPEARS IN History A Brief History of Firearms: The Self Contained Cartridge

by Jim Supica, NRA Museums Director - Friday, May 20, 2016

Gallery

1 of 1

Belgian Single Action Pinfire Revolver

SHOW CAPTION HIDE CAPTION

Pinfire revolvers were among the first metallic cartridge handguns in Europe. The Lefaucheux name is best known to students of history for the revolver of American Civil War-era fame, but the contributions of this father and son duo to firearms and cartridge design go well beyond this single distinction...Read more here

1 of 1

Smith & Wesson Volcanic Lever Action Pistol

SHOW CAPTION HIDE CAPTION This predecessor of the Winchester lever-action rifle was produced by Horace Smith & Daniel Wesson, who later became famous for their revolver designs. In 1855, Smith & Wesson sold their interest to the newly-organized Volcanic Repeating Arms Company...Read more here 1 of 1

Smith & Wesson No. 1 1st Issue revolver w/ Original Gutta Percha Case

SHOW CAPTION HIDE CAPTION The gutta percha casing seen here is an original example. Most of these early thermoplastics have not survived; consequently, they are rarely seen today. The S&W No. 1, Ist Issue revolver model inside was manufactured from 1857 to 1860 and about 11,000 were made... Read more here More SUBSCRIBE In this series, A Brief History of Firearms,  Jim dives into several topics including early firearms, advancements in technology, historical impacts, and modern day firearms. In this segment, Jim discusses the development of the self-contained cartridge...----------- The Self Contained Cartridge The cap and ball revolver offered an effective repeating firearm, with five or six shots available as fast as the hammer could be cocked and the trigger pulled. After the gun was shot dry, however, re-loading was a slow & cumbersome process, involving loading each chamber with loose gun powder and a lead bullet, ramming the loads home, and placing a percussion cap on the nipple of each chamber. What was needed was a self-contained cartridge with the primer, powder & bullet all in one neat and weatherproof unit. An early attempt at this was the pinfire system, first introduced around 1846, in which a firing pin was mounted on each copper cased cartridge, igniting an internal primer when struck by the gun's hammer. Although it gained a good deal of popularity in Europe, it never caught on much in the U.S., with the external pin on each round being a bit cumbersome and hazardous. Among the firms eagerly waiting for the expiration of the Colt revolver patent was a partnership of an inventor named Daniel Wesson and an older businessman, Horace Smith. A few years earlier, in a previous partnership, they had entered the race for an effective repeating firearm shooting self-contained cartridges with a lever action pistol. This pistol had a tubular magazine mounted under and parallel to the barrel, and shot "rocket balls" - hollow based lead bullets, with the powder and primer mounted in the base of the projectile itself. They pursued production of their lever action pistols only a few years, and the design was acquired by a shirt manufacturer, who carried it further. His name was Oliver Winchester, and his famous lever action rifles, based in large part on the design of the first Smith & Wesson partnership eventually became the most popular repeating rifles of the post-Civil War 19thCentury, called by many "the gun that won the West." The second Smith and Wesson partnership had designed a tiny .22 revolver. Perhaps more important than the revolver was the cartridge it fired. It consisted of a copper casing, with a hollow rim at the bottom which held a priming compound. The case was then filled with gunpowder, and capped with a lead bullet mounted into its mouth. When the firing pin of the revolver's hammer struck the rim of the cartridge, the priming ignited the powder, firing the bullet, leaving the empty copper casing in the chamber. The cartridge was essentially identical to the modern.22 Short rimfire, and was the grand-daddy of all our traditional ammunition today. As Colt had patented his revolver, so Smith & Wesson acquired the patent to their innovation, and held a fairly complete monopoly on the production of effective cartridge revolvers through its expiration in 1869, although there were a number of infringements and evasions of the patent as the market rapidly recognized the superiority of metallic cartridge ammunition. Copyright, Jim Supica - used by permission. Opinions are those of the author and not necessarily those of NRA or the National Firearms Museum. Originally published in "Guns." IN THIS ARTICLE NRA Museums Jim Supica Firearms History More SUBSCRIBE

More Like This From Around The NRA

TRENDING NOW Top Stories Buying and Selling a Firearm: Private Sales Explained Recreational Shooting Infographic: Trap vs. Skeet vs. Sporting Clays Recreational Shooting How Do You Get Rid Of Bad Ammunition? Recreational Shooting Size Matters! The World's Biggest Handguns Recreational Shooting The Basics of Riflescopes And How They Work RELATED NRA Announces Presenting Sponsorship of Single Action Shooting Society’s 2019 END of TRAIL World Championship of Cowboy Action Shooting Press Releases NRA to be Presenting Sponsor of the 2019 END of TRAIL World Championship of Cowboy Action Shooting Competitive Shooting Tune in for TV Tuesdays with NRA Museums! History Historical Weapons-Making Featured on New Discovery Channel Series History

NRABlog is your connection to the firearm education, safety and marksmanship training programs of the National Rifle Association.

FOLLOW NRA BLOG STAY INFORMED SIGN UP FOR UPDATES

About the NRA   •   About NRABlog   •     Comments Policy   •     Privacy Policy   •     Corporate Ethics   •     © 2020 National Rifle Association of America