circa 1840s percussion cap?

GameOfTones · Mar 23, 2019

Just hunted the site of an early TX fort from 1840s. Found what looked to me to be a percussion cap. I've hunted civil war caps before and this one is not the same.

Anyone familiar with pre civil war percussion caps?

HuntinDog · Mar 23, 2019

It's the copper jacket from a modern bullet missing the lead.

TheCannonballGuy · Mar 23, 2019

HuntinDog is correct... it is definitely a copper "jacket" from a 20th-Century bullet, missing that bullet's lead core.

Here's a simple solution, for relic diggers to keep in mind:
The diameter of the cylindrical portion of a musket/rifle percussion cap is exactly .25-inch. There are no copper-jacketed bullets which are that small.

I should mention... note that I said "musket/rifle" in the statement above... pistol percussion caps are even smaller than .25-inch.

GameOfTones · Mar 23, 2019

Got it. Thanks guys!
Was hoping it was something else since some of the modern bullets with jackets intact I found were a different color but I had a feeling.

Good to know the diameter for future reference.