circa 1840s percussion cap?

GameOfTones

Jr. Member
May 22, 2018
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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? 20190323_122959.jpeg20190323_123137.jpeg20190323_123205.jpeg20190323_123621.jpeg
 

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.
 

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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.
 

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