Primed And (Almost) Ready

In range

- Terry Wieland

History records that priming compounds were discovered by Reverend Alexander Forsyth around 1805, and that “by the 1830s, percussion had largely displaced flintlocks.” This is fine, as far as it goes. Alas, it does not go nearly far enough for anyone interested in the more arcane corners of firearms history.

It’s one thing to recognize the potential of fulminates; it’s quite another to transform a volatile and treacherous compound into a reliable and docile ignition source for gunpowder – about the same as turning a wolverine into a golden retriever. It may be possible, but not overnight, and not without some wrong turns along the way.

As history shows, this transformation did occur between (roughly) 1805 and 1835, but to condense those 30 years into one short sentence is much like summarizing the years between 1914 and 1945 as a period of unrest in Europe. While Forsyth was beavering away in his secluded parish in the wilds of Aberdeen, Scotland, killing the boredom by hunting ducks and perfecting his inventions, Napoleon Bonaparte was intent on conquering the world and the British were intent on preventing it.

Skirmishes along the way included the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, then the Peninsular War (1807-14) and finally the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, which put an end to Napoleon’s ambitions once and for all. Even in the isolated life of Alexander Forsyth, the French emperor played a role. In the early 1800s, the French were at the forefront of firearms development in both firing mechanisms and ammunition. Forsyth patented his first attempt at confining his new priming compounds in 1807, and shortly thereafter was offered the immense sum of £20,000 (worth almost one million pounds today) to bring his invention to France. Apparently, the offer originated with Bonaparte himself. Forsyth, to his everlasting credit (and the peaceful slumbers of the world at large) declined.