What rifle is described here?

[The Ninth Ohio]

Weapons not being my strong point, I will pose this to the experts:

"On the rifle there is a capsule between the hammer and the butt, which is a container for a band of caps rolled up in a spiral, which at each cocking pass through an opening under the hammer to strike when fired."

 

[johan_steele]

They are describing the Maynard Tape primer. It could reference any of a variety of arms though most likely is the M1855 series of arms or the Remington Maynard Conversion of the M1816.

 

[JOHN42768]

Could also be a Maynard or Jenks

 

[The Ninth Ohio]

View attachment 199874 They are describing the Maynard Tape primer. It could reference any of a variety of arms though most likely is the M1855 series of arms or the Remington Maynard Conversion of the M1816.

Excellent, thank you!

 

[CWDF]

Here is a picture of my M1855 Springfield with the Maynard Tape in place. It is the forerunner of a roll of caps used in a toy cap gun. Note the notch in the hammer that cuts the tape at each firing.

 

[James N.]

Weapons not being my strong point, I will pose this to the experts:

"On the rifle there is a capsule between the hammer and the butt, which is a container for a band of caps rolled up in a spiral, which at each cocking pass through an opening under the hammer to strike when fired."

Johan's was an excellent photo of the outside of the lock on these arms; here's another photo showing the interior mechanism on my Remington conversion rifled-musket. The roll of caps fit into the cavity and were fed by the spring-loaded "hand" onto the nipple where they were then detonated by the hammer when it fell. These guns could also be fired in the "conventional" way using the more readily-available percussion caps in the same way as other rifles and muskets.

 

[Si Klegg]

Rather like the OP, I'm no expert on weapons. My question is why did they discontinue the Maynard priming system?
Was it unreliable or did it mean soldiers firing too frequently and wasting ammo?

I ask because most trained infantry could fire 3 aimed shots a minute with the percussion cap system - my best was 50 seconds - but I bet 5 could be easily achieved without the hassle of going backwards and forwards to the cap box.

 

[James N.]

Rather like the OP, I'm no expert on weapons. My question is why did they discontinue the Maynard priming system?
Was it unreliable or did it mean soldiers firing too frequently and wasting ammo?

I ask because most trained infantry could fire 3 aimed shots a minute with the percussion cap system - my best was 50 seconds - but I bet 5 could be easily achieved without the hassle of going backwards and forwards to the cap box.

For one, they were more costly to manufacture than the standard percussion caps.

 

[UCVRelics]

Yep I agree Maynard Tape Primer system

 

[The Ninth Ohio]

Rather like the OP, I'm no expert on weapons. My question is why did they discontinue the Maynard priming system?
Was it unreliable or did it mean soldiers firing too frequently and wasting ammo?

I ask because most trained infantry could fire 3 aimed shots a minute with the percussion cap system - my best was 50 seconds - but I bet 5 could be easily achieved without the hassle of going backwards and forwards to the cap box.

Looking at other threads here about the system, apparently it wasn't a big fan of water.

 

[Si Klegg]

Looking at other threads here about the system, apparently it wasn't a big fan of water.

Ah, that I understand. What I don't understand is why inventions like this are not fully tested before they become policy and millions of $ or £ are wasted before they give up on it. Still happening now in our Ministry of Defence and no doubt in the US equivalent

 

[johan_steele]

Ah, that I understand. What I don't understand is why inventions like this are not fully tested before they become policy and millions of $ or £ are wasted before they give up on it. Still happening now in our Ministry of Defence and no doubt in the US equivalent

They worked very well in all but overly humid environments. By the time they solved the issue (switched from paper to a metal foil) the Army had gone back to the basic percussion system.