Percussion Pistols and Revolvers: History, Performance and Practical Use

I count this as one of my better acquisitions in the field of 19th Century firearms books. There is an awful lot of good, hard to find information packed within, including details on maintenance (including assembly/disassembly procedures), general use and loading instructions, specific load results with different powders, and observations on the quality of various reproductions. As the authors state early on in the book, they pull no punches when giving their honest assessment of the quality of the various reproductions out there.One also finds valuable suggestions on improving the reliability of various reproductions, such as gunsmithing tips for the pocket percussion revolvers to prevent cap fragments from binding up the cylinder. Very useful stuff.I also love the colour graphic on the cover - it immediately attracted my notice when I was skimming through the myriad "recommendations" on Amazon.I do have some suggestions for improvement for a 2nd edition, in the highly unlikely event the authors ever read this droll review and actually want to go for a 2nd edition...:1. There are a number of minor, but noticeable typographical and administrative type errors in the book, such as using "heals" instead of "heels." Basically needs a sharp-eyed editor to go through and insure proper word usage.2. While the black and white illustrations are generally adequate, they are a bit grainy (owing to the resolution and also, I think, the paper used) and are often too small. Indeed, some are actually quite tiny. This is usually not a serious problem, but in some cases when they are used to illustrate an important detail (such as the LeMat pictures on pp 144-145 and some detailed mechanism shots on pp 92-94) it is hard to make out what is being shown. In such cases it is a bit of a problem.I would suggest, then, that a 2nd edition of this fine work at least have larger and sharper black and white photos. Further, if possible, select illustrations should be done as sharp, full colour plates. One that comes to mind is the photo of an original Colt Walker at the beginning of chapter 12. I would have loved to see a full-colour, full-page plate of this wonderful firearm. Surely 6-12 colour plates, perhaps focusing on original firearms such as the aforementioned Walker, bound into the centre of the book should not be too great a challenge? At the least the cover illustration could be sharpened up a bit (it is great, of course, but could be a bit better).3. If possible, an appendix that goes into more detail of the various reproductions and their manufacturers, with discussion as to reliability, attention to detail, overall quality, etc.4. Also of great use would be an appendix that gave contact information for and brief descriptions of companies that make accessories, such as replacement springs, etc., for percussion revolvers. A further help would be a similar list of gunsmiths who specialize in repairs, tuning, etc. for these magnificent firearms.5. Something that may or may be of interest to the authors (and, thus, may or may not be within the scope of this book) are certain experimental percussion revolvers. For example, one company (Big Iron Barrels) can bore out Dragoons and similar revolvers up to .58 (!!!!) calibre (reducing capacity to five shots). Such conversions are unhistorical, but interesting nonetheless. If the authors were interested in this, an appendix discussing it might be in order.6. On a purely trivial note, it might be of interest to use 19th Century fonts (such as Baskerville Old Face) and formatting conventions on both the text and cover to give the book a more Victorian Era appearance. Not important, but it would seem to fit well with the subject matter of the book (and I did like the font used with the captions).I hope the foregoing does not give a negative impression of this treatise. If you are a percussion revolver enthusiast I think you will find this book very useful, and really ought to procure a copy for your collection.

I was very excited to order this book, as I am fascinated by the history of firearms. And in that respect, this book doesn't disappoint. It provides a pleasing overview of percussion pistols and revolvers that is quite informative, and I particularly enjoyed the authors' information on their modern-day testing of reproduction black powder pieces.However, the publisher really let the authors down - badly. Many of the photos in the book are much smaller than they need to be, making it difficult to see the finer details of the guns being discussed. As well, the captions and labels for the photos are in an archaic font that is extremely small and practically unreadable. Too, there are a number of grammatic and typographic errors that are jarring - clearly this book was not thoroughly edited and proofread before it went to press.Is this book worth buying and reading? Absolutely. If you have an interest in the pistols and revolvers of this time period, or their modern-day descendents, and you can overlook the typos and bad layout choices, this is a book you won't regret owning. I only hope that there will be improvements made in any subsequent editions of this book. If so, I'd happily purchase an updated version.

Books written by an author who actually knows things tend to be as pleasurable as they are rare. Percussion Pistols and Revolvers by Johnny Bates and Mike Cumpston is such a book. The authors write with a wonderfully dry sense of humor. "LePage performed valuable service by keeping the gentle classes entertained with full-featured target pistols. At the same time, they kept the population of the peerage from getting out of hand by making duelers of the same general pattern." Or discussing the introduction of conical bullets: "It is possible to find claims that the bullet was superior to the round ball because of increased penetration, greater target impact, and better flight characteristics. There were also frequent claims that the bullet was more accurate. The experts who made such claims were on solid scientific footing. They made perfect sense although none of them was true." This book is a hoot to read. Percussion Pistols and Revolvers covers the history of the cap lock handguns. It gives an unvarnished examination of the quality of the modern replicas and explores the availability of parts for the same. The book provides practical advice on loading, shooting, and cleaning the guns. And the book reports on the performance of the guns individually. All of this is done with a skepticism of conventional wisdom and an insistence on actual observation. When discussing the introduction of paper cartridges, "We put together a few such cartridges using cash receipt paper treated in a solution of Hi Yield Stump Remover." It's that kind of book.

I had purchased this book to help provide information about shooting cap and ball revolvers but had the additional pleasure of finding excellent information on care, cleaning, tuning and background as well. While it does not cover all available reproduced models it is very informative, helpful and humorous about the models it does cover. The only negative I have is that the captioned photos are in very small print and difficult to read. I intend to buy a second copy for my reference library and use my 1st copy as a range and bench reference. I hope that Bates and Cumpston continue with another book covering other cap and ball pistols not covered in this work. A very useful book for Remington and Colt cap and ball shooters.

Way out of date. Written in 2005, no mention of the new best powder 209, etc. reprinted in 2021 with no new info.Still definitely worth reading, but clearly missing useful info of advancements and who is making quality or not since 2005, as in 16 years have passed since this was current info.

very good

Great book

The information in this book is useful but the picture quality is very poor and the text on the pictures is nearly illegible. Also the typographical errors are distracting. They would have done well to proof the copy before printing.

Everything the cap-&-ball shooter wants to know. Also useful for the antique collector, but mainly a handbook for shooting the modern Italian repros. Some photos are too small and their labels have an odd gothic typeface, but that's minor criticism of a book I wouldn't want to be without.

The book deals with the principal US percussion revolver models (Colt and Remington, plus Le Mat) using modern replicas to test the ballistic performance of mid-19th century habdguns. A useful addition to the library of any percussion revolver enthusiast.