percussion
1
6.9
- noun
- /pərˈkʌʃən/
- Archaic
:
ignición por percusión
- I let his friends point out that the percussion rifle he bought didn't fit in with the Seminole War period they were reenacting, but the basics were there, and later I showed him how to work a flintlock.
- percussion caps
Examples
-
Mr. Pot happened one day to be in one of the storerooms of the post, and here he saw a great line of old percussion muskets set up against the wall.
Academic text (1990) -
This is a percussion pistol.
-
Cocking the piece, he placed a percussion cap on the nipple.
Fiction book (1990) -
When we ram into it, the ends of these nails will hit the percussion caps and shoot the bullets into the gelatin.
-
Some hot-shot tracker today brought in a big order of spark plugs and percussion caps.
-
"A rifle grenade?" The Federals sometimes used hand grenades fused with percussion caps.
Fiction book (1992) -
The Macon Central Laboratory even bought copper turpentine and brandy stills in North Carolina for melting into percussion caps.
Academic text (2007) -
Other Macon companies, on their own initiative, manufactured swords, harnesses, bowie knives, rifles, and percussion caps.
Academic text (2007) -
I've had failures a few times with both my muskets, both percussion, and my solution is FFFF powder in the touchhole and a new cap; it has worked every time so far.
Blog text (11) -
To detonate the explosive, he carefully positioned the percussion cap on the firing mechanism.
Compounds
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Percussion comes from an old Latin word percutere, which means 'to strike' or 'to hit'. In firearms, percussion refers to the striking action that makes a cap or primer set off the powder, so the word matches the action that causes the gun to fire.