Percussion Lock & Ignition
Nipple
Holds the percussion cap. Threads into the bolster or drum.
Also called
- cone
- Nipples
Arms it fits
Documented parts
In stock now
Names recorded
Identification
Notes on the nipple are still at the bench
Identification notes are written one part at a time, from pieces Butch has had in hand — so this section fills in as he works through the vocabulary rather than all at once. If you are trying to identify a nipple you already own, he answers those directly at butch@butchsantiquegunparts.com.
Vocabulary
Other names for the nipple
The same component has been called different things by different makers, manuals and trades. Each term is printed with whatever is recorded about where it comes from.
- cone
- Nipples
Fits
Nipple by model
Will it fit
No interchange recorded yet
Butch Schoeller writes these notes only from parts he has handled. A blank section means nothing has been checked yet — not that everything fits.
Available now
On the shelf
The reference
Documented examples
1841 Mississippi Rifle Nipple
1841 Mississippi Rifle
British Enfield Musket Parts Nipple
British Enfield Musket
U.S. 1855 Harpers Ferry And Springfield Nipple
U.S. 1855 Harpers Ferry And Springfield
U.S. Military Percussion Rifles And Muskets Nipple
U.S. Military Percussion Rifles And Muskets
U.S. Model 1855 Rifled Musket Nipple
U.S. Model 1855 Rifled Musket
Check it yourself
Sources
Period and institutional material relevant to this entry. Listed so it can be checked, not as decoration — nothing here has been through expert review yet.
- 1.A course of instruction in ordnance and gunnery : TextMetcalfe, Henry, b. 1847 · New York : John Wiley & Sons · University of California Libraries · 1891
- 2.Military commission to Europe in 1855 and 1856. Report of Major Alfred Mordecai, of the Ordnance departmentUnited States. Military Commission to Europe; Mordecai, Alfred, 1804-1887; Schön, Julius; Gorgas, Josiah, 1818-1883 · Washington, G. W. Bowman, printer · Cornell University Library · 1861
- 3.Ammunition : instructions for the naval service, 1923United States. Navy Dept. Bureau of Ordnance · Washington, D.C. : Government Printing Office · Library of the Marine Corps · 1923
- 4.A treatise on ordnance and naval gunnerySimpson, Edward, 1824-1888 · New York : D. Van Nostrand · Cornell University Library · 1862
- 5.Shells, and shell-gunsDahlgren, John Adolphus Bernard, 1809-1870 · Philadelphia, King & Baird; [etc.,etc] · The Library of Congress · 1857
- 6.Hong Kong Telegraph 1906-12-15Internet Archive · 1906
- 7.Ordnance and gunnery; a text-book prepared for the cadets of the United States military academy, West PointLissak, Ormond Mitchell · New York : J. Wiley & sons; [etc., etc.] · University of California Libraries · 1907
- 8.DTIC ADA438182: Provisional Machine-Gun Firing ManualDefense Technical Information Center · Internet Archive · 1917
- 9.Navies of the world; giving concise descriptions of the plans, armament and armor of the naval vessels of twenty of the principal nations. Together with the latest developments in ordnance, torpedoes, and naval architecture, and a concise summary of the principal naval battles of the last twenty years, 1860-1880Very, Edward Wilson, 1847-1910 · New York, J. Wiley & Sons · University of California Libraries · 1880
- 10.A text-book of ordnance and gunnery. Prepared for the use of cadets of the U. S. Military AcademyBruff, Lawrence L. (Lawrence Laurenson), 1851-1911 · New York, Wiley · University of California Libraries · 1900
- 11.Reports of experiments with small arms for the military services, by officers of the Ordnance Department, U.S. ArmyUnited States. Army. Ordnance Dept · Washington : A.O.P. Nicholsen, public printer · Cornell University Library · 1856
- 12.A text-book of ordnance and gunnery : prepared for the use of cadets of the U.S. Military AcademyBruff, Lawrence L. (Lawrence Laurenson), 1851-1911 · New York : John Wiley ; London : Chapman & Hall · Cornell University Library · 1896