Pistole flaubert biography wikipedia

Flobert shotgun

Louis-Nicolas Flobert — was a French inventor. He invented the first metallic rimfire cartridge in It was a major innovation in firearms ammunition technology, as it was previously delivered as separate bullets and gunpowder , pertaining to muzzle-loading firearms. The rimfire cartridge combined both elements in a single metallic usually brass cartridge containing a percussion cap, gunpowder, and a bullet, into a single weatherproofed package or container.

Before that, a "cartridge" was simply a pre-measured quantity of gunpowder together with a ball bullet , in a small cloth bag or rolled paper cylinder , which also acted as wadding for the powder charge and ball. The 6mm Flobert cartridge consisted of a percussion cap with a bullet attached to the top. Flobert also made what he called " parlor guns " for that cartridge, because those rifles and pistols were designed for target shooting in homes with a dedicated shooting parlor or shooting gallery.

The previous form of cartridge had to be rammed into the muzzle or barrel of the gun, and either a small charge of gunpowder in the touch hole, or an external percussion cap mounted on the touch hole, ignited the gunpowder in the cartridge. The brass cartridge opened the way for modern repeating arms, by uniting the bullet, gunpowder and primer into one assembly that could be fed reliably into the breech by a mechanical action in the firearm.

The firing pin is then struck by the hammer, which in turn strikes the cartridge primer, which then ignites the gunpowder within. The main technical advantage of the brass cartridge case was the effective and reliable sealing of high-pressure gasses at the breech, because the gas pressure forced the cartridge case to expand outward, pressing it firmly against the inside of the gun barrel.

That prevented the leakage of hot gas which could injure the shooter. It also greatly simplified the loading process, and allowed a ten-fold increase in the rate of fire over muzzle loaded weapons. Metallic cartridges with built-in percussion caps called "primers" are now the standard in firearms.

Flobert parlor pistol

The primer charge is at the base of the cartridge, either within the rim or in a small percussion cap embedded in the center of the base — a " centerfire " cartridge. As a rule, centerfire cartridges, which operate at considerably higher pressures, are more powerful than rimfire cartridges. Centerfire cartridges are also safer, because a dropped rimfire cartridge has the potential to discharge if its rim strikes the ground with sufficient force to ignite the primer.