Forsyth Patent Second Model Sliding Primer Over-and-Under Pistol with Case and Accessories ca. 1824 Alexander John Forsyth The Reverend Alexander Forsyth, a Scottish clergyman and exceptionally creative gunmaker and amateur chemist, invented and patented the first percussion lock in 1807. The most consequential firearm invention since the flintlock, the percussion system was a forerunner to the modern center-fire cartridge. As a means of ignition, percussion mechanisms utilized a highly combustible chemical compound called fulminate, which burns more rapidly than gunpowder when struck with force. This example features a priming reservoir that slides on a track over the pan when the hammer is cocked, depositing loose fulminate powder into the pan and covering it, snapping forward out of the way when the trigger is pulled.Firearms technology advanced at an extraordinary pace in Europe in the early nineteenth century. Londons elite gunmakers, intensely focused on optimizing accuracy, han