How popular were non-revolver percussion pistols in the United States? And how long were they in vogue?

by sir_nigel_loring

My understanding of pistol history had always gone Flintlock-Cap and ball percussion revolver- cartridge. However I see a lot of replicas of percussion muzzle-loading pistols (like this). Presumably these were made obsolete by the revolver, but at what time were they popular after they usurped the flintlock and just how common were they?

amanforallsaisons

I would hesitate to draw inferences from modern "replica" or "reproduction" items like the one you linked. While certainly such cap lock type pistols did exist, overall, the percussive cap was in use for a relatively short period of time, in any form, being patented in 1822, and by 1847 the Walker Colt revolver (using caps) was being manufactured, and within less than twenty years the metallic cartridge had made percussion caps relatively obsolete. I'd draw an analogy to the 8-track.

If we look at the history of firearms, the flintlock pistol was around for a huge amount of time compared to the percussion cap, as now has the metallic cartridge handgun.