# Percussion and Cartridge Arms

*The Black Powder Armory, Firearms, Blades, and Armour for Exodus NDS, 1400 to 1938. Source: https://exodusnds.com/sourcebooks/black-powder-armory/percussion-and-cartridge-arms*

Firearms from 1840 to the end of the black powder era around 1890: the percussion cap, the revolver, the breechloader, and the repeater. This is the armoury of the American West, the colonial wars, and the wars of the 1860s.

The reload falls step by step through this chapter, and that fall is the history of the period.

| Mechanism | Reload |
|:--|:--|
| Percussion muzzle-loader | Prepare 2, and no longer Unreliable |
| Cap-and-ball revolver | Six shots, then six maneuvers |
| Single-shot breechloader | Prepare 1 |
| Cartridge revolver | Six shots, then two maneuvers |
| Lever-action repeater | Runs dry by the ordinary rule |

Black powder still fouls and still smokes. No entry here is Unreliable, and every one of them gives away the shooter's position.

**Skill:** Light Ranged for handguns, Heavy Ranged for long guns.

<img class="framed" src="https://exodusnds.com/assets/sourcebook/black_powder_armory/black-powder-armory-percussion.jpg">

##### <span class="weapon-bar ballistic"></span>Percussion Pistol
<span class="weapon-aka">Caplock pistol, Deringer pistol, converted flintlock</span>

<div class="weapon ballistic">

<span class="dmg">6</span>
<span class="crit">4</span>
<span class="range short">Short</span>
<span class="enc">1</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="skill">Light Ranged</span>
<span class="price">150</span>
<span class="avail">Common</span>
<span class="type">Ballistic</span>
<span class="qual">Prepare 2, Concealable 1</span>

</div>

A single-shot pistol fired by a copper cap. It is the Belt Pistol without **Unreliable**: the cap fires in rain and wind.

Any flintlock in this book can be converted to percussion by a gunsmith for a third of its price. It loses Unreliable.

##### <span class="weapon-bar ballistic"></span>Derringer
<span class="weapon-aka">Remington Double Derringer, Sharps four-barrel, vest-pocket pistol</span>

<div class="weapon ballistic">

<span class="dmg">5</span>
<span class="crit">4</span>
<span class="range short">Short</span>
<span class="enc">0</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="skill">Light Ranged</span>
<span class="price">150</span>
<span class="avail">Common</span>
<span class="type">Ballistic</span>
<span class="qual">Concealable 3, Limited Ammo 2, Inaccurate 1</span>

</div>

A two-shot cartridge pistol that hides in a waistcoat pocket. Reloading is a maneuver. This is the same entry as in *The Modern Armory*.

##### <span class="weapon-bar ballistic"></span>Pocket Revolver
<span class="weapon-aka">Colt Pocket, Smith & Wesson No. 1, bulldog revolver</span>

<div class="weapon ballistic">

<span class="dmg">5</span>
<span class="crit">4</span>
<span class="range short">Short</span>
<span class="enc">1</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="skill">Light Ranged</span>
<span class="price">150</span>
<span class="avail">Common</span>
<span class="type">Ballistic</span>
<span class="qual">Concealable 2, Limited Ammo 5</span>

</div>

A small five-shot revolver for a coat pocket. Reloading a cartridge model is a maneuver.

##### <span class="weapon-bar ballistic"></span>Cap-and-Ball Revolver
<span class="weapon-aka">Colt Navy, Remington New Model, Adams revolver</span>

<div class="weapon ballistic">

<span class="dmg">5</span>
<span class="crit">3</span>
<span class="range short">Medium</span>
<span class="enc">1</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="skill">Light Ranged</span>
<span class="price">300</span>
<span class="avail">Common</span>
<span class="type">Ballistic</span>
<span class="qual">Limited Ammo 6</span>

</div>

A six-shot revolver loaded with loose powder and ball and fired by caps. Six shots without reloading changed what one person with a handgun could do.

Reloading the cylinder in place takes six maneuvers. Swapping in a spare loaded cylinder takes two.

##### <span class="weapon-bar ballistic"></span>Dragoon Revolver
<span class="weapon-aka">Colt Walker, Colt Dragoon, Colt Army, Le Mat</span>

<div class="weapon ballistic">

<span class="dmg">6</span>
<span class="crit">3</span>
<span class="range short">Medium</span>
<span class="enc">2</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="skill">Light Ranged</span>
<span class="price">400</span>
<span class="avail">Common</span>
<span class="type">Ballistic</span>
<span class="qual">Limited Ammo 6, Cumbersome 2</span>

</div>

A four-pound .44 revolver, first carried in saddle holsters. Damage 6, Crit 3, Medium range, six times. It needs Might 2 and reloads like the Cap-and-Ball Revolver.

##### <span class="weapon-bar ballistic"></span>Single-Action Revolver
<span class="weapon-aka">Colt Single Action Army, Smith & Wesson Schofield, Remington 1875</span>

<div class="weapon ballistic">

<span class="dmg">6</span>
<span class="crit">4</span>
<span class="range short">Medium</span>
<span class="enc">2</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="skill">Light Ranged</span>
<span class="price">350</span>
<span class="avail">Common</span>
<span class="type">Ballistic</span>
<span class="qual">Accurate 1, Limited Ammo 6</span>

</div>

The metallic-cartridge revolver of the 1870s. Damage 6 with **Accurate 1**. Reloading takes two maneuvers.

**Fanning.** A shooter may hold the trigger and slap the hammer. Add 2 Bane Dice to the attack; for that attack the weapon gains **Linked 2**.

##### <span class="weapon-bar ballistic"></span>Howdah Pistol
<span class="weapon-aka">Lancaster pistol, double rifle pistol</span>

<div class="weapon ballistic">

<span class="dmg">7</span>
<span class="crit">3</span>
<span class="range short">Short</span>
<span class="enc">3</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="skill">Light Ranged</span>
<span class="price">600</span>
<span class="avail">Rare</span>
<span class="type">Ballistic</span>
<span class="qual">Knockdown, Limited Ammo 2, Cumbersome 3</span>

</div>

A double-barrelled pistol in a rifle calibre, carried on elephant-back against a tiger in the howdah. Damage 7 with **Knockdown**, twice. It needs Might 3.

##### <span class="weapon-bar ballistic"></span>Rifle-Musket
<span class="weapon-aka">Springfield 1861, Enfield 1853, Lorenz rifle</span>

<div class="weapon ballistic">

<span class="dmg">8</span>
<span class="crit">3</span>
<span class="range short">Long</span>
<span class="enc">4</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="skill">Heavy Ranged</span>
<span class="price">300</span>
<span class="avail">Military</span>
<span class="type">Ballistic</span>
<span class="qual">Prepare 2</span>

</div>

A rifled musket firing an expanding bullet that loads as fast as a round ball. It reaches Long range, it is not Unreliable, and with paper cartridges its **Prepare 2** becomes 1. It ended the smoothbore.

##### <span class="weapon-bar ballistic"></span>Breechloading Rifle
<span class="weapon-aka">Sharps, Springfield Trapdoor, Martini-Henry, Snider-Enfield, Dreyse needle gun</span>

<div class="weapon ballistic">

<span class="dmg">8</span>
<span class="crit">3</span>
<span class="range short">Long</span>
<span class="enc">4</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="skill">Heavy Ranged</span>
<span class="price">450</span>
<span class="avail">Military</span>
<span class="type">Ballistic</span>
<span class="qual">Prepare 1</span>

</div>

A single-shot rifle loaded at the breech with a cartridge. **Prepare 1**: one maneuver, and it can be done lying down.

##### <span class="weapon-bar ballistic"></span>Buffalo Rifle
<span class="weapon-aka">Sharps Big Fifty, Remington Rolling Block, Creedmoor rifle</span>

<div class="weapon ballistic">

<span class="dmg">9</span>
<span class="crit">2</span>
<span class="range short">Extreme</span>
<span class="enc">6</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="skill">Heavy Ranged</span>
<span class="price">900</span>
<span class="avail">Common</span>
<span class="type">Ballistic</span>
<span class="qual">Accurate 1, Prepare 1, Cumbersome 3</span>

</div>

A heavy-barrelled single-shot in a long cartridge, built to kill at half a mile. Damage 9, Crit 2, Extreme range. It needs Might 3, or a rest.

##### <span class="weapon-bar ballistic"></span>Lever-Action Repeater
<span class="weapon-aka">Henry rifle, Winchester 1866 and 1873, Spencer carbine</span>

<div class="weapon ballistic">

<span class="dmg">7</span>
<span class="crit">3</span>
<span class="range short">Medium</span>
<span class="enc">3</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="skill">Heavy Ranged</span>
<span class="price">450</span>
<span class="avail">Common</span>
<span class="type">Ballistic</span>
<span class="qual">None</span>

</div>

A tube-magazine repeater in a pistol-class cartridge. Damage 7 at Medium range with no reload to count. It is the first long gun in the book that runs dry by the ordinary rule instead of firing once.

##### <span class="weapon-bar ballistic"></span>Coach Gun
<span class="weapon-aka">Double-barrelled shotgun, messenger gun, scattergun</span>

<div class="weapon ballistic">

<span class="dmg">8</span>
<span class="crit">3</span>
<span class="range short">Short</span>
<span class="enc">3</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="skill">Heavy Ranged</span>
<span class="price">300</span>
<span class="avail">Common</span>
<span class="type">Ballistic</span>
<span class="qual">Blast 4, Knockdown, Vicious 2, Limited Ammo 2</span>

</div>

A short double-barrelled shotgun. Two shots, then a maneuver to reload both. This is the Double-Barrel Shotgun of *The Modern Armory*.

<img class="framed" src="https://exodusnds.com/assets/sourcebook/black_powder_armory/black-powder-armory-combat-frontier.jpg" alt="A frontier gunfight" loading="lazy">
