The little BB cap,Rare today, and only made by a few suppliers, the BB cap was a very popular cartri

The little BB cap,Rare today, and only made by a few suppliers, the BB cap was a very popular cartridge in the mid to late 19th century.  In 1845 a Frenchman named Louis Nicolas Flobert had the idea of seating a small .22 caliber lead projectile on a percussion cap.  With this new BB ammunition he also created a style of rifle and pistols, called Floberts, and later known as gallery guns, and parlor guns.  Overnight the Flobert and its miniscule little cartridge became a hit with a new sport called gallery shooting, a form of target practice held indoors.  The BB cap was perfect because it was quiet and only powerful enough to puncture paper.  Soon special shooting galleries were created in which people could shoot at tin targets.  Gallery shooting also became popular in bars, pubs, and saloons, much like billiards and darts today.  In fact the sport became so popular that many Victorian Era homes would sport a special shooting parlor, hence the term parlor gun, so that people could enjoy the sport at dinner parties and private social events.Eventually the BB cap would fall out of popularity with the development of better air rifle and air pistol technology.  Today original cans of BB caps are highly sought by collectors. -- source link

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