"Did you ever wonder why shooters raise the pistol vertically after firing? It is not recoil. It is so the spent cap will fall off! That is where the term "throwing lead" came from."

Jerry, I just noticed this. Are you sure about this? I always heard the term meant the real lead coming out the front end! There's nothing but copper and fulminate of mercury in a percussion cap. Of course, you are correct about the action to get rid of the cap fragments. They can sure tie up a gun. The back plate is designed to keep the cap fragments from blowing back in your face. I thought the Dance brothers made their guns without a back plate for ease of production and lack of metal. Stan