François Prélat

François Prélat was a Frenchman involved in gunmaking in the early part of the nineteenth century. It is sometimes claimed that he invented the first fully contained cartridge in 1808, as well as the percussion cap in 1818. However most gun historians agree that his expertise was not as a gunmaker but as someone who monitored British patents and patented the best of them in France, which was not subject to UK law. The innovations he is sometimes credited with are more properly the work of British innovators and his partner, the gunmaking genius that was Jean Samuel Pauly. The jury is out as to whether he invented anything, preferring to to 'borrow' ideas instead or just provide the financial backing for inventors. The invention of the percussion cap was claimed by several independent makers at around the same time. Despite the work of many historians over the course of many years since, there is still no definitive evidence for a single inventor. Prélat merely took out a French patent for it.