Casimir Lefaucheux was a French

French people

The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

 gunsmith

Gunsmith

A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds firearms. This occupation is different from an armorer. The armorer primarily maintains weapons and limited repairs involving parts replacement and possibly work involving accurization...

. He was born in Bonnétable

Bonnétable

Bonnétable is a commune in the Sarthe department in the region of Pays-de-la-Loire in north-western France.Bonnétable is twinned with Horncastle in rural Lincolnshire. The towns' relationship is commemorated by a Rue Horncastle in Bonnétable, and a Bonnetable Road in Horncastle.-References:*...

 and died in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

.

Casimir Lefaucheux obtained his first patent in 1827. In 1832, he completed a drop-barrel sporting gun with paper-cased cartridges.

Casimir Lefaucheux is credited with the invention of one of the first efficient self-contained cartridge

Cartridge (firearms)

A cartridge, also called a round, packages the bullet, gunpowder and primer into a single metallic case precisely made to fit the firing chamber of a firearm. The primer is a small charge of impact-sensitive chemical that may be located at the center of the case head or at its rim . Electrically...

 system in 1836, featuring a pin-fire mechanism. This followed the pioneering work of Jean Samuel Pauly

Jean Samuel Pauly

Jean Samuel Pauly , also Samuel Johannes Pauly, was a famous gunsmith of the early 19th century. Pauly was born at Vechigen near Bern, Switzerland on 13 April 1766.-Career:...

 in 1808-1812. The Lefaucheux cartridge had a conical bullet

Bullet

A bullet is a projectile propelled by a firearm, sling, or air gun. Bullets do not normally contain explosives, but damage the intended target by impact and penetration...

, a cardboard powder tube, and a copper base that incorporated a primer pellet. Lefaucheux thus proposed one of the first practical breech-loading weapon

Breech-loading weapon

A breech-loading weapon is a firearm in which the cartridge or shell is inserted or loaded into a chamber integral to the rear portion of a barrel....

s.

In 1846, the Lefaucheux system would be improved upon by M.Houiller, who introduced an entirely metallic cartridge of copper brass.

In 1858, the Lefaucheux pistolet-revolver became the first metallic-cartridge revolver to be adopted by a national government.