Model 1808 Navy Pistol
date: label: date made
content: ca 1809
name: label: maker
content: North, Simeon
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description:
label: Description
content: This .67 caliber smoothbore flintlock U.S. Model 1808 Navy pistol was made by Simeon North. It varies from the North Model 1808 Navy Pistol, Standard Production (1983.0777.07) because of the bag grip. This pistol is pin fastened with a walnut stock and a wooden ramrod with a swelled tip. It has brass mountings including a brass flashpan. There is an iron backstrap extending from tang to butt cap, and an iron belt hook attached on reverse.
label: Description
content: The lockplate has an eagle over “U.STATES” stamp under the flashpan and “S.NORTH/BERLIN/CON.” stamp at the rear. The stock has a “V” at the rear of the side plate. The serial number is 335.
label: Description
content: History:
label: Description
content: North made this type of pistol in two contracts – one in 1808 and the other in 1810. This type of pistol was most likely produced during the 1808 contract because of its grip. A bag grip makes a pistol heavier and therefore would not have been as efficient as the Standard Production pistol.
label: Description
content: While the grip is unusual for use in the U.S. Navy, there is another unusual feature. The stamped letters are smaller than the Standard Production Model 1808 pistols. The text and symbols however are the same.
label: Description
content: References:
label: Description
content: Flayderman, Norm. Flayderman’s Guide to Antique American Firearms…and their Values, Gun Digest Books, Iola, 2007. 9th edition.
label: Description
content: Gardner, Robert E. Col. Small Arms Makers: A Directory of Fabricators of Firearms, Edged Weapons, Crossbows and Polearms, Crown Publishers Inc, New York: 1963, 142.
label: Description
content: Smith, Samuel E. and Edwin W. Bitter. Historic Pistols: The American Martial Flintlock 1760-1845, Scalamandre Publications, New York: 1986, p. 140
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Connecticut, Berlin
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Military
label: See more items in
content: Military
label: See more items in
content: The Bitter Collection of Firearms
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: The Adriana and Edwin W. Bitter Family Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1983.0777.10
label: accession number
content: 1983.0777
label: catalog number
content: 1983.0777.10
label: collector/donor number
content: P136L
objectType: label: Object Name
content: pistol
label: Object Name
content: pistol, flintlock
label: Other Terms
content: pistol; Firearms; Navy; Flintlock; .68 In; Smooth Bore; Muzzle Load; Sa
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (part material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (part material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 16 1/4 in; 41.275 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 16 1/4 in x 6 1/2 in x 2 3/4 in; 41.275 cm x 16.51 cm x 6.985 cm