Model 1808 Pistol
date: label: date made
content: ca 1808
name: label: maker
content: Guest, John
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description:
label: Description
content: This .58 caliber smoothbore flintlock U.S. Model 1808 pistol was made by John Guest of Lancaster, Pa. The locks were made by Drepert, a sub-contractor. It is full pin fastened with a walnut stock, brass mountings, a wooden ramrod, and a reinforced double neck hammer.
label: Description
content: The lockplate is stamped “DREPERT” under the flash pan and “US” by the rear. “J GUEST” is stamped in script on the top of the barrel by the breech.
label: Description
content: History:
label: Description
content: John Guest opened at factory at Lancaster Borough in Lancaster, Pa. He was in production from 1802-1809. He produced many rifles and Model 1807 pistols for contract. It is known that the lockmaker Drepert was his main contractor.
label: Description
content: Guest’s pistols were ordered under U.S. government contract from Tench Coxe. Coxe was a controversial character during this time period. President Thomas Jefferson named him Purveyor of Public Supplies from 1803-1812. Before that however he was a loyalist to the British government.
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, p. 80.
label: Description
content: Smith, Samuel E. and Edwin W. Bitter. Historic Pistols: The American Martial Flintlock 1760-1845, Scalamandre Publications, New York: 1986, p. 214.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Lancaster
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: 1987.0014.08
label: accession number
content: 1987.0014
label: catalog number
content: 1987.0014.08
label: collector/donor number
content: P105L
objectType: label: Object Name
content: pistol
label: Object Name
content: pistol, flintlock
label: Other Terms
content: pistol; Firearms; Army; Flintlock; .58 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 in; 40.64 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 16 1/2 in x 5 1/2 in x 2 1/4 in; 41.91 cm x 13.97 cm x 5.715 cm