Perry Breechloading Single Shot Pistol
date: label: date made
content: ca 1855
name: label: maker
content: Perry, Alonzo D.
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description:
label: Description
content: This .52 caliber rifled single shot breech loading percussion pistol was made by Perry Alonzo of Newark, New Jersey. It has a steel frame and barrel, trigger guard pivots, a breech block upward for loading and two piece wooden grips.
label: Description
content: History:
label: Description
content: Alonzo D. Perry formed his gun manufacturing company in Newark, New Jersey. In 1849, he received a patent for a faucet breech gun. In 1850, he needed to make a winged metal cartridge for his guns. In 1854 and 1855, Perry created breech loading firearms.
label: Description
content: The U.S. Government purchased 200 of those breech loading guns on April 12, 1855. The most notable gun from that batch of 200 was the Model 1855 Navy. Perry’s breech loaders were so effective, that they were copied by other manufacturing companies. The Perry carbine is probably his best known firearm.
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. 149-150.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New Jersey, Newark
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Military
label: See more items in
content: The Bitter Collection of Firearms
label: See more items in
content: Military
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: 1989.0748.06
label: catalog number
content: 1989.0748.06
label: accession number
content: 1989.0748
label: serial number
content: 4
label: collector/donor number
content: P99
objectType: label: Object Name
content: pistol
label: Object Name
content: pistol, percussion
label: Other Terms
content: pistol; Firearms; Caliber .52; Percussion
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: steel (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 13 in; 33.02 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 5/8 in x 13 1/4 in; 4.1275 cm x 33.655 cm