Model 1808 Navy Pistol
date: label: date made
content: ca 1808
name: label: maker
content: North, Simeon
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description:
label: Description
content: This .64 caliber smoothbore, flintlock Mode 1808 pistol was made by Simeon North. It was standard production for the U.S. Navy. This pistol is pin fastened with a full walnut stock and hickory ramrod with a swelled tip. It has brass mountings including a brass flashpan with fence lock. An iron backstrap extends from tang to butt cap. An iron belt hook is attached to the sideplate.
label: Description
content: On the lockplate is an “eagle over U.STATES” stamp under the flashpan and a “S. NORTH/BERLIN/CON.” Stamp at the rear. Two internal “694” stamps are found both on the left side of the breech plug and in the stock under the backstrap.
label: Description
content: History:
label: Description
content: This type of pistol was created by Simeon North as the standard issue for the U.S. Navy used during the War of 1812. The pistols were manufactured in his first factory in Berlin, Connecticut. 3,000 of these Model 1808 Navy pistols were produced – 2,000 pistols in 1808 and another 1,000 in 1810. The production for these pistols set the standard for American manufacturing.
label: Description
content: It is believed that North paired his pistols like the Harper’s Ferry Armory. In the records for North pistols, there are two pistols that share the same three digit serial number. The stamps are internal and difficult to locate, so this discovery was not made easily.
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. 138.
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: 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: 1983.0777.07
label: accession number
content: 1983.0777
label: catalog number
content: 1983.0777.07
label: collector/donor number
content: P133L
objectType: label: Object Name
content: pistol
label: Object Name
content: pistol, flintlock
label: Other Terms
content: pistol; Firearms; Navy; Flintlock; .67 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 7 in x 2 3/8 in; 41.275 cm x 17.78 cm x 6.0325 cm