McCormick Type Ship's Pistol
date: label: date made
content: ca 1797
name: label: pistol maker
content: unknown
label: lock maker
content: Ketland & Co.
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description:
label: Description
content: The maker of this .68 caliber smoothbore flintlock U.S. Model 1797 Navy pistol is unknown but it is similar pistols made by Robert McCormick. It has a civilian patterned lockplate yet is a military contract pistol. It is brass mounted with brass reinforcing bands on the fore stock. It is pin fastened, has a wooden ramrod with a swelled tip, and a gooseneck hammer.
label: Description
content: The lockplate is stamped “KETLAND & CO” and the barrel has a faint “US” stamp near the tang.
label: Description
content: History:
label: Description
content: The maker of this pistol is unknown. It is a McCormick type pistol. Robert McCormick was an Irishman who came to America and leased the Globe Mills in 1798 to produce firearms. McCormick did create a 1797 Navy Pistol with a Ketland and Co. lockplate.
label: Description
content: This particular pistol is odd because of the lock. It is a civilian pattern lock but the pistol has a military stamp. There are a few explanations for why a civilian lock is found on a military pistol. The lock may have accidentally been placed in a parts bin. It may have been substituted for a broken lock or maybe the contractor was short a lock and needed this one to complete the contract. Whatever the reason, the appearance of a civilian lock on a military arm is unusual.
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. 122.
label: Description
content: Smith, Samuel E. and Edwin W. Bitter. Historic Pistols: The American Martial Flintlock 1760-1845, Scalamandre Publications, New York: 1986, p. 98.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States
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: 1987.0014.25
label: accession number
content: 1987.0014
label: catalog number
content: 1987.0014.25
label: collector/donor number
content: P123L
objectType: label: Object Name
content: pistol
label: Object Name
content: pistol, flintlock
label: Other Terms
content: pistol; Firearms; Navy; Flintlock; .69 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 1/2 in; 41.91 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 16 1/2 in x 6 1/2 in x 2 5/16 in; 41.91 cm x 16.51 cm x 5.9055 cm