U.S. Model 1805 Pistol
date: label: date made
content: 1806
label: associated date
content: 1806
name: label: maker
content: Harpers Ferry
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description:
label: Description
content: This .56 caliber smoothbore flintlock U.S. Model 1805 pistol was made at Harpers Ferry. It is key fastened with a half stock. It has a brass reinforcing band and brass furniture. The round barrel with rib and ramrod ferrule is all iron.
label: Description
content: The barrel is stamped “103” and “US” next to an eagle. The lockplate is stamped “HARPERS/FERRY/1806” and “US” under an eagle.
label: Description
content: History:
label: Description
content: Harper’s Ferry was named after Robert Harper – a mill owner – who purchased the land from Lord Fairfax in 1798. An Act of Congress on April 2, 1794 established the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry in Virginia. The site was personally inspected and chosen by George Washington. Harpers Ferry produced hundreds of thousands of pistols and firearms for government use between 1796 and 1861. On April 18, 186, Lt. Roger Jones – in charge of Harper’s Ferry at the time – burned the armory for fear of it falling into the hands of the Virginia militia.
label: Description
content: Harper’s Ferry pistols always came in pairs and were often used as models by contractors and other armories in the United States. This particular pistol is very rare. It is stamped 1806. Despite over 300 Model 1805 pistols being manufactured at Harper’s Ferry, only 33 have been recorded to bear the 1806 stamp.
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. 84.
label: Description
content: Smith, Samuel E. and Edwin W. Bitter. Historic Pistols: The American Martial Flintlock 1760-1845, Scalamandre Publications, New York: 1986, p. 178.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: West Virginia, Harpers Ferry
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: 1987.0014.23
label: accession number
content: 1987.0014
label: catalog number
content: 1987.0014.23
label: collector/donor number
content: P115L
objectType: label: Object Name
content: pistol
label: Object Name
content: pistol, flintlock
label: Other Terms
content: pistol; Firearms; Army; Flintlock; .54 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