Model 1807/18 Flintlock Pistol
date: label: date made
content: ca 1818
label: associated date
content: 1815
name: label: maker
content: Springfield Armory
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description:
label: Description
content: This .69 caliber smoothbore flintlock U.S. Model 1807 pistol was made by the Springfield Armory. It is iron mounted with double barrel bands, a stock that extends past the band, a brass blade front sight on forward strap, a hickory ramrod with swelled tip and a threaded metal ferrule.
label: Description
content: It is stamped “U.S.” under an eagle and “SPRING/FIELD/1818” on the lockplate.
label: Description
content: History:
label: Description
content: On April 26, 1782 Congress approved the construction of the Springfield Armory as a “good and efficient magazine for the reception of the public ammunition.” It began manufacturing pistols for U.S. government use in 1807.
label: Description
content: Production of this pistol was started in 1807 but stopped in 1808 when military pistols were changed to .54 caliber. In 1815, some of these pistols were sent to Harpers Ferry and finished. The rest were not finished in Springfield until 1817 and 1818. They were the first to be made in quantity at the Springfield Armory.
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. 185.
label: Description
content: Smith, Samuel E. and Edwin W. Bitter. Historic Pistols: The American Martial Flintlock 1760-1845, Scalamandre Publications, New York: 1986, p. 280.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Massachusetts, Springfield
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: 1987.0014.17
label: accession number
content: 1987.0014
label: catalog number
content: 1987.0014.17
label: collector/donor number
content: P119L
objectType: label: Object Name
content: pistol
label: Object Name
content: pistol, flintlock
label: Other Terms
content: pistol; Firearms; Army; 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: 17 1/2 in; 44.45 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 17 1/2 in x 6 in x 2 1/2 in; 44.45 cm x 15.24 cm x 6.35 cm