Model 1797 Ship's Pistol
date: label: date made
content: ca 1799
name: label: maker
content: McCormick, Robert
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description:
label: Description
content: This .64 caliber smoothbore flintlock Model 1797 Ship’s Pistol was made by Robert McCormick. The lock, made by the British Ketland & Co., is completely flat. It has a pin fastened full walnut stock, brass mountings with a brass reinforcing band, and a wooden ramrod with swelled tip.
label: Description
content: It is stamped “KETLAND & CO’ in script and “UNITED STATES” on the lockplate. The barrel is stamped “P” with an eagle head and “US” is stamped on the top of the barrel near the breech. The stock is stamped “US” under the side plate
label: Description
content: History:
label: Description
content: Robert McCormick was an Irishman who came to America and leased the Globe Mills in 1798 to produce firearms. He was contracted by the U.S. government to produce muskets that same year. In 1799, he had another contract, but did not finish it because he was thrown in debtor’s prison in 1801. That contract was finished by an employee named James Haslett – who would move on to run the Virginia Manufactory.
label: Description
content: The Model 1797 Navy Pistol is one of the rarest early U.S. military handguns. Not much is known about their date of manufacture but it likely predates the Model 1799 North and Cheney pistols. The British locks are probably part of rifle locks purchased by the U.S. government in 1799. McCormick pistols often have Ketland & Co. locks.
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. 96.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States
label: place made
content: United Kingdom: Grand Bretagne
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: 1987.0014.26
label: accession number
content: 1987.0014
label: catalog number
content: 1987.0014.26
label: collector/donor number
content: P124L
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 1/4 in; 41.275 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 16 1/4 in x 6 1/4 in x 2 1/8 in; 41.275 cm x 15.875 cm x 5.3975 cm