Pennsylvania Militia Pistol
date: label: date made
content: ca 1795
label: associated date
content: 1794
name: label: maker
content: Miles, John
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description:
label: Description
content: This .65 caliber smoothbore flintlock Pistol was made by John Miles Sr. under contract for the Pennsylvania Militia. It has brass furniture, double neck hammer a wooden ramrod and a pin fastened stock.
label: Description
content: The barrel proof is a raised Liberty Cap and “P”. The barrel is stamped “MILES PHILAD” and the lock stamped “MILES”.
label: Description
content: History:
label: Description
content: John Miles Sr. moved to Philadelphia from London, England in 1790. He opened a “Gun and Pistol Manufactory. An advertisement in the Philadelphia archives from 1798 reads, “Guns and Pistol Manufactory; No. 500 North Street; Where merchants, Captains of vessels and others may be supplied with all sorts of small arms, on the lowest terms and shortest notice.”
label: Description
content: Between the years 1797 and 1798, Miles made pistols for the Pennsylvania Militia. Under a 1798 contract, he made 2,000 muskets for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. While the exact date on this pistol is unknown, it had to have been made before 1795 because the “P” on the breech was discontinued by Pennsylvania that year.
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 132.
label: Description
content: Smith, Samuel E. and Edwin W. Bitter. Historic Pistols: The American Martial Flintlock 1760-1845, Scalamandre Publications, New York: 1986, p. 104.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
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: 1987.0014.10
label: accession number
content: 1987.0014
label: catalog number
content: 1987.0014.10
label: collector/donor number
content: P108L
objectType: label: Object Name
content: pistol
label: Object Name
content: pistol, flintlock
label: Other Terms
content: pistol; Firearms; Militia; 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: 14 1/2 in; 36.83 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 14 1/2 in x 6 in x 2 in; 36.83 cm x 15.24 cm x 5.08 cm