Model 1813 Maryland Contract Pistol
date: label: date made
content: 1813
name: label: maker
content: Deringer, Jr., Henry
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description:
label: Description
content: This .54 caliber smoothbore flintlock Pistol was made by Henry Deringer in 1813. It has a pin fastened barrel, brass mountings, and a wooden ramrod with two ramrod pipes.
label: Description
content: The batch number “3” is stamped inside the lockplate, in the inlet for the lock, bridle and frizzen. The barrel has “M” over a raised “P” in an oval and the stock is stamped “M” and “HM.”
label: Description
content: History:
label: Description
content: This type of pistol was manufactured by Henry Deringer. He opened his factory in Philadelphia in 1806 and would later become famous for his percussion pocket pistol. There is no federal contract information for Deringer pistols in 1813. It is reported however, to have been for a contract in 1807/1808 for the state of Maryland to make 510 pistols.
label: Description
content: Batch numbers for Deringer pistols range from the number 1 to the number 61. Two pistols have the batch number “3”. Deringer delivered batch numbers 1-90 in one shipment. At a later date he shipped pistols with batch numbers 1-120 which accounts for the duplicate batch numbers on this particular pistol in addition to 89 other pistols.
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. 51.
label: Description
content: Smith, Samuel E. and Edwin W. Bitter. Historic Pistols: The American Martial Flintlock 1760-1845, Scalamandre Publications, New York: 1986, p. 286.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
label: associated place
content: United States: Maryland
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: 1986.0024.06
label: accession number
content: 1986.0024
label: catalog number
content: 1986.0024.06
label: collector/donor number
content: P42L
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 in; 40.64 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 3/8 in x 16 1/4 in x 6 1/8 in; 6.0325 cm x 41.275 cm x 15.5575 cm