Virginia Manufactory Pistol Second Model
date: label: date made
content: 1812
label: associated date
content: 1812
name: label: maker
content: Virginia State Armory
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description:
label: Description
content: This .54 caliber smoothbore flintlock 2nd Model pistol was made by the Virginia Manufactory. It was modeled after the Harpers Ferry Model 1805. It has brass mountings, a walnut half stock and is wedge fastened. It has an iron rib under the barrel with a wooden ramrod with swelled tip.
label: Description
content: It is stamped “VIRGINIA” and “RICHMOND/1812” on the lockplate. “P” is stamped inside the lockplate and so is “VIII” and “8”. The walnut stock is stamped “RI”.
label: Description
content: History:
label: Description
content: The Virginia Manufactory is also known as the Richmond Armory and the Virginia State Armory. It was established by the Act of 1797 to manufacture arms for the state militia. It was built along the James River and was initially in production from 1802 through 1820. The man who was in charge of the armory was James Haslett. He was formerly employed by McCormick. He was recommended for the job by Colonel John Shee, a surgeon from Philadelphia who served in the Third Pennsylvania Battalion. He wrote to the Governor of Virginia that they would “be enabled to engage Haslett…for the Richmond Armory.” The Armory reopened in 1860 for production during the Civil War.
label: Description
content: It is a rare pistol type made with a hickory ramrod. Fewer than 300 wooden ramrods were made after 1812 because the iron swivel type was favored. There are cuts in the iron rib to make it easier to get the ramrod.
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. 200.
label: Description
content: Smith, Samuel E. and Edwin W. Bitter. Historic Pistols: The American Martial Flintlock 1760-1845, Scalamandre Publications, New York: 1986, p. 242.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Virginia, Richmond
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: 1987.0014.22
label: accession number
content: 1987.0014
label: catalog number
content: 1987.0014.22
label: collector/donor number
content: P114L
objectType: label: Object Name
content: pistol
label: Object Name
content: pistol, flintlock
label: Other Terms
content: pistol; Firearms; 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 1/2 in; 41.91 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 16 1/2 in x 5 3/4 in x 2 1/8 in; 41.91 cm x 14.605 cm x 5.3975 cm