Pennsylvania/Kentucky Pistol
date: label: date made
content: ca 1800
name: label: maker
content: Shuler, John
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description:
label: Description
content: This .50 caliber smoothbore flintlock Kentucky style pistol is attributed to John Shuler of Liverpool, Pennsylvania. This pistol has an octagonal barrel with an iron front sight. It is pin fastened with a curly maple stock and a brass barrel band on the forend. It has brass furniture including a brass lockplate and flash pan. The wooden ramrod has a brass tip. The trigger guard has an arrowhead filial and the silver escutcheon plate is engraved “AST.”
label: Description
content: History:
label: Description
content: This particular pistol is a mystery. It is attributed to John Shuler of Liverpool, Pennsylvania. While it is similar to Shuler pistols in appearance, there are many differences that set it apart.
label: Description
content: First, it differs because it lacks the “SHULER” stamp on the barrel. This pistol also has a brass lockplate which is not common for a Shuler pistol. Finally, the engraving on the silver escutcheon plate is not found on Shuler 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. 176.
label: Description
content: Smith, Samuel E. and Edwin W. Bitter. Historic Pistols: The American Martial Flintlock 1760-1845, Scalamandre Publications, New York: 1986, p. 236.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Liverpool
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: 1986.0024.09
label: accession number
content: 1986.0024
label: catalog number
content: 1986.0024.09
label: collector/donor number
content: P69L
objectType: label: Object Name
content: pistol
label: Object Name
content: pistol, flintlock
label: Other Terms
content: pistol; Firearms; Flintlock; .50 In; Smooth Bore; Muzzle Load; Sa
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (part material)
label: Physical Description
content: iron (part material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (part material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 14 5/8 in; 37.1475 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 1/8 in x 14 3/4 in x 6 1/8 in; 5.3975 cm x 37.465 cm x 15.5575 cm