McCormick Horse Pistol
date: label: date made
content: ca 1799
name: label: maker
content: McCormick, Robert
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description:
label: Description
content: This .67 caliber unproofed, smoothbore flintlock horse pistol was made by Robert McCormick of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It has a pin fastened, walnut stock with a narrow brass barrel band. It has brass mountings with an engraved brass trigger guard in a pineapple finial.
label: Description
content: This pistol does not have any proof marks but does have “UNITED/STATES” stamped at the rear of the lockplate and “Ketland/&Co.” stamped in script under the flash pan.
label: Description
content: History:
label: Description
content: Robert McCormick is an Irishman who came to America and leased the Globe Mills in 1798 to produce firearms. He was contracted by the U.S. government for 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: This pistol is very rare. Because there are no proofmarks, two theories emerge for this pistol. The first is that it was sold for civilian use. The trigger guard’s engraving is not that of a military pistol and the side plate is not symmetrical. Also the grip has a sharper slope than a military horseman pistol. The second theory is that because of its martial size, this pistol could have been put together from parts in a military warehouse.
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. 92.
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: 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: 1987.0014.04
label: accession number
content: 1987.0014
label: catalog number
content: 1987.0014.04
objectType: label: Object Name
content: pistol
label: Object Name
content: pistol, flintlock
label: Other Terms
content: pistol; Firearms; 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 1/8 in; 40.9575 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 16 1/8 in x 6 1/2 in x 1 3/4 in; 40.9575 cm x 16.51 cm x 4.445 cm