Model 1807/18 Flintlock Pistol

Description:

Physical Description:

This .69 caliber smoothbore flintlock U.S. Model 1807 pistol was made by the Springfield Armory. It is iron mounted with double barrel bands, a stock that extends past the band, a brass blade front sight on forward strap, a hickory ramrod with swelled tip and a threaded metal ferrule.

It is stamped “U.S.” under an eagle and “SPRING/FIELD/1818” on the lockplate.

History:

On April 26, 1782 Congress approved the construction of the Springfield Armory as a “good and efficient magazine for the reception of the public ammunition.” It began manufacturing pistols for U.S. government use in 1807.

Production of this pistol was started in 1807 but stopped in 1808 when military pistols were changed to .54 caliber. In 1815, some of these pistols were sent to Harpers Ferry and finished. The rest were not finished in Springfield until 1817 and 1818. They were the first to be made in quantity at the Springfield Armory.

References:

Flayderman, Norm. Flayderman’s Guide to Antique American Firearms…and their Values, Gun Digest Books, Iola, 2007. 9th edition.

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. 185.

Smith, Samuel E. and Edwin W. Bitter. Historic Pistols: The American Martial Flintlock 1760-1845, Scalamandre Publications, New York: 1986, p. 280.