North & Cheney Model 1799 Flintlock Pistol, First Model

North & Cheney Model 1799 Flintlock Pistol, First Model

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Description
Physical Description:
This.72 caliber smoothbore, flintlock U.S. First Mode l 1799 pistol was made by North and Cheney. It has a brass frame trigger guard and buttcap, an iron backstrap, no forestock, a one piece walnut handle, and a steel ramrod with button head.
Under the brass frame, “S. NORTH & E. CHENEY BERLIN” is stamped. The barrel has a “P” on the left side and a “V” on the screw heads. Its serial number is “138”.
History:
Simeon North and his brother-in-law Elisha Cheney went into business for a short period of time. They produced around 2,000 Model 1799 Contract Pistols in two contracts – the first, delivering 500 and the second, 1500. It was the first official model adopted by the U.S. government.
This first contract pistol was modeled after the Model 1777 French pistol. There are correspondence between North and the War department in 1801 and 1802 that verify shipments of these North and Cheney pistols.
This pistol has the serial number 138. It was sold to Summer Healey’s gun store in New York City in 1933. Joe Kindig, Jr. purchased it from the store. It was then purchased by Edwin Bitter. Bitter loaned this pistol to the White House and it hung in President Kennedy’s Oval Office.
Reference:
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. 142.
Smith, Samuel E. and Edwin W. Bitter. Historic Pistols: The American Martial Flintlock 1760-1845, Scalamandre Publications, New York: 1986, p. 126.
Location
Currently not on view
Object Name
pistol
Other Terms
pistol; Firearms; Army; Flintlock;.72 In; Smooth Bore; Muzzle Load; Sa
date made
ca 1799
maker
North, Simeon
Cheney, Elisha
place made
United States
Physical Description
metal (part material)
wood (part material)
Measurements
overall: 14 1/2 in; 36.83 cm
ID Number
1988.0518.03
accession number
1988.0518
catalog number
1988.0518.03
collector/donor number
P80L
Credit Line
The Adriana and Edwin W. Bitter Family Collection
See more items in
Political and Military History: Armed Forces History, Military
Military
The Bitter Collection of Firearms
Data Source
National Museum of American History
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Comments

Was this pistol the same model that John Cheney, Guide of the Adirondack Mtns used. I wonder if the manufacture Elisha Cheney was related to John Cheney. It was said that the pistol was made for him??

John peffer

Mon, 2018-08-20 11:34

I own the French model, a 1777 Charleville transformed to percussion near 1830. It is the same as the Saint-Etienne model. As French Army wanted this cavalry pistol to become a standard, parts had to be interchangeable, which led to a new process (first machining tolerances written on drawings). A "little revolution"...

Decker

Fri, 2017-05-26 11:35

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