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
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
John peffer
Mon, 2018-08-20 11:34