.69 caliber smoothbore. 11" barrel secured by a single double strapped barrel band with a Wickham's improvement stud. NSN. Bright finish, iron furntiure, walnut stock. Single shot percussion altered smoothbore muzzleloading pistol with no rear sight, no front sight and a trumpet shaped wooden ramrod with an iron jag at the end. The percussion altered lock is marked with an {Eagle} over "US" and stamped in three vertical lines at the tail "SPRING/FIELD/1818". Barrel marked "1818" on top and with a raised "P" in a sunken oval proof, along with an {Eagle Head} and a "V" on the left quadrant. Traces of a script cartouche are present behind the rear lock screw on the counterpane that appear to be a "V / JN", the mark of inspector John Newbury. Alteration is via a drum bolster with a civilian percussion hammer, typical of many southern alterations done during the early days of the American Civil War.

These large .69 caliber pistols, known correctly to collectors as both the Model 1807 and the Model 1817, are a rarity in marial arms collecting becasue only 1,000 were made and they were one of only three pistol types made in quantity at the Springfield Arsenal, the other two being the Model 1855 Pistol Carbine and the Model 1911. The orignial production was authroized and begun in 1807 but after the fabrication of a few hundred locks and barrels, the massive .69 pistol project were shelved in preference for a smaller caliber. In 1817 the authorization was granted to use up the parts on hand producing the guns, theoretically for naval issue. The old parts were used up and additional parts were made as needed to manufacture 1,000 of the guns. Many of the later locks were actually orignally made at Springfield in hopes of producing Model 1803 Rifles at that facility but that project was abandoned and all the rifle parts made other than the locks were sent to Harpers Ferry. Upon completion these pistols sat in storage and were still in the Springfield Arsenal inventory in 1850. When sold as surplus most were then altered to percussoin, so flintlock examples are extremely rare. Some of the percussion altered examples like this one saw additional use during the early days of the Civil War. {ANTIQUE}

Good. Bore dark and rusty. Metal cleaned to bright with some scattered light pitting and some light surface oxidation and discoloration. Markings in metal mostly clear, weaker in wood. Mechanically functional lock. Upper band somewhat ill fitting and not fully seated. Wood with moderate wear, a section of chipped loss a the upper rear of the lock, a repaired crack forward of the upper edge of the lock and numerous scatted bumps, dings and mars. Wood sanded and refinished.