.54 caliber smoothbore. 6" barrels secured by a single pinned barrel band. NSN. Browned and color casehardened finish, brass furniture, walnut stock. Single shot percussion muzzleloading pistol made without sights and with a captive swivel rarmod. Inside hammer percussion lock with pointed tail is marked in three horizontal lines below the hammer: "N.P. AMES / SPRINGFIELD / MASS", with the tail of the lock marked in two vertical lines: "U.S.N. / 1842". No breech markings or cartouches are present.

This is one of the first 300 US Model 1842 Naval Pistols to be produced and is easily identifiable by the shape of the lock, the pointed counterpane which matches the lock profile and the slightly longer grip on these guns than on the standard production pistols. Standard production guns had a thicker, shorter grip and flush fit flat lock with a rounded tail. Only about 2,000 Model 1842 pistols were made by Ames for the Navy between 1842 and 1845, along with another 1,200 or so produced later by Henry Deringer circa 1847. This is a scarce variant of a US Navy pistol that is relatively scarce in and of itself. {ANTIQUE}

Good. Bore dark and oxizied wtih some pitting. Metal with minute traces of freckled brown mixed with a richly oxidized brown patina. Metal with some scattered surface roughness and some lighlty scattered minor pitting. Lock with clear, crisp markings. Mechanically functional lock. Wood with moderate wear and showing a nominally 1.5" chip missing from the lower leading edge of the lock mortise. A small, tight grain crack is present at the tail of the lock mortise and through the single lock mounting screw. Otherwise the wood shows numerous bumps, dings and mars from handling and use.