Fall 2023 Premier Firearms & Militaria Auction
November 3rd, 4th, 5th, & 6th, 2023
This auction will feature an outstanding collection of items spanning multiple categories including Modern, Military, Sporting, & Antique firearms & militaria! Below is just a small grouping of select highlights from the massive offering to be featured in this upcoming sale!
EXCEPTIONALLY RARE PAIR OF M1805 HARPERS FERRY FLINTLOCK PISTOLS DATED 1806 & NUMBERED 106
01-23197
Cal. 54
S# 106
Bbl. 10 1/16”
President George Washington selected Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia) as the location of one of the two new United States armories to be constructed. Harpers Ferry sits at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers, providing ample water power for a variety of manufacturing pursuits. Construction began in 1799 on the new arsenal and arms production facility. The Harpers Ferry Arsenal manufactured the first arsenal produced military handgun, the model 1805 smoothboard pistol. The M1805 pistols were numbered and issued in pairs. Therefore, of the 4,096 manufactured, the highest serial number would be 2048 as each pistol in a pair was numbered identically. Of the 4,096 produced, only 300 were manufactured at Harpers Ferry dated 1806. Fewer than 20% of pistols produced by Harpers Ferry in 1806 are known to exist today, which makes this pair extraordinary rarities.
This pair is serial numbered “106”. Each pistol has a round barrel with an eagle over “P” in oval proof, as well as a “US” in oval proof on the left side adjacent to the serial number, “106”. Both pistols are original flint with the original lock intact. The locks feature a spread-wing American eagle over “US” in front of the cocks, and “HARPERS FERRY 1806” to the rear of the cocks. The pistols have brass trigger guards, butt caps, side plates, nose bands, and entry thimbles.
Each pistol has an iron ramrod thimble that houses a wooden ramrod. Pistol A has a partially visible cartouche on the stock just in back of the rear side plate screw. This pistol has a hickory ramrod with a swelled tip. Pistol B has a barely visible cartouche on the stock just in back of the rear side plate screw. This pistol has a replaced wooden ramrod with a swelled brass tip.
UNATTACHED ACCESSORIES: a book by Rick Hudak titled “HARPERS FERRY ARSENAL AND JOSEPH PERKIN: The Classic Arms of the Early Years”.
PROVENANCE: from the Collection of Rick Hudak, author of, “Harpers Ferry Arsenal and Joseph Perkin”.
STATUS: ANTIQUE
