EXCEPTIONALLY RARE PAIR OF M1805 HARPERS FERRY FLINTLOCK PISTOLS DATED 1808 & NUMBERED 1659

EXCEPTIONALLY RARE PAIR OF M1805 HARPERS FERRY FLINTLOCK PISTOLS DATED 1808 & NUMBERED 1659

01-23199
Cal. 54
S# 1659

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 smooth bore pistol. The M1805 pistols were numbered in pairs but issued individually. Once they left the arsenal, the pistols went their separate ways. This information was theorized, but not confirmed, until 1967 when the “Arnold pair” with the serial number 351 was reunited. Pair 351 now resides in the Smithsonian.

The M1805 Harpers Ferry pistols were the only American military arms issued with paired serial numbers. Enough records have survived the fires at the Harpers Ferry arsenal so that we know that 4,096 of these pistols were produced over a three-year period. Sam Smith, an avid collector, started his list of M1805 pistols in 1932 with the theory that they had been made in pairs. He shared his list with a few collectors, and the search began for more pairs. It took 35 years, but his theory was proven correct with the Arnold pair of Harpers Ferry pistols. Today, one can count on one hand how many pairs have been reunited. Of the 4,096 produced, it is believed that approximately 456 were manufactured at Harpers Ferry, dated 1808. Given the survival rate of pistols from this period, we can assume 1808-dated pistols are the second rarest date encountered. This fine pair is serial numbered “1659”. 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, “1659”. 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 1808” to the rear of the cocks. The pistols have brass trigger guards, buttcaps with side straps, side plates, nose bands, and entry thimbles. Both pistols have finely matched, brass tipped wooden ramrods that appear to be early replacements.

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”