Send us your own comments about this object.

Title:	PISTOL -  FRENCH PISTOL MODEL 1777 FLINTLOCK .69
Maker/Manufacturer:	M.A.S.
Date of Manufacture:	1782
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 709
Measurements:	OL: 33.6CM 13 1/4" BL: 20.3CM 8" 2.9 lbs.

Object Description:

FRENCH PISTOL MODEL 1777 FLINTLOCK .69
Manufactured by d'Armes de St. Etienne, St. Etienne, France in 1782 - Standard French Model 1777 flintlock pistol. Brass frame with integral lock mechanism, brass triggerguard and buttcap, iron backstrap and belthook (retains original belthook). Weapon weighs approximately 2.9 lbs.

Markings:
Lock: Crown/L forward of cock. (ST. ETIENNE).
Stock: M repeated 4 times. 9BRE/1782.
Barrel: 82 and crown.

Army#5440 - "Accession #5440 and #5441 were received June 29, 1939 (R.R. 18) from Captain J.E. Hicks, O.R., Mount Vernon, N.Y., in exchange for 1 Musket, Harper's Ferry, flintlock, M1835, Cal..69 and Bayonet."

Exhibit label: "M1777 ST. ETIENNE PISTOL .69 caliber - This example of the M1777 was built at the St. Etienne Arsenal in France in September 1782. In its early decades the U.S. military was strongly influenced by French practice. When Simeon North and Elisha Cheney of Berlin, Connecticut, built the first pistols under U.S. contract in 1799, their design was a copy of this model."

Notes: This model served as prototype for the 1st U.S. martial pistol produced by North & Cheney.

Although Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown in the Fall of 1781 marked the end of the Revolutionary War, minor battles between the British and the colonists continued for another two years. Therefore, it is possible that this 1882 dated pistol may have seen some action in the Revolutionary War. It was the Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, that formally ended the war.

LOAN HISTORY:
Army # 5440 - Loaned to George Kennedy, C.B.S. Television, from 8 May 1958 to 16 May 1958.
Army #5440 - Loaned to Mr. Reid, Carlisle Hardware Store, Springfield, Ma. from 11 May to 20 May 1959.