historicalfirearms:North & Cheney Model 1799The Model 1799 is arguably America’s first service p
historicalfirearms:North & Cheney Model 1799The Model 1799 is arguably America’s first service pistol. Almost a direct copy of the French Modele 1777 cavalry pistol made at St. Etienne and Charleville. The Modele 1777 had been used by the French and Americans during the Revolutionary War and was an obvious choice for production. Connecticut gunmaker Simeon North won the contract in 1799 and went into business with his brother-in-law Elisha Cheney, a partnership which lasted until 1802. Manufactured in Berlin, Connecticut, production was split into two contracts: the first for 500 pistols and a second for 1500. The second contract can be identified by the lack of North & Cheney’s first name initials (the example pictured above is a second contract pistol). The principle differences between the French and American pistols were the calibre, the American gun’s bore being slightly larger, and the Model 1799 having an extra receiver screw. .68 calibre French Modele 1777 (source)The Model 1799 fired a .72 calibre ball and a brass frame held together the lock, trigger mechanism and walnut grips. The ramrod, rather than running under the barrel, ran along the right side, back past the trigger to give the pistol a sleeker profile. The American pistol lacked the belt hook incorporated into the original French design.While the Model 1799 was the first sidearm officially adopted by the US government, the Continental Army had adopted the Model 1775 during the war. Based on a British, rather than French, design the Model 1775, made at the Rappahannock Forge in Virginia, fired a smaller .62-calibre ball.North was contracted to build the pistols for just over $6 per gun but the design proved to be somewhat difficult to manufacture and expensive, something the French also discovered with the Modele 1777. Only 2,000 pistols were made and many of these saw service during the War of 1812. In 1813, North received another contract for a projected 20,000 pistols with interchangeable parts. The Model 1813 had a full stock and fired a .69 calibre ball and were also a copy of a French design, the Modele XIII - introduced in the early 1800s. North only managed to build 1,626 Model 1813s by 1815.North continued to make pistols, manufacturing the Model 1826 for the Navy. In 1828, he was contracted to produce 5,000 Hall M1819 rifles. He died in 1852, aged 87. Source:Images: 1 2 3 -- source link