US MODEL 1842 PERCUSSION PISTOL BY I.N. JOHNSON – DATED 1855

US MODEL 1842 PERCUSSION PISTOL BY I.N. JOHNSON – DATED 1855

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$795.00

Quantity Available: 1

Item Code: 2025-2887

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The Model 1842 was the U.S. Army's first standard-issue percussion pistol and the last of the single-shot martial handguns before the revolver took over. A .54 caliber smoothbore with an 8 1/2" round barrel and brass mountings, it was carried by dragoons and mounted troops on the frontier through the 1850s and was still in cavalry hands on both sides in the opening months of the Civil War. Alongside government production at Springfield, the pistol was made under contract by Henry Aston and Ira N. Johnson of Middletown, Connecticut. Johnson's deliveries ran from 1853 into 1855, making this 1855-dated example one of the later pistols off his contract.

The lockplate is crisply marked forward of the hammer "U.S. / I.N. JOHNSON" and behind the hammer "MIDDTN / CONN / 1855." The barrel carries inspector's stamps at the breech. Assembly numbers are stamped across the brass furniture, the barrel tang and the stock. The pistol retains its original brass mountings: buttcap with an iron lanyard ring still in place, trigger guard, sideplate and single barrel band, along with the iron swivel ramrod.

The barrel and lock show a smooth, even brown-gray patina with light pitting, mostly at the muzzle and breech, and the lock markings are strong and fully legible. The brass has a mellow, unpolished mustard patina with light handling marks. The walnut stock has scattered dings and service wear, raised grain around the lock and sideplate panels, and a stable hairline crack running forward from the rear sideplate screw. Mechanically, the hammer does not hold at half cock, likely due to wear to the tumbler notches. Bore is dull with light pitting.

A good, honest, unrestored dragoon pistol with some neat features.   [cm] [ph:L]

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