Simeon North Made Dueling Pistols? | C. 1820 Flintlock Pistol

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There are few names on the list of American firearms manufacturers that hold up to names like Jacob Dickert, John Hancock Hall, and Samuel Colt, but if anyone should, it's Simeon North.
North is known to be one of the first official pistol makers for the United States of America, thanks to his role in producing U.S. martial pistols for decades in the early national period starting with the Model 1799 pistols.
Simeon North developed one of America's first milling machines (possibly the very first) in 1818 and played an important role in the development of interchangeable parts manufacturing.
By 1813, North had signed a government contract to produce 20,000 pistols that specified that parts of the lock had to be completely interchangeable between any of the 20,000 locks: the first contract of which any such evidence exists. It was during this period that North is believed to have invented the milling machine, which was able to shape metal mechanically and thus replaced filing by hand.
For some time, interchangeable-part manufacturing in metal continued to be a combination of machine-made parts and human skill in filing machined parts to precise size for such high-end uses as military weapons, in which interchangeable parts were worth paying for at high prices (they were worth high prices because an army on campaign could cannibalize damaged weapons for parts).
This pistol is similar to other known Simeon North dueling pistols from late flintlock era c. 1820, including the prominent examples in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and previously in the William M. Locke collection
For more information;
Fitch, Charles H. (1882), Extra Census Bulletin. Report on the manufacture of fire-arms and ammunition., Washington, DC, USA: United States Government Printing Office.
Muir, Diana (2000), Reflections in Bullough's Pond: Economy and Ecosystem in New England, University Press of New England, ISBN 978-0-87451-909-9.
North, Simon Newton Dexter; North, Ralph H. (1913), Simeon North: First Official Pistol Maker of the United States: A Memoir, Concord, NH, USA: Rumford Press.
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[@JeffandLeslie]

Well done review of this one. What a beautiful piece. I love the checkering.

[@ILoveMuzzleloading]

Thank you Jeff, it was truly a work of art

[@markfair7648]

That is a very nice pistol. Love the water channels on the lock to protect the pan. Putting engraving on the bolt heads is nice to. A very well thought out piece with style and function. Nice run down of the features Ethan.

[@mylife6453]

The part that is stepped for the lock is the breechplug. This pistol has a hooked patent breech system with a powder chamber in the plug,

[@billysmith6284]

That’s a beauty.

[@ILoveMuzzleloading]

I couldn't agree more

[@beckflintlocks]

Beautiful!

[@ILoveMuzzleloading]

Thanks for watching!

[@beckflintlocks]

@@ILoveMuzzleloading any time boss I enjoy your content!!!

[@Snap4590]

Ethan - Is the barrel swamped? Thanks

[@ILoveMuzzleloading]

I'd say slightly

[@samcolt1079]

NICE FLINTLOCK. WHY IS IT A DUELING PISTOL ?

[@ILoveMuzzleloading]

I believe it has to do with the sight set up and the documentation from the collection