Only 150 cutlass pistols were manufactured by Cyrus B. Allen of Springfield, Mass., c. 1838 for the U.S. Navy, and less than 500 are officially believed to have been made in total, including those made for Merrill, Mosman & Blair. The Elgin pistols were used on the Wilkes-South Sea Exploring Expedition and were the first percussion handguns issued by the U.S. military and also the only knife pistols ever officially issued. Included with the pistol is a page from an unknown magazine with a writeup on the model.