This pistol was manufactured around the tail end of the 18th century. The smoothbore barrel has a sunken oval anchor mark on the upper left at the breech, and the underside of the barrel at the breech has a faint marking starting with an "H". The lock is marked "US" at the tail and "Ketland/& Co" in script below the priming pan. The furniture is brass. The stock may have had a marking on the left flat below the sideplate, but it is now illegible. There are also to "X" marks to the left of the trigger guard finial. This pistol appears to have been one of the 1797 contract "Ship's Pistols." Per Reilly on page 164 of "United States Martial Flintlocks", 914 are recorded as delivered. They were produced by Thomas Annely (90), Robert McCormick (100), John Miles (152), Joseph Morgan (84), John Nicholson, Jr. (142), and Frederick Schnider (26). Reilly notes, "Their survival rate is exceedingly small, due in part to the fact that the Ship's pistols were, indeed placed on board immediately after receipt. The attrition rate for small arms and all other shipboard equipage during the age of sale was extremely high, since the loss of the vessel invariably meant the loss of virtually everything on board." He also notes, "Only John McCormick is known to have marked these early pistols although John Miles may also have done so." The furniture is brass and is clearly based largely on the British martial pistols of the era, particularly the Sea Service pistols. Similar forend bands, single ramrod ferrules, trigger guards, and pommel caps are found on Robert McCormick's horseman pistols. These 1797 pistols generally featured Ketland & Co. locks, and Ketland locks are also found on many early U.S. rifles. The English Ketland family's businesses exported tens of thousands of locks in various grades per research by Joseph V. Puleo. In addition to Reilly's book, see "The McCormick Pistol Mystery- An Update" by Ed Bitter in the American Society of Arms Collector Bulletin 41:13-22, "Historic Pistols: The American Martial Flintlock 1760-1845" by Smith and Bitter for illustrations and information on the historic 1797 contract pistols.

Good overall as refinished/restored with mostly bright polished lock and barrel with mild pitting, aged patina on the brass mounts, repairs to the stock including some filler, and generally moderate wear. Mechanically fine.