The Model 1817 was known as the common rifle to differentiate it from the more unusual Hall rifles manufactured in the same period. All Model 1817s manufactured in 1819-1846 were manufactured by outside contractors rather than the national armories; only the pattern/prototype rifles were manufactured at the armories. Nathan Starr manufactured 10,200 of them, second only to Henry Deringer's 13,000 gun contract. Many of these rifles were converted in the period to percussion and used up to and in some instances during the Civil War. This piece has mostly standard markings and features but is dated "1840" on the tail of the lock and has "1826" on the barrel tang suggesting a mix of earlier and later production parts.