The US Model 1842 Pistol as produced by the firms of Henry Aston and Ira N Johnson represented both the beginning and the end of an era in US military handguns. This series was the last of the large bore, single shot, smooth bore pistols to be issued in any quantity and would essentially be replaced by the various repeating percussion revolvers that the government would begin to purchase during the 1850s and would continue to procure through the end of the Civil War era. It was also the first official percussion ignition pistol to be adopted by the US military. The Johnson and Aston companies produced 40,000 of these single-shot pistols, not counting the “Palmetto Armory” production by William Glaze, with Aston producing some 30,000 of the guns. 

The Model 1842 had a .54 caliber 8.5” long smoothbore barrel and was intended to use the same round ball as the US Model 1841 Mississippi Rifle. The 14” long pistol was the general service pistol of the time for the US military and saw use with the infantry, cavalry, dragoons, and artillery. Like previous single shot military pistols used by the US, this one had a large bulbous, metal-capped butt that was designed to allow the pistol to be used as a club after discharging it. The end result is that cracked and damaged stocks are quite commonly encountered on these pistols.

This pistol is in FINE condition, with very crisp markings and excellent cartouches. The lock is marked in three vertical lines behind the hammer:

MIDDTN

CONN

1850

and

US

H. ASTON

in two lines horizontally forward of the hammer. The tang of the pistol is dated with the matching 1850 date, and the breech is marked: 

US

JH

P

in three lines. The initials “JH” are those of Springfield Armory sub-inspector Joseph Hannis who worked for about two decades as a civilian arms inspector for the Ordnance Department. The barrel flat is also clearly marked with a small N sub-inspector’s mark. Other small sub-inspections including C and H are found on various parts of the pistol. The stock flat opposite the lock retains two excellent inspection cartouches. The rear most is a script WAT cartouche, the final acceptance mark of Captain William Anderson Thornton of the US Ordnance Department. Thornton worked inspecting and accepting arms from 1840 until 1866. The other cartouche is a very crisp script JH, once again the mark of armory sub-inspector Joseph Hannis. 

The lock functions very crisply and is mechanically excellent, with the internal parts retaining the large majority of their bright, fire-blued finish. The original captive, swivel mounted iron rammer is present and functions exactly as it should, although it is slightly bent forward of the swivel. This can be seen in the photo of the bottom of the pistol. The bend does not appear to affect the functionality of the pistol and is mentioned for exactness. The iron barrel of the gun has a very pleasing, medium pewter patina, and was probably lightly cleaned at some point in time. The barrel is mostly smooth, with some lightly scattered surface oxidation and pinpricking along its length, with the most evident areas being a moderate amount of cap flash oxidation at the breech and bolster area, as well as some flash wear near the muzzle. The lock and hammer are lightly oxidized with some surface mottling and have a dulling steel patina. The screw heads that retain the lock, barrel tang, butt cap, etc. are all in good condition and retain some minor trace hints of their original heat blued finish. The brass furniture has an attractive mellow, golden patina, with some green verdigris around the edges of some of the brass, indicating that it has not been cleaned in a long time. The smooth bore is partly bright and shows scattered oxidation, discoloration, and some evenly scattered light pitting along its length. The original brass front sight blade is present and in fine condition, again showing a large amount of dark green verdigris. The stock is in also in FINE condition and is slightly better than the metal. It is relatively crisp throughout. The stock is solid and free of any breaks, cracks, or repairs. The wood does show a number of scattered minor bumps and dings from service and use but retains good edges and lines and does not appear to have been sanded. As noted, the stock retains two very nice cartouches.

Overall, this is a very nice and very attractive example of the last of the big bore martial single shot pistols used by the US government. The gun is 100% complete, correct, and original. This US Model 1842 Aston pistol shows some actual use, but no abuse and is a really solid example of this pattern of pre-Civil War US pistol. This would be a great addition to any collection and is very reasonably priced, as these guns are regularly being listed in the $1,200+ range these days for examples in this condition.

ON HOLD