Here's an awesome, extremely rare Model 1842 pistol made by the Palmetto Armory in South Carolina. The Palmetto Armory was a private manufacturing firm established in 1851 by William Glaze. In 1851 South Carolina contracted with the Palmetto Armory for weapons to arm the state militia. Included in the contract was an order for 6,000 percussion muskets, 2,000 pistols (or 1,000 pairs) and and 1,000 each of rifles, dragoon and artillery sabers. The contract also stated the arms were to be completed within one calendar year and were to be of the current US patterns then in use; in others words the arms were to be US M1842 pattern muskets, US M1842 pattern pistols, US M1841 pattern rifles and US M1840 cavalry and light artillery sabers. However, the most restrictive clause of the contract was the requirement that the weapons had to be wholly manufactured within the State of South Carolina.
Unfortunately for Glaze, the State's requirement that the guns had to be wholly manufactured within the State of South Carolina proved to be extremely restrictive; especially given the contract's delivery date of only year. The Palmetto Armory simply did not have the resources to fully tool and produce every component of each of the guns in one years time. Glaze ultimately decided that missing his delivery deadline would be a greater offense to the State of South Carolina than the sin of "outsourcing" firearm components from outside sources and began corresponding with Ira Johnson and Asa Waters; two Yankee arms contractors in Connecticut. Johnson had recently completed a contract of 10,000 Model 1842 pistols for the Federal Government, and Waters had delivered a total of 23,000 Model 1836 pistols over the course of an eight year contract with the Federal Government; so Glaze's small contract of 2,000 pistols would be an easy order for the two large armories to fill. Glaze struck a deal with Waters and Johnson to supply finished components to the Palmetto Armory for assembly into complete pistols. It appears that Johnson was the source for the components and that the locks were assembled by Waters, with all parts subsequently sent to Glaze for final assembly. Further investigation of original Palmetto Armory pistols reveals that many of the parts used are condemned parts left over from the Federal contract M1842 pistols, marked with the condemnation “C” markings which appear sometimes partially or nearly completely obliterated.
Despite the Johnson and Waters' secret support, Glaze was unable to deliver to complete enough pistols to be able to meet his 1852 deadline. The State of South Carolina became irritated with Glaze's constant delays and subsequent excuses and ultimately cancelled the contract in May of 1853. However, Glaze was able to convince the state to accept 1,000 pistols that the Palmetto Armory had on hand. In the end, only half of Glaze's contract for pistols was fulfilled, and although he was able to delivery the promised 6,000 muskets, 1,000 rifles and 2,500 swords, the state was fed up with Glaze's violation of nearly every other term of the contract and ultimately ended their relationship with the Palmetto Armory in late 1853. Because of this, Palmetto Armory Pistols are among the rarest U.S. Martial arms; with only 1,000 produced and an untold number lost or destroyed during the Civil War. With so few examples available, it should come as no surprise that fake Palmetto Pistols are sometimes encountered. Thankfully, noted arms historian and antique weapons dealer Tim Prince of College Hill Arsenal has identified a number of key features shared only by legitimate Palmetto Pistols. He discusses these details below:
"The barrels are typically marked on the left flat with WM GLAZE & CO and with a small "P" proof, a small "V" and a “Palmetto Tree” on the breech where the usual Federal contract larger “V”, “P” and “Eagle Head” marks are usually found. The breech plug tangs of the barrels should only be dated “1853”. The locks of the guns are only dated “1852” and are marked in two horizontal lines behind the hammer: COLUMBIA / S C. 1852. It is worth noting that there is generally not a period after the letter “S” on authentic examples. Forward of the hammer, the locks are marked with the circular legend: PALMETTO ARMORY S * C, surrounding the South Carolina palmetto tree. The letters “AL” and “ME” in “palmetto” and “AR” in “armory” are typically conjoined by the bottom leading and trailing edges of their serifs, respectively."
This particular Palmetto Model 1842 pistol is 100% legitimate and exhibits ALL of the qualities that Prince described. In addition to this, this Palmetto Pistol remains in outstanding condition with no damaged or replacement parts.
The stock is in great shape with no cracks or chips. The lock panels are wonderfully crisp and a large "D" or "JD" has been neatly carved; possibly denoting ownership during the Civil War.
The action of the lock is wonderfully smooth and the hammer holds solid on both full and half cock. The lock has minor salt-and-pepper pitting but the lock plate stamps are wonderfully crisp and legible - a rare feature for a Confederate-owned gun, which generally saw hard use throughout the course of the War.
The barrel is full length and features beautiful, crisp stamps at the breech. The captured ramrod is original and functional - another rare feature among Palmetto pistols. The furniture is all original and matching.
This is among the rarest firearms we've ever offered. Don't wait on this - we're not likely to see another Palmetto pistol again; much less one in this condition!
