Steven Mace
08-12-2005, 04:32 AM
Armory welcomes rare carbine
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
By PATRICK JOHNSON
pjohnson@repub.com
SPRINGFIELD - The Springfield Armory National Historic Site welcomed home yesterday a rare prototype cavalry rifle that was stolen more than 30 years ago.
In a ceremony at the museum site on the campus of Springfield Technical Community College, Armory Superintendent J. Douglas Cuillard said the day marked the "repatriation" of a rifle that is a significant part of armory history.
"It's not just a stolen weapon, but one with a story behind it," he said. "And that story is Custer's Last Stand."
The rifle, a prototype Springfield carbine valued at between $20,000 and $40,000, is one of two such weapons made. It was designed in an attempt to correct a fatal flaw in the original design of the U.S. Model 1873 breech-loading "trapdoor" weapons. That fatal flaw - the rifles were prone to jamming, especially in the heat of battle - came to light in the aftermath of Col. George A. Custer's defeat on June 25, 1876, at Little Big Horn in Montana Territory. His 7th Cavalry command of 200 troopers was wiped out by a superior force of Sioux and Cheyenne warriors.
After the battle, a public outcry sought to pin the blame, and the armory received its share, said Cuillard.
The lasting depiction of Custer's Last Stand by painter Edgar S. Paxson even portrays soldiers trying to free jammed shells from their rifles, Cuillard said.
Orders came down from the U.S. Ordnance Department for the armory to correct the problem. The armory designed two experimental carbines, each with a special built-in device for ejecting jammed shells.
In the end, neither was adopted, and the trapdoor carbine was replaced by the bolt-action rifle, said Cuillard. One of the two prototypes disappeared sometime between 1968, when the armory ceased manufacturing arms, and 1978, when the National Parks Service took over the site.
Cuillard said the prototype ended up in the hands of a private gun collector in California.
It came to light when the collector posted a description of the weapon on the Internet seeking information about it, and the armory was alerted, he said.
The gun predated the use of serial numbers, but a National Parks Service investigation was able to identify it by comparing it with photographs on file.
The collector, who did not know the gun was stolen, agreed to give it back to the armory.
Cuillard credited the Federal Bureau of Investigation's art recovery unit with negotiating its return.
The museum is missing several other pieces, many of which were not photographed, and this makes the chances of a return unlikely, he said.
The returned weapon will go on public display at the museum.
http://www.masslive.com/living/republican/index.ssf?/base/living-0/112366007180410.xml&coll=1
Steve Mace
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
By PATRICK JOHNSON
pjohnson@repub.com
SPRINGFIELD - The Springfield Armory National Historic Site welcomed home yesterday a rare prototype cavalry rifle that was stolen more than 30 years ago.
In a ceremony at the museum site on the campus of Springfield Technical Community College, Armory Superintendent J. Douglas Cuillard said the day marked the "repatriation" of a rifle that is a significant part of armory history.
"It's not just a stolen weapon, but one with a story behind it," he said. "And that story is Custer's Last Stand."
The rifle, a prototype Springfield carbine valued at between $20,000 and $40,000, is one of two such weapons made. It was designed in an attempt to correct a fatal flaw in the original design of the U.S. Model 1873 breech-loading "trapdoor" weapons. That fatal flaw - the rifles were prone to jamming, especially in the heat of battle - came to light in the aftermath of Col. George A. Custer's defeat on June 25, 1876, at Little Big Horn in Montana Territory. His 7th Cavalry command of 200 troopers was wiped out by a superior force of Sioux and Cheyenne warriors.
After the battle, a public outcry sought to pin the blame, and the armory received its share, said Cuillard.
The lasting depiction of Custer's Last Stand by painter Edgar S. Paxson even portrays soldiers trying to free jammed shells from their rifles, Cuillard said.
Orders came down from the U.S. Ordnance Department for the armory to correct the problem. The armory designed two experimental carbines, each with a special built-in device for ejecting jammed shells.
In the end, neither was adopted, and the trapdoor carbine was replaced by the bolt-action rifle, said Cuillard. One of the two prototypes disappeared sometime between 1968, when the armory ceased manufacturing arms, and 1978, when the National Parks Service took over the site.
Cuillard said the prototype ended up in the hands of a private gun collector in California.
It came to light when the collector posted a description of the weapon on the Internet seeking information about it, and the armory was alerted, he said.
The gun predated the use of serial numbers, but a National Parks Service investigation was able to identify it by comparing it with photographs on file.
The collector, who did not know the gun was stolen, agreed to give it back to the armory.
Cuillard credited the Federal Bureau of Investigation's art recovery unit with negotiating its return.
The museum is missing several other pieces, many of which were not photographed, and this makes the chances of a return unlikely, he said.
The returned weapon will go on public display at the museum.
http://www.masslive.com/living/republican/index.ssf?/base/living-0/112366007180410.xml&coll=1
Steve Mace