Hi All,
I picked this one up as a relatively inexpensive example of a "War Bond Rifle", but also because it has a double date / serializing peculiarity.
The base rifle itself is a textbook bond gun-- the serial numbers match except for the bolt- even the cleaning rod. These, to the newer guys here, were rifles captured and brought back to the USA as raffle prizes for buying war bonds. The bolts were removed and the bolt faces partially cut to render them unserviceable. I don't know that I've ever seen a bond rifle with a matching cut bolt, so they were likely taken out and cut en masse, then randomly mated to rifles later. The bores were also plugged with lead as an additional means of rendering them wall-hangers.
Condition-wise, this thing is untouched as you can find them. There was a thin layer of grime on the metal, which really protected it for further corrosion (probably from years of hanging on the wall of an American Legion hall and soaking up tobacco residue lol) The grime cleaned right off, leaving wonderful, unmolested metal.
As noted above, this is a neat example of a "double date" as some might call it. The receiver was produced in 1915, but final assembly was in early 1916. Interestingly, this rifle is in a late 1915 suffix (x-block)-- Sam astutely pointed out that WMO possibly did "spill-over" production, finishing out old prior-year receivers until supplies were exhausted, then re-starting suffixes with the new year. This receiver was approved by the revisions committee (crown/RC), so maybe it was at the bottom of the barrel for 15 production. Not conclusive, but in comparing double date Spandau production, which appeared to be "no-suffix", seems to show they re-started numbering and simply added the second date. Maybe some sort of internal accounting at WMO, but I'd welcome any discussion on this.
Here's the data sheet:
Receiver 7909 x
Barrel 7909 x (BS 384)
Front Sight 09
Rear Sight Leaf 09
Sight Slider 09
Ejector Box 09
Trigger Sear 09 (faint)
Front Barrel Band 09
Rear Barrel Band 09
Trigger Guard 7909
Trigger Guard Screws 09,09
Floor Plate 09
Follower 09
Stock 7909
Handguard 7909
Buttplate 7909 x
Bayonet Lug 09
Cleaning Rod 09
Bolt Body mm
Extractor mm
Safety mm
Cocking Piece mm
Bolt Sleeve mm
Firing Pin mm
I picked this one up as a relatively inexpensive example of a "War Bond Rifle", but also because it has a double date / serializing peculiarity.
The base rifle itself is a textbook bond gun-- the serial numbers match except for the bolt- even the cleaning rod. These, to the newer guys here, were rifles captured and brought back to the USA as raffle prizes for buying war bonds. The bolts were removed and the bolt faces partially cut to render them unserviceable. I don't know that I've ever seen a bond rifle with a matching cut bolt, so they were likely taken out and cut en masse, then randomly mated to rifles later. The bores were also plugged with lead as an additional means of rendering them wall-hangers.
Condition-wise, this thing is untouched as you can find them. There was a thin layer of grime on the metal, which really protected it for further corrosion (probably from years of hanging on the wall of an American Legion hall and soaking up tobacco residue lol) The grime cleaned right off, leaving wonderful, unmolested metal.
As noted above, this is a neat example of a "double date" as some might call it. The receiver was produced in 1915, but final assembly was in early 1916. Interestingly, this rifle is in a late 1915 suffix (x-block)-- Sam astutely pointed out that WMO possibly did "spill-over" production, finishing out old prior-year receivers until supplies were exhausted, then re-starting suffixes with the new year. This receiver was approved by the revisions committee (crown/RC), so maybe it was at the bottom of the barrel for 15 production. Not conclusive, but in comparing double date Spandau production, which appeared to be "no-suffix", seems to show they re-started numbering and simply added the second date. Maybe some sort of internal accounting at WMO, but I'd welcome any discussion on this.
Here's the data sheet:
Receiver 7909 x
Barrel 7909 x (BS 384)
Front Sight 09
Rear Sight Leaf 09
Sight Slider 09
Ejector Box 09
Trigger Sear 09 (faint)
Front Barrel Band 09
Rear Barrel Band 09
Trigger Guard 7909
Trigger Guard Screws 09,09
Floor Plate 09
Follower 09
Stock 7909
Handguard 7909
Buttplate 7909 x
Bayonet Lug 09
Cleaning Rod 09
Bolt Body mm
Extractor mm
Safety mm
Cocking Piece mm
Bolt Sleeve mm
Firing Pin mm
