Comments by "COL BEAUSABRE" (@colbeausabre8842) on "Royal Armouries"
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In the US, firearms over a certain age classified as "Curios and Relics" - "A regulation implementing federal firearms laws, 27 CFR § 478.11, defines curio or relic (C&R) firearms as those which are of special interest to collectors by reason of some quality other than is associated with firearms intended for sporting use or as offensive or defensive weapons.
To be recognized as C&R items, firearms must fall within one of the following categories:
Firearms which were manufactured at least 50 years prior to the current date, but not including replicas of such firearms;
Firearms which are certified by the curator of a municipal, state, or federal museum which exhibits firearms to be curios or relics of museum interest; and
Any other firearms which derive a substantial part of their monetary value from the fact that they are novel, rare, bizarre, or because of their association with some historical figure, period, or event."
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My uncle Arthur was the hunter in the family. After he got back from Occupation duty in Germany (His company commander promised him sergeant stripes if he'd volunteer to extend his tour), he bought a M1917 from the Civilian Marksmanship Program with the intent of converting it to a hunting rifle. Well, one thing followed another and 27 years later, as a graduation and commissioning gift, I got the rifle - with bayonet, still slathered is cosmoline, still in its packing crate. It took me about a year to clean all the gunk off and I then had it checked by a gunsmith to make sure it was in a condition to be fired. It is marked "Eddystone" which was a plant built by Remington outside of Philadelphia specifically to build P14's. They hired a retired US Army Colonel to manage it - guy by the name of John Taliaferro (pronounced "Tolliver") Thompson - yes, he of the gun. "World War I began in Europe in 1914, and Thompson was sympathetic to the Allied cause. Since the U.S. did not immediately enter the war, and because he recognized a significant need for small arms in Europe (as well as an opportunity to make a substantial profit), Thompson retired from the Army in November of that year and took a job as Chief Engineer of the Remington Arms Company. While with the company he supervised the construction of the Eddystone Arsenal in Chester, Pennsylvania, at that time the largest small arms plant in the world. It manufactured Pattern 1914 Enfield rifles for British forces, and Mosin–Nagant rifles for Russia. "When the United States finally entered the war in 1917, Thompson returned to the Army and was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. He served as Director of Arsenals throughout the remainder of the war, in which capacity he supervised all small-arms production for the Army. For this service he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal." Anyway, I took my new-old rifle with me when I reported on active duty and, although I was permitted to keep it in my quarters, I preferred to keep in the company arms room. So several days after reporting in, I went to see the armorer. He had no problem making me a weapons card and putting it in the storage racks, but did a double take when he saw the bayonet. "Sir, where did you get this?" ""It came with the rifle. See" I fixed and unfixed the bayonet. "Hold on, sir" He unlocked a footlocker and pulled out the twin to my bayonet. It turns out that when the US Army adopted "Trench Guns" to teach Kaiser Bill a lesson, they specified they accept a bayonet and chose the M1917 as the pattern to adopt for that purpose. So every US martial shotgun adopted since then could mount an M1917 bayonet. Our company had a dozen trench guns to be issued at the commander's discretion. "Look at the manufacturing date, sir" 1967. My, God, WHAT WAS THIS!. Turns out during the Vietnam War there had been a huge demand for Trench Guns, but there weren't enough M1917 bayonets left in inventory, so the production line was restarted. They were identical. down to the two grooves going across the hilt. (https://www.ima-usa.com/products/u-s-wwi-m1917-enfield-bayonet-with-scabbard?variant=26168932997) Except I think mine was better quality.
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