mawkie
C&R Whisperer
-This search felt like it took forever, which is close to correct. The Springfield 1903 .22 Gallery Gun had eluded me for decades. They're not crazy rare, coming to market on a semi regular basis. But I was always a day late and a dollar short. Then Amoskeag Auction in New England posted two examples in their last auction. Perfect timing at last as Redding Auction had just mailed my check from the last batch of guns I consigned. So I had the money and the opportunity. I put in a firm bid on my first choice and it went to me for $200 under that. Yay!
-But the Hoffer-Thompson design requires a cartridge carrier and those didn't come with this lot. But luckily they're much easier to find as 20 were originally issued with each rifle. Plus plenty were in inventory when the Army dropped the boom on the H-T in favor of the superior Springfield 1922. At around $100 each carriers ain't cheap and I decided to purchase just a couple along with the tool that pushes out the spent brass.
-The Springfield 1903 .22 Gallery Gun was designed by Majors Jay Hoffer and John Thompson (yes, the same Thompson of "Tommy Gun" fame) to replace the .22 Krag trainers with a rifle that handled much like a 1903 in .30-06. They were assembled with second class parts and early receivers. A new .22 barrel was installed along with a weaker mainspring and taller front sight. The receiver was stamped ".22" to warn the user. A .22 short round was loaded through the cut-out in the carrier. Then the carriers were treated as if they were .30-06 rounds. They could be stripper clip loaded and ejected in the same manner. Handy in teaching recruits how to load and operate a 1903 without the cost of centerfire ammo.
-Problems cropped up quickly as the corrosive .22 Lesmok black powder ammo of that period caused all kinds of loading/unloading issues. Bad enough that it was recommended that carriers be cleaned and stored in kerosene to keep them from rusting. Also the end of the carrier was susceptible to denting which ruined accuracy.
-In the end the H-T was found lacking and the search started for a replacement which came in the form of the classic Springfield Model 1922 (which also beat out the new Winchester Model 52, another legendary rifle). Most of the H-T rifles were rebarrelled and put back into service chambered again for .30-06. So surviving H-Ts aren't common.
-But the Hoffer-Thompson design requires a cartridge carrier and those didn't come with this lot. But luckily they're much easier to find as 20 were originally issued with each rifle. Plus plenty were in inventory when the Army dropped the boom on the H-T in favor of the superior Springfield 1922. At around $100 each carriers ain't cheap and I decided to purchase just a couple along with the tool that pushes out the spent brass.
-The Springfield 1903 .22 Gallery Gun was designed by Majors Jay Hoffer and John Thompson (yes, the same Thompson of "Tommy Gun" fame) to replace the .22 Krag trainers with a rifle that handled much like a 1903 in .30-06. They were assembled with second class parts and early receivers. A new .22 barrel was installed along with a weaker mainspring and taller front sight. The receiver was stamped ".22" to warn the user. A .22 short round was loaded through the cut-out in the carrier. Then the carriers were treated as if they were .30-06 rounds. They could be stripper clip loaded and ejected in the same manner. Handy in teaching recruits how to load and operate a 1903 without the cost of centerfire ammo.
-Problems cropped up quickly as the corrosive .22 Lesmok black powder ammo of that period caused all kinds of loading/unloading issues. Bad enough that it was recommended that carriers be cleaned and stored in kerosene to keep them from rusting. Also the end of the carrier was susceptible to denting which ruined accuracy.
-In the end the H-T was found lacking and the search started for a replacement which came in the form of the classic Springfield Model 1922 (which also beat out the new Winchester Model 52, another legendary rifle). Most of the H-T rifles were rebarrelled and put back into service chambered again for .30-06. So surviving H-Ts aren't common.
just send it back to the manufacturer.
