Jeff in Ohio
First Sergeant
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2015
As collectors, we find items that according to family legend are identified to a particular person, event or place. Sometimes the item itself proves that the story is incorrect. One example is the Model 1873 trapdoor springfield rifle proudly shown as an ancestor's civil war arm - the fact that the trapdoor rifle has the date "1873" clearly marked on the lockplate should be a warning that the arm could not have been carried in the Civil War which ended in 1865.
In my family, a antique looking arm was said to have been brought back from service in World War I - it was a trapdoor ZULU marked single shot 12 gauge shotgun, made from any antique arm, and sold widely as a cheap shotgun in pre-World War I days via the Sears Roebuck catalog, but I am certain it was not a combat arm of any country in the War!
In my family, a antique looking arm was said to have been brought back from service in World War I - it was a trapdoor ZULU marked single shot 12 gauge shotgun, made from any antique arm, and sold widely as a cheap shotgun in pre-World War I days via the Sears Roebuck catalog, but I am certain it was not a combat arm of any country in the War!