ITEM # 143
serial #20342, 22 Hornet, 24 1/2" barrel with an excellent bore. The metal surfaces on this very rare, Springfield Armory 22 Hornet conversion retain about 98% excellent quality armory blue finish. These very rare rifles were purportedly converted at Springfield Armory by Captain G.A. Woody and A.L. Woodworth, with the assistance of Capt. Grove Watkyns; the success and adoption of the 22 Hornet cartridge was a result of Captain Woody and Colonel Whelen enlisting the help of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, and convincing them of the merits of this new cartridge. Originally, research by Lt. Col. William S. Brophy held that there were only two such rifles known, one belonging to Colonel Townsend Whelen and the other belonging to Captain Woody. Other guns have since surfaced and it seems reasonable to expect that all four men involved in the project would have wanted and/or made a rifle for themselves. This example matches precisely the machining and conversion steps outlined and pictured in Brophy's book "The Springfield 1903 Rifles". It seems very unlikely that any other entity could have "accidentally" matched the conversion and machining steps so precisely. The very rear of the magazine box inletting in the bottom of the receiver is slightly roughly ground, rather than precisely machined, as one would expect when building a "tool room" or "prototype" arm.... very often the initial gun is slightly rough, the final specimens exhibiting more refined machining and polish... after all the"bugs" are worked out. This example has been drilled and tapped for steel target blocks, they are present on receiver and on the barrel. The receiver wears a Lyman 48S receiver sight, the front band has been fitted with a Lyman Globe sight. The standard factory walnut stock wears a checkered "T-style" buttplate as is correct, and has been very nicely checkered in the grip and forearm areas. We know that Whelen liked finely checkered guns and it is reasonable to assume Captain Grove L. Watkyns, famed shooter that he was, would have favored quality checkering as well. Another example pictured in the "U.S. Martial Arms Collector" from Springfield Research Service shows another such gun which was fitted with a handstop rail on the underside of the forearm, it too shows identical conversion steps. The barrel and receiver are not marked "22 Hornet", an interesting anomaly however not damning (nearly all of the custom made target rifles in this sale are not caliber marked..the men who built and owned them knew what caliber they were made in). A letter from Springfield Research Service shows this rifle as "a special sale" from Springfield Armory to Griffin & Howe in March of 1934 (it is not listed as a Hornet in the letter). It is known that both Sedgley and G&H made conversions to 22 Hornet but these are accepted as having been on full size 1903 actions, utilizing brand-new barrels made by Winchester. Mechanically the gun is excellent. This is an absolutely wonderful, very very rare conversion which we feel completely confident was done at the Armory by one of these four famous men who were involved in the project from the start. This gun was purchased by the consignor from Griffin & Howe, N.Y. {Ref: "The Springfield 1903 Rifles", Brophy; "U.S. Martial Arms Collector", No.113, Dec. 2007, Springfield Research Service; Springfield Research Service letter of January 2008.} (1615-64) {C&R} (5000/10,000) |
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