Читать книгу Gun Digest 2011 онлайн
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A perfect example of one of the Remington Model 1902 El Salvador contract Rifles shipped without the roll stamped national crest on the receiver ring. This specimen was found by the author in a wooden crate of 10 identical rifles. Discovered in 1995 in an abandoned warehouse near Quantico, Virginia, once leased by Hunters Lodge (Ye Olde Hunter) a few miles to the north in Alexandria during the 1960s, the site yielded some interesting leftovers of the past. With the help of an acquaintance, the author obtained the entire case of 7mm Remington rolling block Rifles. Each Rifle was equipped with a Remington marked knife bayonet and metal scabbard and leather frog, all having a “Ye Olde Hunter” shipping label and tag banded to the buttstock. Handwritten on each tag was, “Salvadoran Remington Rolling Block Rifle w/ Bayo and Scabbard, VG Condition, $19.95.” All tags were dated “8-17-68,” a time somewhat past the golden era of the ‘50s and ‘60s milsurp years.
As seen here, the condition of the Rifles rates about very good: nice bores, and all stocks have the abundance of the usual dings of the past. Each bayonet appears to be in far worse condition than the rifles, with all blades showing deep pits that smoothed out quite well after cleaning. The absence of the Salvadoran national crest is very obvious; however accompanying paperwork in the case specified all were imported directly from that Central American country, with customs clearance from the port of Norfolk, Virginia. Entry into the United States was granted in May of 1968. Following the acquisition of this case of Rifles, the author has since assumed that El Salvador may well have been one of the last countries south of the border to clean out their armories and unload the final shipments of 7mm Remington rolling block ordnance. Rumors still persist that Nicaragua has about 3,000 remaining in the Managua arsenal, and at least a half a dozen have trickled in through Canada since 1988. The question is: how many still remain?