S/N info for my infamous WWII trapdoor
I was told, years ago, that my trapdoor was one of the "infamous" WWII trapdoors and wanted to see if I can be the first to ask for s/n info here
to confirm it's past? S/N is 200913 (was that a Jan. 3rd 2009 date?) cartouche is an SWP and of course the ultra rare never found 1878ish, er 73 block, buffington sight, ect..... thanks for any help!
Ah yes, the Infamous WWII Springfield trapdoor rifles.........
It seems that when the Japanese invaded the Aleutian Islands at the start of WWII, they overwhelmed the 22 Alaska National Guard members of the Oppoua tribe who were defending Kiska and took their trapdoors as spoils of war.
These trapdoors were found to be without ammunition since the white eyes didn't trust the tribesmen with bullets but a search of a nearby Dick's Sporting Goods yielded several boxes of .410 shotgun shells which were found to fit the chambers.
The Japanese took the rifles and ammunition back to Japan where they were subsequently issued to Japanese soldiers. These soldiers were sent to southeast Asia where they captured Tibetian gong ringers and imprisoned them for the duration. One of these gong ringers attempted to escape and a Japanese guard shot at him with his trapdoor. Since the gong ringer was over 300 yards away the buckshot left him unharmed but the sound of the shot caused an avalanche which buried the prison camp and all of the remaining prisoners and their Japanese guards.
I had heard rumors that Global Warming had caused the snow to melt and that the rifles had been found. I sincerely hope that you will post pictures of these rare WWII Trapdoors so that all can see them and thank you for posting the information. :madsmile: