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The very first M1 Rifle that was sent to Winchester for study, evaluation and test firing was received by Winchester on Sept 19, 1938, that eighty one years ago today ! The serial number of that M1 Rifle is 1607. At some point in time it was returned during the war and put back into the system. Here is a photo of 1607Attachment 102925Attachment 102926Attachment 102927
That would have to be a Gas Trap, wouldn't it? I have always thought WRA did not make any.
Canfield covers the Winchester testing of s/n 1607 in his new book on the M1 Rifle (a lot of the Winchester data came from Mr Clancy who sold the
information to Canfield before he died). Later another Springfield gas trap was sent to Winchester, serial number 15070 which is still at Cody. It
was never returned. New information has surfaced indicating another third M1 rifle was sent to Winchester but I do not know the serial number.
Way back in the 1970s I bought several Gas Trap barrels from Burt Kellerstedt, one of which was marked WRA on top. I always thought it was fake (still do) but I thought just maybe they made some GT barrels when they were figuring out what to bid on the first contract.
Notice Edwin Pugsley signed the receipt along with Col Robert Sears (WRA RS cartouche), it was thought that Pugsley felt the M1 was not ready for
production. By the time Winchester started to manufacture the Educational Order batch of 500 rifles in Dec 1940 the old gas trap gas cylinder and
short barrel were gone.
Might be a nice GCA Journal article on the gas trap (s/n 15070) at Cody, I do not recall any photos
I authorize you to research and write it, Robert! :)
Notice that it is a Springfield rifle that was sent TO Winchester and the receipt was sent back to Springfield.
Bob
Bob, I know someone that was a Cody not long ago, he wrote the article on SA serial number 1607 for Billy Pyle's "The Garand Stand Report". Bet
he could write an article on 15070 that at Cody.
Bob, I might know a guy who copied the docs on this from the Archives and could provide the info to someone if they want to write it. :)
I did do a quick search thru them though. I admit, this is so outside my wheelhouse. I know very little of the WRA history. It looks like it's several hundred pages and I read for maybe five minutes into it. I see a work order for the 500 educational rifles Then a mention of a 65,000 in number contract. I see a lot of correspondence where WRA was figuring up the cost and how they would gear up for the production.
For instance one contract I see of the 65,000 M1's order is dated June 22, 1939.
It looks like WRA was notified of the new "front end" revision at least by Nov 3rd 1939. They were directed to make a cost analysis of the change and submit it.
I don't see a mention of the first 500 done till Jan 1941. Though I do see some early estimates they would start around Nov 1940. But at least from the one chart it looks like the first 500 were done in Jan 1941.
But for a quick scan, it looks like they knew of the Gas Port long before they started production. Otherwise from my search which I admit was basic, I see nothing that would make me think they ever made any gas traps.
It looks like they were in the planning stage when Ordnance informed them of the change. So it was incorporated early.
Ok I read a little more. It looks like the 500 educational order was placed in April 1939. Then Ordnance started to look for a company to do a contract of 65,000 by July 1939. WRA and Remington both submitted bids. WRA won, and then was awarded a finalized contract for the 65,000 on 9/20/39.
There is a little bit a discrepancy as I see some of the first WRA rifles were delivered in Dec 1940, instead of my Jan 1941 above. But it say the 500 Educational order wasn't completed till Jan 1941.
But regardless, they never geared up to produce anything but the Gas port it looks like.
What an outstanding piece Robert. A great piece of history.
That would be a very fun to restore back to it's original form.
Winchester never intended to manufacture the M1 Rifle in anything but gas port configuration. The bulk of the Winchester documentation cited in my book came from the personal files of Edwin Pugsley that I was fortunate to acquire a number of years ago. It is clear that Mr. Pugsley and the WRA engineering staff was not fond of the M1 rifle and was ambivalent about accepting the Educational Order in the first place. The Olins who owned Western Cartridge Company (which had previously acquired Winchester) was very cautious about the Educational Order as well but gave Pugsley the go-ahead to accept the contract. There was a lot of tension and animosity between Springfield Armory and Winchester during the course of production but the "greater good" prevailed as both entities shared a common goal.
Attachment 102953Here is a photo of a Winchester from my collection, it was purchased from the CMP Auction in 2011 as a receiver. The serial number was stamped on Wednesday, Jan 15, 1941. Some collectors think that the Educational Order rifles were serial numbered 100,001 thru 100,500 but it did not happen that way because of spoilage and receivers pulled from production to be reworked.Attachment 102952
I had an educational rifle come past me on the shoulder of a new owner/shooter at a gunshow some years back. I asked to see it and couldn't believe it...told him what he had and I think all he got from the story was "It was special"... It was of course completely rebuilt through the years.
Something I just noticed is the zeroing indices on the receiver aren't centered. They lie to the right of the (geographic?) center...interesting...
Jim, They were made that way, it is the contour of the receiver machining. Now the front sight blades were off-set to one side, just a small amount.
Does anyone know what is the actual serial number range for the educational contract? Actually the better question would be what is the highest verified serial number of the educational contract and the first verified serial number under the production contract?
K, I just never noticed, all that I've seen, held...owned...Quote:
Originally Posted by RCS
As new collectors we assumed they went from 100001 to 100500, but as we understood the process better over the years we realized that (a) they did not assemble the guns in exact serial order, a receiver was a receiver, and (b) there were a lot of rejections and recycles in early production. As RCS points out, we are guessing the highest serials went near 101000 and maybe even higher.
Bruce Canfield's records are helpful: "Some sources have stated various dates that the 500 rifles were completed by Winchester but the following memo dated March 12, 1941 from T.I.S. Boak reveals the exact date this occurred: “The five hundred M1 rifles called for on Educational Order Contract W-ORD-343 have been completed and final shipment was made today."
On March 11 they were stamping serials at about 103000, so plenty of room above 100500 by the time the Ed contract was done.
Great information and thank you.