SRS Request and 5MadFarmers Research

[Dick Hosmer]

There is data that the two 1892 carbines that were produced at Springfield were disassembled and put back together as rifles. The carbine Tom Pearce owned (and I the chance to buy) showed up at Tulsa years ago as a barreled received in a stock that had been cut for a receiver sight. It took Tom years and two different gunsmiths to get it back together with a recreated rear sight and front band (I think). The serial number was not one of the two reported in SRS. This carbine was sold to the same person who bought the Krag Cadet that Tom owned.
Would be interested in photos and serial number of the carbine owned by Mr. Weiss. Wayne Gagner of SRS states both the carbine and the Cadet rifle have no documentation and are made up guns. I believe the Cadet was one of the four made up later by Springfield (as was the one given back to the West Point museum by Frank Mallory.

Interesting - then what about the one at Rock Island? Is that a re-recreation or a virgin? I did NOT know that Tom's wasn't kosher - I guess we all have some little secrets. I'll share one of mine (not Krag though): My 3-band 1st Allin was rebuilt from a 'pirate pistol' and an 1861 musket. You would never know unless you took it out of the stock; the inletting is nice and tidy but not quite up to SA standards. My 2-band is either a virgin or a period alteration (just cannot get any agreement on the validity of these). The 3-band will soon be for sale, with full disclosure of course.

[Kragrifle]

Tom showed me the carbine several times and always explained how it came to be. Don’t know about the carbine at Rock Island (?) or the one that Mr. Weiss owned. Would love to see it, but have not seen posts by him in years. Is he still with us? Spoke with Wayne Gagner today about the 1892 carbine (the one with the cleaning rod) and got the same story-two made and both were later changed to rifle configuration.

[Dick Hosmer]

Carl sells on gunbroker.com from time to time (though it's been awhile) but seems to have gotten out of collecting, or at least conversing with collectors. I have a faint recollection that there was - at time - some sort of bad blood between Carl and KCA, of which he was a fellow founding member. I'd assumed the RIA carbine on display in the museum was legit. Perhaps it isn't? Wonder if we can ever get to the bottom of this?