The Wilmington morning star., 1940-02-11
Ponder Smoke
By
Edmund McT4aurin

Edmund McLaurin
It's always nice to learn Thai a
friend has realized a long-cherlshed
dream, Or in some other manner has
been blessed with good fortune. on
such occasion. if, of course n
friendship is deeply sincere, If is
like experiencing the same thing
yourself.
Anyway, my good friend Phil
Clevenger, of the Star-News limo
type force, and one of the most
popular members of the Whining
ton Rifle and Pistol club, is going
about his business these days with
a happy contented smile on his
rather handsome face, and is fire.
quently being hailed on the street
and congratulated by his fellow
marksmen. The reason. Not a
husky y%oungster, but simply JOY of
ownership OF a re-conditioned .301O6
bolt-action Springfield rifle, stand
ard of the Army until Uncle Sam
formally adopted the g~as-operated
Garand semi-automatic, which, in
time, will replace the more common
and extremely popular %bolt-action
model.
1t seems that some ten weeks
ago a distant friend presented Phil
with an old b~olt-action Springfield,
which, to put it mildly, had either
been given unusually hard service,
or else sadly neglected by one or
more of it's former owners, before
it finally came into Phil's posses
sion.
Since members of the National
Rifle association enjoy the privilege
of purchasing certain shooting
equipment direct from the govern
ment through the Director of Civil
liam craftsmanship, as well as the
opportunity Of having government
manufactured firearms repaired at
one of the a~rsenals maintained by
Uncle Sam, Phil Immediately exer-
| cised his rights of membership in
the NRA and sent the old rifle in
for whatever repairs might be need
ed to again put it in a practically
new condition.
At the Springfield, Mass, arsenal,
the gun was completely dismantled
and re-assembled with a brand new
star-gauged barrel, new receiver and
stock, plus certain minor parts that
failed to pass the army standard,
and, therefore, had to be replaced.
The bolt assembly was then care
fully fitted to the receiver and the
rifle given a thorough test for &C
curacy.
In due course, but only after
Phil had written the arsenal about
fifteen times, and chewed his fin
| gernails down to the quick in his
uncontrolled anxiety and growing
Impotence, the Local eXpressman
finally delivered the released rifle
to Phil's home address and scrib-
bled him a receipt for some twenty
! dollars charges. Before anyone ex'
claims at the repair bill rendered,
permit me to point out hat a new,
unused, as issued, ~bolt-action 5000
Springfield can be had from Uncle
| Sam (but only by members of TIE
National Rifle Association) for the
modest sum of $53.10, including
federal tax, which is nothing ar al
if you are accustomed to paying
$53.1O for a rifle. Personally, l am
not; and I do not think Phil is!
either! Anyway, the point is that it
is sometimes possible to pick up an
old Springfield rifle for almost
nothing, and then have it put in
practically new condition, and equa.
in performance to a new rifle, al
approximately one-half the origina.
purchase price; hence Phil eleven
gers noticeable cheerf illness!
For interested readers who might
wish to follow the club marksman's
example, but who, unfortunately
w 1lOI 1loSC liz IiCSSSodly OIu II
to send in for repair, I would like
t mention that there are severa
reputable commercial firms that Of
fer re-conditioned Springfield rifles
at reasonable prices. In fact, one Of
these companies offers rifles com
pletely new in every way, with the
single exception of receiver, which
have been re-heat treated, for $29
F. o. B., or about $50 delivered
This quotation includes a new, mic
kel-steel bolt; new, carefully-test
ed barrel; pistol-grip type stock
etc., plus a guarantee that the rifle
is Al in every respect.
Locally, David Chadwick has one
of these rifles, and in his case a
least, the rifle has proved the equa
in performance of any .3O-06 callpel
rifle owned by rifle club members
who purchased new SpringfieldS
direct from the government. 1t is
therefore, quite likely that more o:
these re-conditioned rifles will short
ly make their appearance locally
which reminds me that the story
of the rifle used by Uncle Sam: