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Thad Deye
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September 21, 2023 - 8:46 pm
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Hello all, thank you for allowing me to join the forum. 

I’m trying to find out where to look for information on a Winchester rifle, Model 1895 that may have been gifted by Roosevelt to 12 select members of the Gatlin gun detachment 5th Army corps at Santiago.

I searched the eBook “History of the Gatling Gun Detachment, Fifth Army Corps, at Santiago” and could not find mention of this event.

Would getting a letter from Winchester provide any info other than the production date of the rifle?  

Thanks for any ideas. 

Tmax. 

 

 

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Bert H.
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September 22, 2023 - 12:03 am
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Thad Deye said
 

Would getting a letter from Winchester provide any info other than the production date of the rifle?  

Yes and No.  Yes, in that it will provide the original “as built’ configuration of the Winchester in question, but NO, it will not provide any information concerning who or where the gun was sold to.

Bert

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clarence
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September 22, 2023 - 12:37 am
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Surprised there’s such a thing as the e-book you found!  Might find mention of this incident in one of TR’s bios–assuming it really happened, about which I’m rather skeptical, if there’s no record of it in the e-book.  I’ve read several TR bios but never heard of this story.  There’s a TR Memorial Assn you might contact, & also the Sagamore Hill National Park, but I”d say both are very long shots.

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TXGunNut
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September 22, 2023 - 1:42 am
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Sounds like a great story but in today’s market it would take some pretty solid provenance to convince a serious collector. With all that has been written by and about TR and his adventures down south I have little doubt that a gift like this would have been documented.

 

Mike

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86Win
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September 22, 2023 - 4:00 am
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wouldn’t Winchester records show a shipment of 12 1895 rifles to Roosevelt or some governmental agency?

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TXGunNut
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September 22, 2023 - 12:53 pm
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86Win said
wouldn’t Winchester records show a shipment of 12 1895 rifles to Roosevelt or some governmental agency?

  

Ledger would not but that doesn’t preclude other possible records. Research of the ledger may turn up a group of rifles shipped on the same order but there’s no guarantee TR ordered them from the factory, he may have purchased them from dealers. McCracken library would be a good place to start, much of the archives can be searched online. A large portion of company records have been lost over the years and some are in private hands. Brad Dunbar spent some time in the library researching the 1895, maybe he can shed some light on what records of this event may exist there. 

Mike

Life Member TSRA, Endowment Member NRA
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Smokeless powder is a passing fad! -Steve Garbe
I hate rude behavior in a man. I won't tolerate it. -Woodrow F. Call, Lonesome Dove
Some of my favorite recipes start out with a handful of depleted counterbalance devices.-TXGunNut
Presbyopia be damned, I'm going to shoot this thing! -TXGunNut
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clarence
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September 22, 2023 - 1:25 pm
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TR’s family was “well off,” but by no means in the Astor or Vanderbilt category of wealth, & the cost of 12 ’95s was not insignificant.  So I’m wondering what service the Gatling gun detachment provided that would have warranted this extravagance? 

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