…the answer is “Because Great Britain may need them again.”
From the National Firearms Museum’s website:
When the British army lost most of its arms on the beach at Dunkirk during WWII, John W. Hession was one of many Americans who responded by loaning a rifle for British use.
As this bolt-action Springfield rifle, SN 264631, was Hession’s prized competition piece, a gun that had successfully competed in the Olympics, at Bisley Range in England, and in the National Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio – Hession placed specially engraved plates on the stock denoting its importance. The front plate, which asked for the rifle’s return after the defeat of Germany, may be the reason this piece was returned to Hession after the war.
The Springfield ’03 was the “Assault Weapon” of the time. But it gets worse: It is configured with a scope which makes it a sniper weapon and possibly shoots the horrible “cop killer” .30-06 round. The idea that this awful weapon is in the hands of civilians may send Gun Grabbers into conniption fits!
A beautiful weapon with a beautiful history. Not only it tell us about the character of the Lender but also the character of the Brits back then who took the efforts to return the gun to its rightful owner after I hope was a memorable and fruitful service.
There is a quote from the book Unintended Consequences by John Ross that may explain why we feel the way we do sometimes:
In the ’20s, soldiers sat on their bunks in the cold at Camp Perry, cleaning the handmade .22 target rifles they would compete with the next day. When the President proudly announces that today, seventy years later, he is ordering these same guns thrown into a blast furnace, we in the gun culture feel powerful emotions. They are the same emotions a Native American would feel if the President proudly ordered the destruction of war clubs and other sacred tribal artifacts. They are the same emotions that Jews felt watching newsreel footage of Nazi Sturmtroopen gleefully burning intricate copies of the Torah.
I think that sums it up rather nicely.
my 1903 is one of the prides of my collection, and just a damned fine shooter as well, thanks for posting this
My pleasure. I read about this particular rifle about 25 years ago but somehow it did not pop up in my memory until last nite. I figured a bit of history might be good to cleans the palate from the Brit Crap we are being dished in TV.
It breaks my heart regardless what weapon, gun, sword, polearm, etc…being turned into plows.
A weapon is a tool, and is as varied a history as it’s owner. Whether it sat idly in the guard room armory, never used, or utilized in some great campaign or some quiet assassination, each weapon has a story to tell, even the crap ones.
Poor L85A. Nobody likes her.
It takes a moe anthropomorphism of the rifle (in a series that would make the Bradyists shit their pants and also call for a total banning of anime) for people to like her.
http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/4508/52dd81ad8c7670f710953fe.jpg
^ I think the Japanese did alright.
Indeed, why I said “her.” L85 is the most adorable character in the series. Also probably the most resourceful.
I like the tournament episode, when M-16 realizes she’s got her own flaws, and stops treating L85 like a piece of junk.
Yep, sadly a lot of people weren’t fond of the series. But eh, I thoug-
Wait I’m in the target audience.
Given how Britain treated the loan weapons last time, I’m not letting them get their hands on any of mine.
My AR-15 is as close as I can get to stepping into the shoes of my father during the Vietnam war. I took him out shooting last weekend and handed him a Springfield 1911 and an AR. I could see the nostalgia written all over his face. He told me it “was like meeting with an old friend”, and thanked me for giving him the opportunity to hold these weapons again.
The weapons they are trying to take from me are more than “a scary unnecessary assault weapon”. These are the weapons countless men used to defend our freedom. They fought and died for our very right to own them.
When my fiance asked why I couldn’t “just turn them in” when the feds come knocking, I told her, “I will not spit on the sacrifices of men like my father. When the time comes to protect the Bill of Rights, I will stand up to tyranny as they did; with fierce honor.”
Well said.
How can you be engaged to someone who would ask a question like that?
lol, she’s a sweetheart and not “anti-gun” in any way. She just worries about my safety.
“the character of the Brits”
I think what they did with the majority, in fact almost all, of the weapons lent to them says far more about their character.