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An Unusually Well-documented 1946 Hornet Super Grade

"I would hate like all h--l to sell it to some clod who would think of it as just another gas pipe" -Ned Kailing to Dr. William Wuester, August 1947 This is the story of an uncommon Winchester rifle, a rifle with just two owners since new. The first of these owners - a surgeon from New York named Dr. William Wuester - features prominently in the story below. The rifle in question is serial number 56087, dating it to 1946 when it began life as a Super Grade .22 Hornet - Winchester catalog symbol G7051C. At the request of a client, a Winchester dealer in Milwaukee named Ned Kailing (owner of The Kailing Company) sent the rifle while still...

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A question worth answering

  We purchased a complete collection of pre-64 Winchester model 70s today from a friend and client who has decided to divest himself of his collection. The aging owner told us he wanted to do it himself before the task was left to his kids. He was comfortable with the decision, but it was a bittersweet moment for us to see rifles in our shop again which we had helped this fine gentleman collect in years past. Beautiful rifles we are delighted to be able to offer to other clients, but the return of his rifles to our shop marked the end of one man’s collecting. It is the second time in as many months that we have helped a...

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Closing the Loop on the Van Orden Special Target Sniper Rifle

It's been a special privilege to have Van Orden serial number 220619 in our shop these past few months. Today it will ship off to its final owner and it is only fitting that we properly close the loop on what we have learned during our time of studying this fantastic rifle. Serial number 220619 is remarkable in several ways, not the least of which is that the rifle is in like-new original condition. In the absence of a proven chain of custody or documented provenance, our time with the rifle has been an exercise in patience, digging, and detective work to tease out a bit of this rifle's history. Paramount among the questions to be answered is who was the rifle's original...

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A legend on my doorstep

  In July 1952 a wooden crate was delivered to the quarters of Robert Gates on Fort Bragg in North Carolina. The crate had a return address to Evaluators Ltd in Quantico Virginia - a weapons contractor which specialized in military and law enforcement firearms. 1952 was the year Evaluators Ltd began delivering on a contract with the US Marine Corps for the newest generation of USMC sniper rifles - a heavy barreled and accurized version of the Winchester model 70 target rifle.  Per the contract, new model 70 target rifles were delivered from Winchester to Evaluators Ltd where they were modified and accurized to meet Marine Corps specifications.  Design of the rifles and oversight of the contract had been...

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