Original 1872 U.S. .50cal Major James Whittemore Patent Rifle made at Kennebec Arsenal for Army Trials - One of a Kind Magazines Commanders:

Commanders:

The rear shows a 1943 date

testimony to this action

Curtis LeMay

The US Navy fought a global war during WW2

Original 1872 U.S. .50cal Major James Whittemore Patent Rifle made at Kennebec Arsenal for Army Trials - One of a Kind Magazines Commanders:Original Item: One of a Kind. This is an amazing breechloading rifle design, developed by a serving U. S. Army Officer at Kennebec Arsenal in Augusta, Maine, in the years after the U. S. Civil War. During the War, new developments had continually resulted in breech loading conversions being adopted on a trial basis. The Union had as many as NINETEEN different systems issued during and after the war. The Trapdoor design of Erskine S. Allen of