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"I have nothing to offer but
blood, toil, tears and sweat."
Armory receiver markings over serial number and a
barrel marking of “SA/4-18/A”. It has an all blue straight
handled bolt that is marked “J5” on the underside of
the safety lug. It has its original front and rear sight
set with the dished windage and elevation knobs. It
is fitted with an original World War I straight grip “S”
style stock with finger grooves on the sides and dual
recoil bolts. It has the correct all milled components
and a smooth face buttplate. The rifle has its original
World War I combination blue metal finish and the
oil-quenched casehardened receiver with the color
casehardened cutoff and bolt components. There were
only a handful of these experimental trench periscope/
optical sighting devices (of all three types) ever manufactured
with only “5” examples listed in the Springfield Armory museum
records; however, this rifle and device was not one of them. This
rifle is accompanied by a letter of provenance signed by Herb
Rosenbaum who states that he purchased this rifle with trench
device directly from Lt. Col. William S. Brophy on February 16th,
1991, one week prior to his passing. This exact rifle in its trench
mount is photographed in the following publications by Bruce
Canfield: the article “Built for the Trenches” in the January 2003
issue of American Rifleman magazine (scanned copy included),
“U.S. Infantry Weapons of the First World War” on pages 110-116, “An
Illustrated Guide to the ‘03 Springfield Service Rifle” on pages 82-90, and
this weapon was featured on a 2012 episode of History Channel’s “Cajun Pawn
Stars”. Similar examples of trench rifle designs are shown in the book “The 1903 Springfield Rifle” by Lt. Col William S. Brophy,” pages 217-220. Included is a well engineered custom display stand made of steel and wood.
CONDITION: Fine with half of the faded finish remaining overall
showing a thinning mixed gray/brown patina on the exposed
metal surfaces. The revarnished stock and handguard are both
good with numerous light pressure dents, nicks and dings
overall from handling and use over the years. Mechanically very
good. The Cameron-Yaggi trench device is extremely fine, totally
original, retaining 90% of its black painted metal finish showing
light wear on the edges and high spots and any area where the device is hand cycled
or manipulated. The periscope scope has a few replacement parts including the small metal plate on the bottom of the tube and prisms. Per consignor, the scope was incomplete when it was obtained by Col. Brophy when he was employed by Marlin Firearms and the missing parts were fabricated at the Marlin machine shop. This is certainly a very rare and highly desirable device that is rarely encountered outside
the Springfield Armory museum. This would definitely be the centerpiece of the most advanced 1903 Springfield collection or a World War I museum display.
Provenance: The William S. Brophy Collection; The Herb Rosenbaum Collection; The Bruce Canfield Collection; The Property of a Gentleman.
Estimate: 25,000 - 40,000
- Winston Churchill
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