serial #1533290, 30-06, 24” sporter-grade, star-gauged precision barrel with a bright excellent bore. This rifle was built for Arthur H Tuttle by a consortium of armory men and Bishop Sporters. The included letter from Mr. Tuttle on United States Government Office Memorandum letterhead relates how this was one of only six Armory-produced, sporter-grade, star gauged precision barrels left at the time he acquired it at the Armory. The barreled action was sent to Bishop for stocking which they did, and upon its return it was highly polished and blued at the arsenal. The metal surfaces retain 98 to near 99% high polish deep mirror blue, the nickel steel action now starting to drift to a plum tone, with the nickel steel bolt body remaining bright. The rifle is stocked Monte Carlo style with a flared left side cheekpiece with a crisp point of comb and nicely-executed comb flutes. The arm features flawlessly-executed borderless checkered panels and has a length of pull of 13 3/4” to the checkered Bishop buttplate. The stock was produced directly from drawings made by Mr. Tuttle and forwarded to the stocker at Bishop. The rifle is sighted with a Williams streamlined front ramp which mounts a Sheard style brass bead and a Lyman 57 receiver sight mounted to the rear ring. The letter, authored and signed by Tuttle himself, further states that when fired from a Frankford Arsenal machine rest, using match ammunition, the rifle shot “a linked group of five shots at 100 yards”. The letter mentions this rifle specifically by serial number and relates the above information and is dated 1993. Arthur Tuttle was John Garand’s chief troubleshooter, technical man and was with the project very early on almost from its inception. With the knowledge Garand shared with him and the technical difficulties the two overcame, it was said of Tuttle that he was the only man who knew as much about the M1 Garand rifle as John Garand did. This is an overall very nicely-executed rifle, no doubt done while Tuttle was still under the employ of Springfield Armory, utilizing their resources, it is very neat to have a stock of his own design, built by Bishop, who executed the work perfectly. (3B9435-3) {MODERN} (1800/2200)
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