In the above video shot by my homie Ben Philippi, Sig’s Rich Morovitz talked to us at SHOT Show about the U.S. Army’s new M17 sidearm and points out some of the differences between the military’s variant and winner of the landmark Modular Handgun System contract and the standard Sig Sauer P320. Besides the manual safety– an Army requirement– Morovitz also goes into detail on the removable top plate for a Leupold DeltaPoint Pro sight, which is a big move for a MIL-STD handgun meant for the common Soldier in the field.
Cannon Row at Fort Moultrie is home to eight pieces of heavy artillery original to Charleston Harbor. Each piece has a story to tell of ingenuity, technology, and resourcefulness. Cannon Row includes a 13-inch seacoast mortar, two 10-inch Rodmans, a 10-inch Confederate Columbiad, a 10-inch Columbiad that was rifled and banded during the war, an 8-inch Parrott, a 10-inch Parrott, and the 7-inch triple-banded Brooke Rifle. Of the 8 pieces, the rifled and banded Columbiad and the Brooke are the most unique.
The modified Columbiad was originally a Union piece and then was captured by the Confederates during the surrender of Fort Sumter in 1861. At a later date, the gun was hit at least twice by artillery and became unserviceable. Beauregard sent the piece to be rifled by a private firm in Charleston. It was outfitted with a bronze trunnion band bearing the initials “CS.” When the gun was recaptured by the Union, they very crudely carved a “US” into the band.
The triple-banded Brooke, now at Fort Moultrie, is the only one surviving of the three ever cast. Thanks to its hard-hitting, iron-penetrating bolts, the gun became a favorite for the soldiers on Sullivan’s Island and a terror for the Union Navy.
Pictured above is Fort Moultrie’s cannon row with an impending thunderstorm in the background.
A COMPANY OF ONE HUNDRED MEN to be selected from the BEST RIFLE SHOTS, In the State, is to be raised to act as a COMPANY OF SHARP SHOOTERS through the War. Each man will be entitled to A BOUNTY OF $22,00, When mustered into the service of the United States, and 100,00 DOLLARS at the close of the War, in addition to his regular pay.
No man will be accepted or mustered into service who is not an active and able-bodied man, and who cannot when firing at a rest at a distance of two hundred yards, put ten consecutive shots into a target the average distance not to exceed five inches from the centre of the bull’s eye to the centre of the ball; and all candidates will have to pass such an examination as to satisfy the recruiting officer of their fitness for enlistment in this corps.
Recruits having Rifles to which they are accustomed are requested to bring them to the place of rendezvous.
Recruits will be received by JAMES D. FESSENDEN, Adams Block, No. 23, Market Square, PORTLAND, Maine.
Sept. 16, 1861. Bridgton Reporter Press,—S. H. Noyes, Printer.
The above broadside, is, of course for Col. Hiram Berdan’s U.S. Sharpshooters. Tasked in 1861 with recruiting of 18 companies of marksmen, from 8 states, which were formed into two regiments (1st and 2nd U.S. Sharpshooters) later year. Company “D” of the 2nd USSS was raised in Maine on November 2, 1861.
Their distinctive green uniforms served them well until they were replaced with more standard Union blue by 1863.
1st USSS Rgt early in the war, by Woodbridge
When the Sharpshooter brigade was disbanded altogether in late 1864, the remaining Mainers of the company were rolled into the 17th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment and ultimately mustered out on June 10, 1865, after the Siege of Petersburg and the Appomatix Campaign.
Here we see “Teamwork Wins!” by Roy Hull Still, from the 1918 U.S. War Department urging production on the Home Front.
Photo via National Association of Manufacturers photographs and audiovisual materials (Accession 1973.418), in Hagley’s Audiovisual collections. NY Hist Soc
The gun shown is the water-cooled belt-fed M1917 Browning machine gun, Uncle Sam’s 47-pound answer to the heavier British Vickers and German Maxim guns of similar layout. John Browing had worked on the design off and on for two decades before it went int production after a test at Springfield Armory the month after Wilson and Congress declared war on “The Hun.” Very reliable, Browning’s sustained fire machine gun chugged through 21,000-rounds of 30.06 M1906 Government ammo in 48 minutes without a stoppage.
A group of American soldiers poses with an M1917 Browning machine gun, c. 1917 notice holstered M1917 .45 revolvers, Brodie helmets and gas masks
While Colt, Remington, and Westinghouse all rushed the gun into production on large contracts, only something like 1,200 made it to the Western Front by Armistice Day, and most of those only in the last part of the war.
While largely replaced by the M1918 BAR and M1919 LMG in various forms (both also a Browning design), the old M1917 remained in a niche heavy machine gun role particularly in defensive operations (while Colt sold commercial models abroad) through WWII and Korea. For an example of just what they could do if used properly, see Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone.
As a result, the M1917, in turn, appeared on Victory Bond posters in WWII as well
In all, over 128,000 were produced for the U.S. alone.
As an example of the old beast still at work, see the below 1953 Army Big Picture film, “Soldier in Berlin” where at the 22:00~ mark the Berlin Brigade is shown on manoeuvres in the Grunewald forest with, among other things, a beautiful heavy machine gun platoon with a loadout of M1917A1’s on the line. Had the balloon gone up on WWIII, you can be sure they would have chattered until overrun or out of ammo.
The hefty water-cooled Browning remained in the arsenal until finally replaced by the M60.
Unidentified soldier in Union uniform with gauntlets, shoulder scales, and cavalry “Company K” marked Hardee hat holding both two Colt Model 1855 Root sidehammer pistols and cavalry saber. Ambrotype/Tintype in LOC collection.
Colt factory superintendent Elisha K. Root’s sidehammer revolver was very popular with individual soldiers in the conflict while Colt made some 17,000 Model 1855 carbines as well over a nine-year period in several barrel lengths and caliber options.
Just SMA Dan Dailey chilling at the Army-Navy game in the new proposed ‘Pink & Green’ dress uniform. Looks like a scene from It’s a Wonderful Life.
I kinda like the WWII vintage look. Hopefully, they’ll keep it.
Sergeant Major of the Army Dan Dailey (Center) stands with US Military Academy at West Point Command Sergeant Major Timothy Guden (Left) and US Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley at the Army-Navy game in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania December 9, 2017. SMA Dailey was displaying the proposed Pink and Green daily service uniform. (U.S. Army photo by Ron Lee)
Here is Patent Case File No. 1,892,141, Semi-Automatic Rifle, Rec’d 27 Dec 1932 from inventor John C. Garand– any of which makes great man cave or shooting house wallpaper.
“Along a jungle trail found this rugged boy (inf.) – he was Pvt. Art Neuer, machine gunner” – SGT. Howard Brodie “Yank” staff artist:
Description from the Library of Congress: Full-length portrait sketch of infantryman Art Neuer, his hand on his pistol, on a jungle trail during the World War II Battle of Guadalcanal.
Born in 1915, Brodie was a sports artist for the San Francisco Chronicle before his work during the war for Yank during which he was an Army combat artist– earning a bronze star the hard way. He went on to become noted for his courtroom sketches post-war but often returned overseas to draw combat scenes in Korea and Vietnam, passing at age 94.
Colorized photo of two U.S. soldiers from the 36th Armored Infantry Regiment, behind a Sherman tank at the ruins of Geich, near Düren, Germany, 11 Dec 1944.
Note the well-used Thompson M1A1 complete with simplified sights, M1 helmets without netting, and four-buckle U.S.-issue rubber overboots with tire-tread soles.
The boots, stock number 72-0-452, were made by a number of tire companies to include B.F. Goodrich and Goodyear Rubber Co as well as more traditional shoe companies that specialised in rubber-soled footwear such as Converse and LaCrosse and were based on the pre-war “Royal Walrus” galoshes made by the United States Rubber Company (Uniroyal), which today is owned by Michelin.
Today of course overboots, especially of the arctic type with the pressure port, are commonly just called Mickey Mouse boots.
But, if you were just now feeling cold up, here is an overbooted 9th Armoured Division technician with a little French girl on Valentine’s Day, 14 Feb 1945 to warm your black soul:
