Author: Lt.Col. William S. Brophy, USAR, Ret
Publisher: Rutgers Gun Books, May 2007
Binding: Hardcover
ISBN: 0-RGB-35
Synopsis
The first comprehensive work on the subject will open up a whole new field of info necessary to collectors and all gun enthusiasts.
More Information
The author was born and raised in the Fox River Valley of nothern Illinois. A retired Army Lieutenant Colonel with service in both the Ordnance Corps and the Infantry. At the time of his death, he was the senior technical manager of the Marlin Firearms Company. It was a fortunate accident of timing, while so employed, that allowed this book to be created.
Brophy happened by the old L.C. Smith workshop portion ot the Marlin factory as workmen were emptying the contents of old cabinets into the trash bin. Aware of the existence of the old records, curiosity led Brophy to examine the documents slated for destruction. They were the entire set of production and shipping records of the old companies.
Of course, the records were saved and their reconstruction led to the creation of this book. Not many such works are based upon the complete set of factory records.
A recognized authority on Springfield armory and Springfield made arms, Brophy specialized in collecting Krag and Model 1903 rifles. His love for the '03 goes back to the 1930's when he first competed in the National Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio using the '03, during his early military years when he carried the '03 as a "tool of the trade".
As a hunter, his experience ranges from going after rabbit and squirrel as a kid in Illinois to hunting Kodiak bear while living in Alaska. In fact, as of this date, Brophy's brown bear is fourth in the Boone and Crockett record book standings.
Brophy's greatest hobby experiences have been the research and the development of little known facts about those arms made at Springfield. This inquisitiveness has naturally spread to Marlin Firearms and resulted in his editing The Marlin Collector for the Marlin Firearms Collector's Association. Another extension of this desire to develop unknown facts about data for collectors and gun owners has resulted in this book on the L.C. Smith shotgun. Intrigued with the finding the old serial number records and parts drawings for the L.C. Smith shotgun still in existence, Bill felt obligated to investigate the availability of additional material and background information about the production, grades, catalogs, and variations of the L.C. Smith Shotgun, as made by four different manufacturers. More than five years of research and the reduction of thousands of sheets of material collected has now been bound between covers.
This book, the first comprehensive work on the subject will open up a whole new field of information necessary to collectors and all gun enthusiasts.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
William S. Bropy is also the author of The Krag Rifle, also published by the Gun Room Press.
