Project Description
!!!!!SOLD!!!!! This is a miniature artillery piece marked on the bottom “WATERVLIET NO. 17″. Watervliet Arsenal is an arsenal of the United States Army and is located in New York. It is the oldest continuously operating arsenal in the U.S., and makes much of the artillery for the U.S. Army. This piece is constructed from machined steel. The overall length is 18 1/2”. The bore is .440 caliber at the muzzle, but the barrel is not bored through. On the breech end, there is a .244 diameter hole, and a .22 short rimfire cartridge fits perfectly. It has a thumb screw elevation mechanism. It looks to have a functional recoil mechanism, but is is froze up. It is quite heavy at 19 pounds. The steel has an overall thin coating of surface rust, which should easily clean up to look much better. As to the markings on the bottom, I do not know if they are really from Watervliet Arsenal, could be, could be someone just marked it that. Might be some type of arsenal prototype. The NO. 17 could be number 17, or could be November (19)17. Anyway, it’s an interesting piece and worthy of some time to clean it up & research it’s history. Ex Joel Morrow collection. Sold “AS – IS”. !!!!!SOLD!!!!!
