The Marine Rifle is a commissioned piece made for my late father by one of the CLAs founding members, Wayne P. Watson. The rifle is made with a John Kuntz style stock. The wood is “curly maple,” and the barrel is a Getz barrel made in Beavertown PA. The rifle is a 50 caliber 1 in 66 round bottom rifling, swamped barrel 15/16 to 13/16 to 7/8 inch. Artistic details on the rifle highlight the history of the US Marines through beautiful carvings and inlay. Each detail has a story from the history of the Marines. Represented battles include: The Revolutionary War and its battles, Tripoli, The Mexican War, The Civil War, WWI and WWII, Korean War, Vietnam, Iraq War, and Afghanistan War. There is an amazing brass and silver eagle on the patchbox side of the gunstock with an inlay of a marine raising the flag on Iwo Jima. Other details include nods to the Tun Tavern, birthplace of the Marine Corps, the WWI “Devil Dogs” nickname, a Civil War cap insignia with a bugle inspired by an actual uniform cap on display at the Marine Corps Museum, ‘Vesica Pisces” to represent the island wars during WWII, and “blood stripes for the fallen.”
The Marine Corps Rifle is truly a one-of-a-kind! More pictures can be seen at www.thenavyrifle.com. If you have qestions please contact me at staceydferguson@gmail.com or (919) 604-5567
