The Top Secret Device
Exactly how many are actually out there remains a mystery. None of these came up for sale for nearly 20 years or more until the first one was at a James Julia auction in Fairfield Maine. I really wanted the device, and passed on many good machinegun deals waiting for the item to come up. I stopped at $58,000.00 and the winner ended up paying $60,000.00 + a 15% premium. Six months later, Amoskeag Auction Co. had one come up that I ended up getting for less than half of the one in Maine. And a year later bought another that was complete with magazines, pouches, and the extremely rare hard case that attached to the pistol belt. There are a reported eight of the hard cases known to exist as most were thrown away. It's a really cool piece of history even though very few were ever used in the trenches. The project was top secret as it was feared that Germany would capture one and modify the Mauser rifles to use them against us.
How bad ass this thing must have been in a trench with 40 rounds of semi auto fire "especially if you were the point man"
On another note: If you know anyone that has one that's broken, John Andrewski at Manchester Firing Line has made replacement barrels and a few other parts after reverse engineering parts from mine. The unit itself would be very hard to reproduce. John has repaired at least four units that others sent to him after learning that he has some replacement parts.
If anyone would like to see, touch, and check it out: Both units are on display at Shooters Outpost in Hooksett.
Jim
