More on Pope Krag Palma Barrels
Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2023 9:41 pm
From "Shooting and Fishing" June 30,1904.
Harry Pope was a subscriber to the weekly Shooting paper that predates the NRA American Rifleman magazine. About 30 years ago while flea market shopping I came on a stack of these magazines from the early 1900 shooting era. While I was looking at them I noticed the address label was to some guy named H M Pope on Dorchester Street. WOW, they once belonged to the old master. Bought the stack and realized later that many of them contained Popes hand written notes in the margins. Written in scratchy dull pencil were Popes own notes about topics in the paper.
This issue contains the column about the Pope rifle barrels made for his team mates and used in that years International Palma Match. Most Krag collectors have read about the US team winning that contest and then being disqualified by our English cousins for using non standard service barrels. Pope angrily made notes in the magazine he received in June 1903. I have transcribed the old originals along with some of the original pages. He notes also his observations on lack of rifle accuracy from Sea Girt matches the previous year.
From the top of the article in hand written notes:
"I discovered at Sea Girt the season before that all Krag bullets tipped @1000 yds.. Soaked off pasters with holes in them and showed them to Will Hayes and Gen. Spencer together. Results 8" twist by me & better bullets by Thomas 220 & Frankford 200 gr. UMC used."
Further Pope responds, "Every man on the team has invariably told me that there was no trouble at Wimbledon. All knew it and I was glad. Every Englishmen used a special BBL, some with PS stocks, there is no doubt about this what so every. H. M. P.
In the far right margin Pope writes: "All this ruckus was caused by WM Harrow writing in the Washington Star sometime after the match. I shot well enough to win a place on the team but was left off because of his earned reputation for trouble making. English papers then took it up because they were hard losers."
Interesting original Krag history.
Jeff The Caterpillar Man
Harry Pope was a subscriber to the weekly Shooting paper that predates the NRA American Rifleman magazine. About 30 years ago while flea market shopping I came on a stack of these magazines from the early 1900 shooting era. While I was looking at them I noticed the address label was to some guy named H M Pope on Dorchester Street. WOW, they once belonged to the old master. Bought the stack and realized later that many of them contained Popes hand written notes in the margins. Written in scratchy dull pencil were Popes own notes about topics in the paper.
This issue contains the column about the Pope rifle barrels made for his team mates and used in that years International Palma Match. Most Krag collectors have read about the US team winning that contest and then being disqualified by our English cousins for using non standard service barrels. Pope angrily made notes in the magazine he received in June 1903. I have transcribed the old originals along with some of the original pages. He notes also his observations on lack of rifle accuracy from Sea Girt matches the previous year.
From the top of the article in hand written notes:
"I discovered at Sea Girt the season before that all Krag bullets tipped @1000 yds.. Soaked off pasters with holes in them and showed them to Will Hayes and Gen. Spencer together. Results 8" twist by me & better bullets by Thomas 220 & Frankford 200 gr. UMC used."
Further Pope responds, "Every man on the team has invariably told me that there was no trouble at Wimbledon. All knew it and I was glad. Every Englishmen used a special BBL, some with PS stocks, there is no doubt about this what so every. H. M. P.
In the far right margin Pope writes: "All this ruckus was caused by WM Harrow writing in the Washington Star sometime after the match. I shot well enough to win a place on the team but was left off because of his earned reputation for trouble making. English papers then took it up because they were hard losers."
Interesting original Krag history.
Jeff The Caterpillar Man