1200 guns...GONE

[tark]

It is with Great sadness that I post a picture of the Rock Island Museum as it is today. Also, a pic of the glory days.

Renovating is a slow process. It will probably be another year before the Museum re-opens.

We will keep 1903 # 1 R.I.A. manufacture, Garand #2, the little bighorn guns, some prototypes and pattern guns for the 1903 rifles, and a 1901 Springfield long rifle. We will also feature a display tracing the development of the semi- auto military rifle. This display will feature Pederson's, Thompsons, a primer actuated Garand and some one-off prototypes that failed miserably.

Much to my delight, we will also Keep General John Buford's cavalry saber.

 

[Speedo66]

Where is the bulk of the collection going?

 

[12Bravo20]

Sad to see the museum get downsized or moved. A lot of my relatives worked at the Armory during and after WWII.

 

[DustyGmt]

Is there a previous thread that may explain what the reason is for getting rid of all the guns and gutting the place? It looks like it was once one of the coolest places on earth, what happened to all the guns?

 

[jmr40]

what happened to all the guns?

I may be mistaken, but I believe many were owned by private individuals who loaned them to the museum. Those have been returned to the owners. Once again I might be mistaken, but that is what I was thinking.

 

[tark]

Where is the bulk of the collection going?

The guns went to various Army museums around the country or were put in storage. Most of them will be on display, somewhere.

Is there a previous thread that may explain what the reason is for getting rid of all the guns and gutting the place? It looks like it was once one of the coolest places on earth, what happened to all the guns?

Yes. I announced this in a thread about a year ago, possibly a bit longer. In that thread I stated that this renovation was entirely the Army's decision. Patrick Allie, the museum's director, had little input in the matter. He was allowed to choose what guns he wanted kept, but only guns with direct ties to the Island were allowed. I strongly suspect that some of the Army's other museums were a bit ( a lot ) jealous of some of the extremely rare and valuable guns we had, like those three FG-42s. ATF says only 26 of those in the country.

I may be mistaken, but I believe many were owned by private individuals who loaned them to the museum. Those have been returned to the owners. Once again I might be mistaken, but that is what I was thinking.

The museum stopped displaying guns that the Army didn't own, years ago. Some guns were donated, with the Army taking actual ownership of the piece.

When something like this happens, I try to take solace in the fact that my loss is someone else's gain. The guns aren't being destroyed, just shuffled around a bit. Most of them will be on display, somewhere, for shooters to enjoy.

 

[bannockburn]

tark

When something like this happens, I try to take solace in the fact that my loss is someone else's gain. The guns aren't being destroyed, just shuffled around a bit. Most of them will be on display, somewhere, for shooters to enjoy.

Well that's a bit of good news at least! Just as long as they're available at some museum somewhere that the public can still see them and appreciate the guns and the history about them.