ArtR

Hi TerentiusJ and welcome to the forum. From your post, you seem to have done your homework and you seem to have obtained a decent sporter for a really decent price. Good job! From your early photos, it appears pretty much a 'military' rifle configuration with a really nice condition sporter stock. Many are not so lucky as to have a barrel with bayonet lug and proper front sight, or not have other expensive changes. While you could try to find an original or aftermarket military stock, I do not think that a major concern. Enjoy what you have. The following information is provided from the production logs: Receiver SN 4256, Received From: Cranston Arms, Date Received 1/8/1942, Stock No. none, Barrel No. 2814E, Hammer Block No. 3613, Hammer No. 7451, Bolt No. 8556, Locking Cam No. 4444, Firing Pin No. 9974, Extractor No. 2862, Magazine No. A1394, Disposition Date 1/12/1942, Transferred to J.A. Inc - N.P.C Without proper and reliable provenance, be very careful about claims of both ownership and usage. Also, if you would like forum members to comment about the condition of your rifle, please post high definition, quality photos showing all rifle views, and any suspected defects. Generally, photos taken with cell phones or quality cameras produce large files. If you crop the photos to the rifle in general, and scale the photos so the size is less than 2MB, uploading should work well, and the resulting photos will give reviewers enough detail to comment. ArtR

Hi guys. Camstuff reminded me that I need to do an update. Since I last reported, on 3/31, we have boiled 5 more times, (4/1,4/2,4/3,4/7,4.8) making another 55+60+45+83.5+45 gallons, from another 18,400 gallons of sap. This brings our year total to 2060 gallons of syrup, breaking our year 2016 record of 2025 gallons. There are 4 grades (colors/flavors) of maple syrup. All of ours fell in the middle two grades of Amber color/Rich flavor and Dark color/Robust flavor, with the majority Amber/Rich. Golden color/Delicate flavor is the top grade. In that case, when tested 76-100% of light will pass through the test sample. Amber/Rich, 51-75% of light will pass through a sample. Dark/Robust, 26-50% of light will pass through a sample. And Very Dark color/Strong flavor, only 0-25% of light will pass through a sample. There are two other tests that syrup must pass, including clarity (cloudiness/turbidity/sediment) , and aroma. When flavor exceeds a norm, we generally will downgrade the syrup to the next lower grade. I have two photos to share this time. Each day that we boil, we put a 'sample jar' in the window. I have not taken a current photo, but currently there are 23 jars in the window. While it is hard to imagine, all those jars graded in color as Amber color, but one was downgraded to Dark/Robust as the flavor was much stronger. That held true for of the last 7 boils/samples not seen in this photo. Also, after we fill a barrel with syrup, we must store it someplace, until it is sold and collected by a packing house. In this photo, there are 44 of 48 barrels made to date. Just imagine 4 more barrels in that room. Each barrel has a tare weight of 48 lbs. And maple syrup weighs roughly 11 lbs per gallon. So a full barrel will average 488 lbs. As of this morning, my nephew and I were discussing how to proceed. He has approximately 2000+ gallons of sap that extremely slowly flowed over the past 3 days. Also, the temps have been extremely warm (above 60F) and this same sap has sat collected at these above normal temperatures. In the air there are natural yeasts, and when they are in contact with warm moist sugars, they will grow and multiply. While my nephew has not visited the sap station today, he is expecting to smell yeasty or bread dough like aromas. That will spell the end of our season.

Tinsoldier: You have done your homework well. Joe Scott commented at the time on the barrel, and offered to help restore to full military, but there was no further discussion by him and the at time owner on the subject. Your observations on condition are good. As we keep telling people, "Buy the Rifle, Not the Story!"

SN B4367 seen 4/9/2024 on Proxibid - Cowan's Auctions SN B2797 seen again 4/9/2024 on Proxibid - RIA,l ast seen in RIA Premier Auction Cat #53 Sep 2011 Sold $5175 SN A3129 seen 4/9/2024 on Proxibid - RIA SN 5790 seen 4/9/2024 on Proxibid - RIA SN B7438 seen 4/9/2024 GunsInternational.com SN B3601 seen again 4/9/2024 GunsInternational.com SN A3088 seen again 4/9/2024 GunsInternational.com SN B5298 seen again 4/9/2024 GunsInternational.com SN B2182 seen again 4/9/2024 GunsInternational.com

kennethg: Not that I am aware of. ArtR

Interesting fact: From Jan 1, 2024 through Mar 31, 2024, I have tracked 17 JSAR's that have shown as sold on GunBroker. The Maximum price paid was $9850 and the minimum price paid was $3000, with the average price of $6523. Granted, a few were basically project guns, some were Winfield's, but the majority were decent complete guns. To this date, several way overpriced guns linger as unsold with no bids after several months. Yes. I believe that there are still affordable rifles. You just need to be patient.

We processed and boiled 6000 gallons sap on 3/31 and made 115 gallons syrup, bringing our year total to 1771. Again, we are noticing cloudiness in the sap, different flavor and odor, and we are getting heavier niter deposits in the pans. We are also finding the filter press is building pressure earlier, and we need to change filter papers sooner. We are humbly beginning to accept that the season is nearing an end. As there is an impending snow storm coming, I may travel home either today or tomorrow, and hope that the backup crew will respond as needed.

SN B8645 on GunBroker, somehow I missed this one

Below are two rifles not seen before: SN B3378 sold 1/15/2024 $9025.00 SN B1204 sold 1/16/2024 $7999

More sugaring info: Today, while cold and windy, we do have some sap at the 'quarry' sugarbush, which we needed to collect. I drove over with the 2017 Ford F550 dump with a RotoMold 1000 gal collection tank. This truck currently only has 9993 miles! At the quarry, formerly owned by Rock of Ages, of Barre, VT, we have two 20FT shipping containers. Each houses a 5'x5'x12' stainless steel 2000 gallon tank. Both tanks are connected by 2" piping to allow us to collect and hold 4000 gallons sap. When at the quarry, a 2" dia hose is connected to the truck tank, and an electric pump pumps sap at better than 110 gallons per minute into the truck tank. It takes about 9 minutes to fill the truck. Photo of the sap station control box. Here the sap flows in, via numerous main lines (black tubing on left of photo) from the woods, into a 10 gallon release tank ( seen as dim blue in photo), from which it is pumped into the 2 storage tanks. When we have at least 1000 gallons, we begin to collect, but we like to have a minimum of 3000 gallons to justify a boil. Once 3000 gallons of sap has been run through the RO to an 11% sugar content, it only takes about 2 hours to boil that down to 50 some odd gallons of syrup, so any less is hardly worth the time or energy (wood). Two photos of one tank nearly full. Sap is quite clear and has a blue-green tint. Photos taken roughly 1 minute apart to show how quickly the truck tank fills. Image 0010a the tank is at roughly 500 gallons, or about even with the dump body side rails. When loaded, the tank holds about 8000 lbs or 4 tons sap. Sap weighs just slightly more than water. As of these photos, this season we have hauled 89 full and partial loads for 87550 gallons sap.

My brother's wish was to be cremated in 'the arch', but since that is not allowed, it was done in the normal way. Yesterday, however, we got the call that the ashes were ready to be picked up, so my nephew and I went to get them. As we were going to boil, we only thought it appropriate that 'my brother' sit in a corner and watch over the boil. We, and others that visited, also felt that it was an appropriate tribute to him. We previously had 3 days of very cold, freezing weather, and that sort of did the trick, and when it warmed, the sap from the trees had sweetened some, and the syrup flavor and aromas improved drastically, back to normal, and the amount of niter was also drastically reduced.. We thanked my brother for his kind help. And, as we boiled, we reminisced about him and the good times we had with him both in and out of the sugarhouse. BTW, we made 95 gallons the day before, and another 55 gallons yesterday, taking us to 1656 gallons for the year.

Hi Whig and others. Sadly, my other brother died this past Sunday. He was 78, and had been ill for some time, CHF, also a diabetic. While sad, he lived a full life, and always wanted to be kept abreast of the sugar operation. We would chat almost daily about the years progress. He will be missed by me, my four sisters, his family, and all the crew at the sugarhouse. I returned to the sugarhouse today, after my nephew called stating that he had already hauled 3000 gallons yesterday and stated that there was nearly 3000 gallons at 7AM and another 1000 would be available by noon. After the sap was processed, we lit a fire at 1:40PM and had a fairly smooth boil, making 145 gallons, all put into barrels, and we were all cleaned up and out of the sugarhouse by 7:15PM. The sap was so-so, and the quality was okay, but slightly off flavor. Our total now is 1508 gallons. We have officially exceeded an average years production. Sap did run some today, and currently it appears we will have a very short boil on Thursday. For those wondering, packing houses will still buy off flavor syrup. They have many uses for it, but only up to a certain level, they will not ding us on price.

Hi RWWJ and welcome to the forum. As you have already seen, members are very friendly and helpful. The following information is provided from the production logs: Receiver SN 3829, Received From: Cranston Arms, Date Received 12/16/1941, Stock No. none Barrel No. 2364E, Hammer Block No. 3914, Hammer No. 2949, Bolt No. 5229, Locking Cam No. 3793, Firing Pin No. 4117, Extractor No. 3313, Magazine No. 4868, Disposition Date 12/17/1941, Transferred to J.A. Inc - N.P.C Without proper and reliable provenance, be very careful about claims of both ownership and usage. We look forward to any more photos and reports on SN results. ArtR

SN B2327 on GunBroker

Thanks WHIG. Sugaring for me is fun, and describing what we do is sort of part of the job. Visitors often come to the sugarhouse totally unaware as to what we do, Giving tours and describing the operation is sort of second nature. While I cannot guarantee it, my nephew's oldest daughter, who is away at college, has worked in the sugar house for many years, and during COVID, was invaluable as his replacement. I have worked with her on numerous boils and would trust her implicitly with the operation. She has worked with her dad with all parts of the operation, from tapping, to gathering sap with the truck, to running the RO, to boiling, canning, labeling, shipping, and pulling taps. Will she? That is anyone's guess, but she can and might continue in his shoes. His other daughter has just started to help in the operation. I have another nephew, who also sugars, but on a much smaller scale, mostly as a hobby. Again, who knows. He might decide that he would like to expand as well. As for my brother, we have a saying. Sugarmakers do not die, they just evaporate away.

Yesterday, we boiled the sap that we had, and managed to make about 40 gallons maple syrup, but the results were questionable. While sweet, it had an off aroma and flavor. While our packer will purchase, we are in hopes that we will not get dinged to heavily on quality/price. After the boil, based upon the weather forecast, I drove home, for the weekend, to be available to plow/blow snow. The current forecast is for 12-20 inches in my area, 12-24" at the sugarhouse. Mother Nature has rolled in for sure, rearing her ugly head, and reminding us that winter is not yet over. Overnight, the temps at our sap collection station dropped to 4F. The wind blew most all day yesterday and today is much calmer. With cold weather and a storm looming, we are in hopes that the trees may recharge. However, normally, when we detect any change in flavor or aroma, that marks the end of the season. We will know for sure, either Monday or Tuesday, when sap may flow again, and we get a chance to check and test what becomes available.

Yesterday was a totally crazy day, weather wise. We woke to about 1/2" white fluffy stuff, and about 24F. As the day progressed, it warmed, the sun came out, and the snow melted. But, all day, we had off and on snow flurries & squalls. While not much for accumulation, it was totally crazy, and it was not until about 3PM and 47F, that the 'trees woke" (came out of freezing) and sap began to flow. We quickly began the process of trucking sap and running through the RO. At about 6PM, another squall came through, temps dropped drastically, and snow fell, to the tune of 2" in a very short time. By 7PM, the sap began to freeze up and stopped flowing, By 9PM it was 27F, and this morning, it was 14F. We managed to get 3000 gallons of 1.1% sap, which we plan to boil about 10AM today. I am sipping my coffee, and my nephew just headed off to a town meeting. He is on the local selectboard. He will turn on the gas heater in the sugar house, and I will go down about 9AM and begin getting the evaporator ready for the days boil. I had skimmed through this diatribe, and realized that I missed another 'maple syrup' tid-bit. Maple sap is boiled until it reaches 7 degrees above 212F boiling water under perfect atmospheric conditions, I.E., 219F. However, nothing is ever perfect, and we must adjust for atmospheric pressure each day. The thermostatically controlled auto draw off valve (gray box to his left) in the photo, allows him to adjust the draw off temp for the syrup up or down by 10ths of a degree. As syrup is drawn off, it is tested with a hydrometer (tested and certified by Vermont Department of Agriculture) to assure that the syrup being made is 66.9BRIX. The secret is not to draw off syrup that is light on sugar. It is okay to draw off a bit heavy, as then we can mix in some lighter syrup, from the pans, to bring the syrup to the correct density. A delicate balancing game, hence, the close attention that he pays to the draw off location, and all the valves, thermometers, and such. He seldom walks away from that position, until things are all pretty much dialed in. In the meantime, myself, or others, are there to feed firewood, adjust air flow fans, exhaust fans, opening and closing vents, filling defoamer fluid (organic oil which breaks surface tension and keeps boil bubbles smaller), moving empty and full barrels, or whatever else needs to be done. Never a dull moment during an average boil. Time now to get dressed and "head off to work!" Ha ha.

My grandfathers sugarhouse, in 1929, showing the horse drawn sled in Feb 1929, as they prepared for the sugar season. Gathering sap from trees with pails, and dumping into tank on horse drawn sled, again 1929. My grandfathers "arch" as the firebox and pans were called, 1929. My oldest brother standing in front of the old sugarhouse, in 2006. He lived on the farm and "helped" dad and grandpa sugar, until the farm was sold in 1945. He died March 22, 2022, while we were sugaring.

Thanks, Joe and Torrey, Maple Syrup is in our family genes. My grandfather was making maple syrup/sugar back in 1921 and probably earlier, per my dad's diaries. While on a considerably smaller operation, he tapped maybe 1000-1200 trees, using buckets and a horse drawn tank. The old sugar house still stands today, but is close to falling down. My dad and 2 of his brothers also made maple syrup. As I have pointed out, my nephew's operation is quite small compared to some larger operations both here, and in Quebec. To date, we have trucked 68500 gallons of sap to make the 1321 gallons of syrup. That is roughly 52 gallons of sap for each gallon of syrup. To put that sap to syrup into perspective, think about Quebec which produced some 8 Million gallons (US) in 2022, and Vermont produced some 2.5 Million gallons (US) in 2022. This year alone, we have burned nearly 7 cords of wood to make 1300 gallons syrup. When you, your family or others pour maple syrup onto your waffles/pancakes/whatever, do not waste it and wash it down the sink. Think of it as the precious commodity that it is.

A few photos of the maple sugar operation March 19th: My nephew, Eric, watching the boil, at command central. He has valves there to control flow of sap into the evaporator, and from the back pans to the front pans, and onto the thermostatically controlled auto draw off valve (gray box to his left). Once syrup is drawn off, a filter aid is added and it is then pumped through a filter press and on into the barrels. While most of his syrup goes into 40gal barrels, occasionally, as he needs it, he will pump some to a canning station, where he can can gallon and smaller containers. View from outside the sugarhouse, during the boil, showing water vapor from the evaporator. Notice the lack of visible smoke from the smoke stack, as it burns so cleanly. Also the wood pile, 30" pieces of mixed hardwood. He cuts, splits, and stacks approximately 10 cords of wood for an average sugar season. In this photo, we are down to the last two rows of wood. One of the now 31 barrels of syrup, stored in the new addition, with overhead door. Each barrel is labeled with a production sequence number (blue tape) which will coincide with a sample bottle and barrel serial number, for the packing house. A full barrel weighs about 488#. Sap, concentrated by the RO from 2% or less sugar content to 10-11%, flows into the evaporator during this boil at 7.5 gallons per minute.. The temperature of the fire during the boil is roughly 2000F, and the temperature of the flue stack is 1000F.

As we are in for several days of cold weather, we decided to draw the back pan down as low as we could during the boil, and we ended up making 85 gallons of syrup, bringing our year total to 1321 gallons. I will try and post a couple inside sugar house photos.

Mar 19 Update: Things have frozen up here. Mother nature has reared her ugly head to remind us that winter is not over with. We woke to 24F, 1" of fresh fluffy snow, and snow was still falling lightly. I looked for a photo of the sugar house, and found one from last year. Not the best, but gives an idea where I have been "working" off and on since Feb 10. We broke 1200 gallons on Sunday, and yesterday, while sap did not run much, we hauled 4000 gallons that had run Sunday and Sunday night. The sap tested very low in sugar, 1.1%, but we processed it through the RO yesterday, and as it was getting colder, we decided not to boil until today. We expect to get maybe 50+ gallons syrup today, which might bring our year total to over 1280 gallons. Meanwhile, I sip my morning coffee, sweetened by natures finest, Vermont Maple Syrup.

SN B6141 a sporter, back on GB. Recently sold Feb 2024 for $3000

Hi Andy8850, and welcome to the forum. You have come to the right place to ask and search for possible hard to find parts. Good luck.

SN A5405 seen on GunBroker SN 7126 seen on GunBroker, (Miltech???? parkerizing just too sharp) also something strange on photo #28, Bolt original to rifle