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Wright Accomplished a Miracle

It was charged at the time and has been parrotted since, that the refuse of all the armories of Europe was poured into the United States, and vast “investigations” clamored for. But the tabulation above shows that Boker’s cost in Europe for 125,000 of the guns—Classes 14 through 20—equalled the cost at Springfield Armory for a rifle. Of the 188,000 arms delivered, at least half were comparable in the market to the Springfield Rifle Musket. Calibers for the most part were .69-.72, but Ripley caused that to be accepted by George Wright. With inadequate briefing on his duties and also on his authority, such as the possibility of hiring viewers in England, which Wright certainly could have done, he accomplished a minor miracle. Though it was Boker who offered, and Cameron and Ripley who accepted the deal, it was George Wright who armed the Union that dreary winter of . It may be categorically stated that the one man who signed certificates of inspection for more rifle muskets than any other did not put a mark on the guns. His tools were not the majesty of international commerce, nor the belching chimneys of a hundred factories, but a tapered plug of steel with scratch marks on the side to show its diameters ... a bore gauge.

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