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Parris-Dunn WWII U.S. Dummy Training Rifle

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:25.00 USD Estimated At:100.00 - 300.00 USD
Parris-Dunn WWII U.S. Dummy Training Rifle
Included in this lot is a Parris-Dunn dummy training rifle. The Parris-Dunn Corporation was founded by William G. Dunn and Cecil L Parris when they formed a business partnership in 1937. Each of these men brought unique contributions to this partnership. Although Dunn had no formal technical training he, like many great inventors, could see the interrelationships that existed between different mechanical devices and could modify or combine them to solve problems. Parris had a background as sales manager for the Kari-Kleen company of Souix City, Iowa and was a talented merchandiser. Initially Parris was the President of the corporation and Dunn the Vice-president but during the war years their positions reversed. When WWII broke out in 1941 their wind generator business was declared nonessential and they were only allowed to make repair parts for the units already in use. There was a severe shortage of military firearms at the start of the war and they were approached by US Army Ordnance to produce a non-firing training rifle. Shortly after, the US Navy also expressed interest in this project, but they wanted some slight modifications in their model. In July of 1942 the Army let contract 271 ORD for 35,000 training rifles of their pattern at a cost of $166,000. In August the Navy let contract NROS 10993 for 190,000 training rifles having their changes at a cost of $903,000. In October of 1942 the Army contract was completed and in November they finished the first Navy contract. In January of 1943 the Navy let contract NORD 808 for 110,000 additional training rifles and in June that contract was completed. The total cost of the 300,000 rifles produced for the Navy was $1,384,000. The cost per rifle for the first contract was $4.75 and for the second contract $4.37. By the time of the second contract, Parris-Dunn could no longer get walnut wood for the stocks as all of it was going to arsenals that were making functional military rifles. They had to start using a cheaper grade of wood during the last contract which lowered the unit price. This dummy training rifle shows heavy signs of use. The walnut mannlicher stock shows numerous dents and scratches as well as a crack along the top where the sight would normally be fixed. The rifle is missing the middle metal band as well. The rifle retains the original cast iron trigger guard and functioning trigger. The metal butt stock pad is marked “DUMMY TRAINING RIFLE -MARK 1 – USN - PARRIS-DUNN CORP. - CLARINDA, IOWA” and the stock is marked “4-2528”. This training rifle measures 43 ½”.