This past weekend my Dad and I went to the gun show up in Duluth. Decent show, kind of small, but had a bunch of really interesting guns, lots of C&R, more than 10+ broomhandle Mausers (most shows I have only seen 1 or two, and most all of the ones I saw this show were immaculate <some with 5k price tags, but still, they were there>). Me and Dad don't get to hang out nearly as often as we would like to, and rarely hit a gun show (3 times a year, maybe).
Towards the end of the show we came across a table with a Japanese gentleman, selling multiple Arisaka rifles and Japanese good luck flags. Some of them were last ditch, one of them was an immaculate early version complete with dust cover. As I was examining the roughest last ditch on the table and the omitted features I noticed a name imprinted in the right side under the bolt handle... There, emblazoned in the stock was the last name STADIG...
So a little background here, I am a damn yankee. My Dad spent 23 years in Army EOD, the last of which were here in Georgia. I finished high school, and then went on to tech school here, got a job, and married a GA peach and haven't left (sorry, not sorry). My Dads side of the family is from Michigan, my Mom's side is from Northern Maine. My Mother's maiden name, also just happens to be STADIG! Her uncle, my great uncle, served in WWII in Burma! Stadig is a fairly unusual name, only a few show as WWII vets.
The following pictures are of the rifle, and a pic of my great uncle (who we believe served in Merrill's Marauders). My Dad has been wanting to find an M1 carbine (old version, no bayonet lug, no sliding rear sight), and been trying to gather more information on my great uncle. Our understanding is he returned from WWII a changed man, and unfortunately dealt with his problems in an unhealthy manner, and died in the 1960s. As such we have very little information on him other than word of mouth. We are working to find more. This rifle is an amazing find, and we find it hard to believe that it could have been anyone else but my uncles.
We could hardly speak when we saw the name, and picked up the rifle for $175, and would have easily paid 10x that much. The seller had no idea of the origin of the rifle, nor how long he had it. He had sold multiple last ditches that day, and this was the 4th one he had put out. My knees were shaking after we bought it, and Dad was so giddy he was walking up to strangers to tell them about it! (Dad is a raging introvert, and hates talking to people he doesnt have to so this was extremely unusual).
Not looking for anyone to dig in, and if you have any comments like "yeah but there were thousands of STADIGs" in the war, keep them to yourselves. We know its a long shot, but still really interesting to see that name on that rifle.
The Japanese good luck flag was also purchased from the same Japanese gentleman, and is not the same one from the pictures of my uncle.
It was a great weekend, I saw some incredible guns, took one home with history and meaning to me, and got a decent broomhandle bolo while I was at it (I had to come back sunday, I was not in any shape to buy after we found the Arisaka!)
Towards the end of the show we came across a table with a Japanese gentleman, selling multiple Arisaka rifles and Japanese good luck flags. Some of them were last ditch, one of them was an immaculate early version complete with dust cover. As I was examining the roughest last ditch on the table and the omitted features I noticed a name imprinted in the right side under the bolt handle... There, emblazoned in the stock was the last name STADIG...
So a little background here, I am a damn yankee. My Dad spent 23 years in Army EOD, the last of which were here in Georgia. I finished high school, and then went on to tech school here, got a job, and married a GA peach and haven't left (sorry, not sorry). My Dads side of the family is from Michigan, my Mom's side is from Northern Maine. My Mother's maiden name, also just happens to be STADIG! Her uncle, my great uncle, served in WWII in Burma! Stadig is a fairly unusual name, only a few show as WWII vets.
The following pictures are of the rifle, and a pic of my great uncle (who we believe served in Merrill's Marauders). My Dad has been wanting to find an M1 carbine (old version, no bayonet lug, no sliding rear sight), and been trying to gather more information on my great uncle. Our understanding is he returned from WWII a changed man, and unfortunately dealt with his problems in an unhealthy manner, and died in the 1960s. As such we have very little information on him other than word of mouth. We are working to find more. This rifle is an amazing find, and we find it hard to believe that it could have been anyone else but my uncles.
We could hardly speak when we saw the name, and picked up the rifle for $175, and would have easily paid 10x that much. The seller had no idea of the origin of the rifle, nor how long he had it. He had sold multiple last ditches that day, and this was the 4th one he had put out. My knees were shaking after we bought it, and Dad was so giddy he was walking up to strangers to tell them about it! (Dad is a raging introvert, and hates talking to people he doesnt have to so this was extremely unusual).
Not looking for anyone to dig in, and if you have any comments like "yeah but there were thousands of STADIGs" in the war, keep them to yourselves. We know its a long shot, but still really interesting to see that name on that rifle.
The Japanese good luck flag was also purchased from the same Japanese gentleman, and is not the same one from the pictures of my uncle.
It was a great weekend, I saw some incredible guns, took one home with history and meaning to me, and got a decent broomhandle bolo while I was at it (I had to come back sunday, I was not in any shape to buy after we found the Arisaka!)
