Click on photo of Sgt. Strum for a larger view! |
Now this is what a US Marine around 1900 would have looked like.
Armed with a Winchester-Lee 6mm (.236 cal) straight-pull rifle with 9" bayonet
and carrying 180 rounds of ammunition on stripper clips he was ready for
anything.
The Marine pictured at left in 1900 period uniform is Sgt. Scott Strum, and he is armed with a 2nd contract Winchester-Lee military rifle. Sgt. Strum was outfitted to represent a Spanish-American War era Marine for the annual USMC birthday pageant on November 10, 1999 and is stationed in Hawaii where this photograph was taken. Photo and rifle courtesy of Michael A. Weight. |
| Photo at right is a closeup of the action of Sgt. Strum's Winchester-Lee straight-pull rifle. Note that it is not quite a straight-pull. One grasps the bolt handle and pulls up and to the rear to disengage the bolt, then one gives a sharp pull to the rear to extract and eject the spent case. One must then give a sharp push forward to strip the next round from the magazine and slam the bolt home. If one does not use a rapid and forceful push forward the bolt may not go back into battery. Photo courtesy of Michael A. Weight. | 
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| Views of Winchester-Lee #5960 recovered from USS MAINE. | Click here for views of Winchester-Lees in the Spanish-American War! |