Got "The Gun Report" of March, 1968 in with the article "New York Militia Rifle Trials of 1896" by Gilbert E. Newton.
It's very impressive, actually. Joe, those quotes of yours are coming from this article.
He credits Mrs. Arthur J. Savage and Mr. Ralph Merkner for their assistance, and gives several references including Roe S. Clark, Jr. - Asst. Service Manager of Savage Arms. I'm not sure who Ralph Merkner is (son in law?), but the other names are familiar.
The biggest flaw with the article is that he shows pages from the testing requirements of the US Army trials in NY, apparently not knowing they were from the 1892 US trials and not the 1896 NY Guard trials. The testing requirements he quotes in the article appear to match what I've read in the articles though.
But reading through the article fairly quickly, everything seems to agree with the newspaper articles more than one would expect.
As to the provenance of the gun used, he says:
The trials rifle had a government Krag barrel cut to 28 inches, and a specially made long receiver designed to handle the new .30-40 government cartridge. At that time, before the Savage plant was built at Utica, Model 1895 .303 Savage sporters were being made at the Marlin factory. Old Marlin records suggest that the trials rifle was also made by Marlin; however, contemporary accounts reported that the extra-long receiver was custom-made by Pratt & Whitney. A Savage carbine was offered for inspection toward the end of the trials.
For those who like Savage info, keep an eye open for this magazine on eBay. It's worth picking up. I'll post more info from it soon.
