Springfield 1903 Sighting Kit Help

[jimsgunshop]

Hi im trying to find out if anybody has ever seen one of these before ive checed all my books and i cant find one mentioned anywhere any ideas thanks jim

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=2204575921 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=584&item=2204575921)

[surbat6]

I KNEW I'd seen that thing before! In the book, The Springfield 1903 Rifles,by Lt. Col. William S. Brophy, USAR, Ret. (1985, Stackpole Books, 5067 Ritter Road, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055), on pages 410 - 412, there is a description and photos of the Hollifield Dotter.
The full name is "Hollifield Target Practice Rod Indicator" or Dotter. It was a tool for practice at aiming the rifle without live-fire, to train recruits aiming technique before they were sent to the rifle range.
In use, a pointed rod was inserted into the bore and a clip of special dummy cartridges loaded into the magazine (for rapid-fire practice), or a longer rod without the cartridges (for slow fire). The rifle was aimed at a special target (looks like the targets are included in that auction!) set up in a framework at the proper distance from the muzzle, and the trigger squeezed. The firing pin's impact on the dummy round in the chamber (or directly on the longer rod) propelled the rod partway out the muzzle where it punched a hole in the target. Since the target had two bullseyes, one in the sighting plane and the other below it in line with the bore, the recruit aimed at the upper one and his "shots" registered on the lower.
This system was patented by General George Wingate around 1875, and various versions were made until the Hollifield Company discontinued production in 1927.