One more note on GM Wheeler. I thought the return in 1917 and repurchase pm 1918 may have been connected to the war, which started in April 1917. However, since he was 50 years old at the time, it wasn't imminent service. He may have been expecting a job transfer to the war effort, and then reclaimed the gun when he found out differently. It is also very possible that Dickey ordered the gun for one of his store accounts and had it dropped shipped there (Milwaukee), where Wheeler purchased it on one of his trips as a commercial ammunition salesman. Everything reported here would lead me to believe this was the likely chain of events. Dickey was one of the largest wholesalers in the country and recieved an order from the WI hardware; Wheeler serviced the WI account for ammo and bought the gun while there for a business call. He then owned the gun and returned it for service several times.
I can remember as a kid in the 50's/60's that this was the normal chain of events. Every hardware store in our small town purchase all their inventory and special orders from Belknap supply in Louisville, who did the orders directly with the manufacturers.
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