Included with this rifle is a 1994 dated letter from a previous owner, which lays out a chain of possession from himself, to the Trigger Hill Trading Post of Salinas, California, to a 1st Lieutenant Robert Trammell of the 318th Infantry Regiment (80th Division), to the German Army. According to the letter, Lieutenant Trammel, while acting as a platoon leader in April 1945 inside Germany, took this rifle (ID'd by serial number in the letter) as a trophy during an advance on Kassel (written as "Kastel" in the letter). Kassel served as headquarters of Wehrkreis (military district) IX and the location of a Dachau sub-camp providing forced labor for the manufacture of Tiger I and King Tiger tanks and was taken after multiple days of dirty house-to-house fighting. Prior to Kassel, the 318th was involved with the relief of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge; a letter to the editor of "The Bulge Bugle" in May 1996 from "R.J. Trammell, Jr., 80th INFD 318 INF 1 BN D" relates the story of a Christmas Day assault towards Tintange, Belgium, which brought heavy German fire while attempting to pass through a tree farm, resulting in extremely high casualties from unintentional airbursting of the enemy shells. Reports of Trammell's post-VE exploits are limited; he's reported as having participated in the occupation of Bavaria in spite of wounds suffered in the line of duty, was in Salinas, California circa late December 1993-early January 1994 to sell a rifle, and was still up, about, and in a mood for letter writing in 1996. The rifle is equipped with fixed sights and a brown leather sling, with a "40E2" marked barrel, "byf/42" receiver, and a smooth matching numbered stock with "WaA135" proofs and a cupped steel buttplate. A bayonet is also included, "DURKOPP" marked, with an unnumbered sheath and a black leather frog.

Fine, with 50% of the original blue finish, showing some areas of brown patina, along with some minor handling marks and spotting. The wood is also fine, with a number of scuffs and scratches, and the leather shows some cracking and stains. The bayonet is good, with a screw absent from the grip and a rough scabbard and frog. Mechanically excellent.