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For the last two years +, Tommy Phillips has had what most of us collectors would consider the ultimate “dream job”: Chief Carbine Armorer for the CMP, during the time when over 60,000 carbines passed through the warehouse at Anniston, Alabama. Tommy has supervised the “workup” of all of them, and has personally inspected at least 15,000. Thus, Tommy has more hands-on carbine experience than any collector in the world!
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Although Tommy will wholeheartedly agree that his employment at CMP was a unique and extremely rewarding experience, he will also admit that it also has been tedious, dirty and tiring work – both physically and mentally. The armorers are pretty much on their feet all day on the hard concrete floor of the warehouse, and the piles of paperwork (inventory by serial number, manufacturer, grade, and special features) are absolutely critical to the operation of CMP, and require a keen eye for detail and constant mental alertness.
After being forced to retire early from a management job in the textile industry, Tommy first worked at CMP in January 2006, when 3000 partial carbines were returned from El Salvador. Later that year, Tommy began fulltime employment there, after 33,000 carbines were returned from Italy, followed by 12,000 from Greece, then 7000 from Austria, and finally 5,000 from Uruguay. Condition of these firearms has varied from rusty metal and moldy wood, to clean and well-maintained, to completely covered in slippery cosmoline. The condition and accuracy of the packing slip inventories have likewise run the gamut from missing, to inaccurate, to good. Regardless of the condition of the carbines or the attached paperwork, every gun had to be individually “worked” and then graded: everything from “salvage” (broken or rusty) to “auction” (collector grade).
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At left, Tommy assists another armorer with a carbine question, and at right, he replaces a broken rear sight. Because of the manner in which the carbines returned from Italy were stacked atop one another for transit, many rear sight apertures were broken off.
When Tommy first accepted the job offer at CMP, he thought he’d only be working carbines, with no other responsibilities. However, collateral duties came with the job. In addition to supervising a handful of armorers, Tommy was responsible for answering telephone questions from customers, inspecting and repairing carbines returned by customers, writing descriptions of the auction carbines, training new armorers, working in the South Store, and assisting Chief Operating Officer Orest Michaels with the various categories, grades and descriptions of carbines for the catalogues and internet sales.
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At left, Tommy loads magazines in the firing booth, where all carbines are function-fired with two rounds. The specially-designed CMP firing box can be seen to Tommy’s right. At right, checking the bores for obstructions after function-firing, a tedious job.
Often times, it was very difficult to determine if a carbine’s bore was to be judged “service grade” or “rack grade.” Minor pitting can be very difficult to see, depending on the angle and intensity of the light, and the experience of the armorer. The CMP armorers always grade carbine bores very conservatively, and when an armorer wasn’t sure how to grade a carbine, Tommy was consulted.
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Note in the photo at left, that plastic picnic knives are used as bore reflectors! The bright intensity of a regular bore light can mask minor pitting, so the white plastic knife actually works better. Center photo shows Tommy, who possesses an abundance of patience, tact, and carbine expertise, on the phone with a customer who has a question or a problem with his carbine. Photo at right shows Tommy modeling the latest fashion in “kidney-belt” back braces, while performing his daily weight-training “carbine curls.”
With the post-election demand for carbines far outstripping the normal capacity for processing orders, Tommy and the other armorers have worked 6-7 days a week, with many 12-hour days, all last winter and into the spring and summer. But despite the long hours at work and a one hour drive to/from CMP every day, Tommy has made time in the evenings or on the weekends to copy down an incredible amount of carbine data, which has helped the Club’s data bank immensely.
However, all good things must come to an end, and Tommy elected to retire in August, and start collecting his Social Security. Thank you, Tommy, for your great service to the Carbine Club, and to carbine shooters and collectors across our country. Your good deeds have been appreciated, and will not be forgotten.
And thanks also to your wife Margaret, for her supreme patience while you ‘played’ with carbines all week for over two years, then spent your paychecks on them, and were too tired on weekends to do the “honey do’s” that had accumulated!
We hope you both enjoy your retirement!
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Photo shows what Tommy looks like at the end of another long week working carbines, trying to catch up with the post-election demand.
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Tommy, looking well-rested on August 11th after two weeks of vacation at home, and Orest Michaels, Chief Operating Officer of CMP.
Tommy proudly holds his farewell gift: a mint and correct 6.4 million Winchester carbine.
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With our apologies to Tommy, we couldn’t resist printing this photo of him diving to the bottom of a box to recheck a serial number, while armorer Mike Dunn verifies the inventory sheet. Every carbine is pulled from a box to be inspected, and afterwards is put into another box, depending on manufacturer, type, grade, etc. As the armorers work the carbines, they will repeat this exercise up to 6 times every hour, all day long, while standing on a concrete warehouse floor…hence the back brace that Tommy wears. Serial number control and box inventory control are critical.
Although we, as collectors, tend to think the job of a CMP Armorer would be very exciting, the Carbine Club members who have served on the CMP Research Team know that it is physically demanding and mentally tiring work.
