Why didn't Uncle Sam dump all 1,000 guns to Bannerman for sale to recover more tax payer's $$ ..... one theory saying
"The 230 pistols whose serial numbers are not shown [in Bannerman] were probably rendered useless in various tests. It is quite possible however that a small number of these unrecorded specimens came into private hands."
http://www.nps.gov/spar/historycultu...r%20ranges.doc
If this is correct, the chance of a gun falling out of Bannerman and being a TE is not high.... unless it's broken. Or, it's not broken and it's in good shape, then its originality becomes a big question mark, because it's supposed to be "useless".