I recently ran across information about Seig automatic rifle developed by Coast Guard Gunner's Mate Jame E. Seig in 1944 aboard the cutter Mohawk. It was a .30-06 bullpup select-fire rifle with a 20-round box magazine. The weapon has a number of remarkable features for the era and it's a shame there's not a lot of information about it. You can find photos of the weapon at the Forgotten Weapons web site and there is some additional information at Wikipedia.

I've learned that subsequently the rifle was tested by the Coast Guard's R & D Division and manufactured by High Standard. It was turned over to the Army, supposedly at Ft. Benning for further testing.

I'd like to find out what happened to the rifle, how many were produced by High Standard and if there are any in existence in museums. Currently, the National Firearms Museum does not have a copy.

Here's a transcript of a newspaper article on Feb 14, 1946 that talks about the rifle. Any errors are my own as the scanned copy of the article was pretty bad.

Troy Times Record February 14, 1946

Washington Coast Guard headquarters disclosed the existence of two new type guns yesterday, one an automatic rifle and the other for use as a line gun, and credited their development to a Baltimore enlisted man. Chief Gunner's Mate James E Sieg of Baltimore built the first working model of the automatic rifle while aboard the Mohawk in 1944, the announcement said. Later other models were produced Coast Guard research and development division and the current weapon is manufactured by High Standard Manufacturing Co,. New Haven Conn. The Coast Guard said the latest model was being turned over to the Army for further study and evaluation.