GUN FALL 2015
The live portion of this session begins on Monday, October 5, 2015.
SCARCE, EARLY DELUXE ENGRAVED MARLIN FIRST MODEL 1897 LEVER ACTION RIFLE.MARLIN189715657622Cal. 22. Beautiful deluxe rifle with 24" oct to rnd bbl, full magazine, German silver Rocky Mountain front sight, and semi-buckhorn rear sight. Mounted with very highly figured shell grain, A-style checkered American walnut that has serpentine grip and hard rubber buttplate. Left side of top tang, under the wood, is marked with last 3 digits of matching SN & buttstock is matching numbered to the rifle. Receiver is engraved by Conrad Ulrich in #3 style which consists of the rnd vignette of a standing whitetail buck in a forest scene surrounded by foliate arabesque patterns and a variety of border patterns. Right side has light foliate arabesque patterns with matching border patterns. Top & bottom of receiver & top tang are lightly engraved to match. Receiver has a coating of shellac. Accompanied by a Cody Firearms Museum letter which identifies this rifle in Cal. 22 with 24" half oct bbl and pistol grip stock, shipped Nov 1, 1898. These small bore rifles of this era are rarely found with high orig finish. They were not considered to be a "man''s rifle" but were usually relegated to boys and ladies where they saw hard service with little or no maintenance. CONDITION: Very fine to extremely fine, all matching. Bbl & magazine tube retain about 98% strong orig blue with only faint, sharp edge wear around the muzzle. Receiver retains most of its orig case colors, strong & bright on the sides and most of the top edge, more faded on the bottom. Lever & hammer retain faded case colors. Stock has a few small nicks & dings; in the forearm a few minor scratches and overall the wood retains about 98-99% strong orig varnish with some very light oil staining around the receiver & bottom tang. Mechanics are crisp. Bright shiny bore. 49121-17 JR (15,000-20,000)