GUN FALL 2015
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/5/2015
EXTREMELY RARE POSSIBLY ONE OF A KIND WINCHESTER MODEL 1873 SEMI-DELUXE SMALL BORE LEVER ACTION RIFLE. WINCHESTER 1873 555264 22 SHORT MODERN; C&R; IVORY Cal. .22 Short. Extremely rare small bore ''73 with 24-1/4" oct bbl, full magazine, Lyman "certifiable antique ivory" bead hunting front sight and flat top rear sight. Mounted with uncheckered straight grain American walnut which includes standard forearm and the very rare "Plain" capped pistol gripped stock that has Winchester Repeating Arms Co. trademark embossed hard rubber buttplate. Left side of lower tang, under the wood is marked with the assembly no. 11372 & "CF R", matching assembly number is also found in top tang channel of buttstock. Inside magazine tube is original. Accompanied by a Cody Firearms Museum Records Office search form which identifies this rifle in cal 22 short with oct bbl, plain trigger, plain pistol grip, rubber shotgun buttplate, Lyman hunting front and flat top rear sights. Received in warehouse Dec 14, 1900 and shipped the next day to order no. 83714. According to Flayderman''s Guide to Antique American Firearms there were only 19,552 of these small bore rifles were produced in the period 1884-1904, in two calibers and two bbl lengths. This was the first repeating rifle chambered for the .22 manufactured in America. It was not considered to be a serious hunting rifle and was therefor relegated to being a garden pest gun and small game rifle for boys and ladies. These rifles usually saw very hard service with little or no maintenance and are usually found today with little or no orig finish. Of the total produced extremely few were special ordered such as found here and few of those survive today. This is one of the most rare 1873 rifles. CONDITION: Very fine plus, all matching. Bbl and magazine tube retain 96-97% strong orig blue with a few scattered spots of rust on top right flat and one area on magazine tube. Receiver retains about 85-88% strong orig blue with candy striping on both sides & flaking on left side plate. Top and bottom edges are somewhat dulled as are the top and bottom tangs. Hammer retains very bright orig case colors, lightly to moderately faded on left side. Lever retains traces of case colors on the sides having mostly faded to silver. Wood is sound with a few light nicks and scratches and a couple small gouges on the forearm and overall retains most of its orig oil finish. Mechanics are crisp, brilliant shiny bore, shows very little use. 49491-1 JR (20,000-30,000)