GUN SPRING 2017
The live portion of this session begins on Tuesday, April 11, 2017.
WINCHESTER MODEL 1873 3RD MODEL RIFLE WITH COLOR CASE HARDENED FRAME.WINCHESTER1873 RIFLE27443938-40Cal 38 WCF (38-40). Standard grade rifle with 24-1/4″ oct bbl, full magazine, Rocky Mountain front sight and sporting rear sight with extra fine notch. Receiver, lever, hammer, forend cap & buttplate are color case hardened. Mounted with extra finish, uncheckered American walnut with straight stock and crescent buttplate with trap. It is unusual to find a 3rd Model '73 rifle that is color case hardened with much remaining orig finish. Firearms from that era, 1886, usually saw continuous hard service on the American frontier under extreme, adverse conditions, usually with little or no maintenance. Such exposure to sunlight and poor care faded the case colors very quickly, therefore finding one today with high orig finish with bright colors is a great rarity, especially standard grade rifles which were the working man's tool. CONDITION: Extremely fine. Bbl & magazine tube retain 98-99% strong orig finish with only very light muzzle edge wear; receiver & side plates retain brilliant case colors on the sides with some fine surface etching on both sides and side plates, lightly to moderately faded over top & bottom; hammer retains bright case colors as does the lever on the sides, fading to silver on outer faces; forend cap retains brilliant case colors; buttplate retains smoky case colors. Wood is sound with light nicks & scratches and appears to have been waxed at some time in the past, otherwise retains about all of its bright orig varnish. Mechanics are crisp, brilliant shiny bore, appears to be unfired. 51079-15 JRL (25,000-35,000)