GUN FALL 2017
The live portion of this session begins on Tuesday, October 31, 2017.
RARE SPECIAL ORDER PRESENTATION WINCHESTER MODEL 1873 LEVER ACTION RIFLE WITH FACTORY LETTER. WINCHESTER 1873 41559 44WCF Cal. .44WCF (44-40). Fine special order rifle with 24-1/4" oct to rnd bbl, butt on mag, half nickel front sight and early style semi-buck horn rear sight with checkered edges. Receiver is 2nd type with attached dust cover rail and 3rd type dust cover. Mounted with a higher end grade of 1X uncheckered American walnut with straight stock and crescent buttplate with trap. Left side of lower tang, under the wood is marked with the assembly # "543" and "XX". Buttstock has the assembly # "1554" in top tang channel and inside toe of buttplate, which makes sense given the rifle letters with 1X wood, not "XX." "1-X" guns that letter that way are extremely rare. Receiver and sideplates are color case hardened with the left side plate inscribed "Presented to / Dr. E. C. Richardson / by / Wm. W. Converse / Jan. 19th 1880". This inscription has all the characteristics of other inscriptions engraved by renowned Winchester engraver John Ulrich. This gun is the subject of two separate Winchester articles. Accompanied by a four page article by G. Scott Soles, which appeared in the Summer Edition 2008 of The Winchester Collector magazine, which details information about this rifle with several photographs and in particular reports information about Mr. Converse. He was born in Ware, Mass. in 1834 and in 1878 was working at Winchester with a very high salary and position, being paid more than Oliver Winchester's son, W. W. Winchester. After the deaths of Oliver and W. W. Winchester in 1880 records disclose that Mr. Converse sat on the Winchester Board of Directors, later became Treasurer, then Secretary, and finally President of the company, which appointment took place in March 1881. Additional information is about the possible relationship with Dr. Richardson is theorized, in that he was a physician and may have been the doctor treating the two Winchester men who were both deathly ill and soon both passed away, at which time Converse became President of WRACo. This article also shows the listing for this rifle in the orig Winchester ledger and identifies it in cal. 44 with half oct bbl, plain trigger, "X stock", casehardened, received in the warehouse Jan. 17 1880 and shipped the same day to order # 18827. This rifle is pictured and described on pg. 190 of The Winchester Book , Madis, 1985 edition. It is also listed on pg. 460 of Winchester's New Model of 1873, Gordon, wherein Mr. Gordon states there were only 59 inscribed models 1873 known at the time of publication. A second 5-page article by Mr. Soles was published in the Summer Edition 2015 of The Winchester Collector, This article updates significant details Converse not previously reported in any of the popular Winchester publications, but more importantly on Dr. Richardson. It was learned that he was a graduate of Harvard Medical School, and had, upon graduation moved to Ware, Mass. to practice medicine. Dr. Richardson served throughout the Civil War as a surgeon and presumably resumed practice at war's end. Little else was reported regarding Dr. Richardson but it seems likely that such an elaborate gift would have stemmed from a close relationship, probably relating to the illness of both Winchester men. PROVENANCE: Paul Sorrell; Scott Soles Collection. CONDITION: Very fine. Bbl retains 95-96% strong orig blue with light sharp edge wear and thinning around the muzzle with a few spots on the top and bottom of the round section. Receiver and side plate retains most of their orig case colors, strong & bright in sheltered areas, moderately faded and turning silver elsewhere. Hammer retains lightly to moderately faded case colors and the lever stronger case colors in sheltered areas, turning silver on outer faces. Upper and lower tang are mostly grey patina. Forend cap retains most of its orig, moderately faded case colors. Wood is sound with the buttstock having a few light nicks and scratches. Forearm is sound and retains about 50% orig oil finish with the rear 1/2 showing a hand-worn patina. Mechanics are crisp. Bright shiny bore. 52330-2 JRL (17,500-25,000)