GUN FALL 2017
The live portion of this session begins on Tuesday, October 31, 2017.
RARE SPECIAL ORDER WINCHESTER FIRST MODEL 1873 SECOND TYPE LEVER ACTION RIFLE WITH EXTRA HEAVY BARREL AND FACTORY LETTER. WINCHESTER 1873 31282 44 WCF Cal 44 WCF (44-40). Standard grade rifle with rare special order 28" extra heavy oct bbl that measures almost 1" across the flats at the muzzle. It has full magazine with sporting front sight and early style short semi-buckhorn rear sight with checkered edges. Receiver is 1st type with 2nd type mortised dust cover that has impressed, checkered oval thumb print. Mounted with straight grain uncheckered American walnut with straight stock and crescent buttplate with trap. Left side of lower tang, under the wood is marked with the assembly number "593" with matching number in top tang channel of buttstock and inside toe of buttplate. Accompanied by a Cody Firearms Museum letter which identifies this firearm as a rifle, with heavy 28" oct bbl, and set trigger. Received in the warehouse Nov. 5, 1878 and shipped 3 days later to order #13091. The Winchester '73 is arguably the gun that won the west along with the Colt Single Action Army revolver in the same caliber. This rifle, having been produced in 1878 was delivered at a time when the west was still wild with marauding hostile Indians, outlaws and other dangers on the American frontier. These rifles usually saw very hard service under adverse conditions in harsh weather, usually with little or no maintenance. They were the working mans tools and are rarely found today with high orig finish. Extra length bbls are in and of themselves quite rare as are heavy bbls in the Model 1873 and finding an extra length heavy bbl rifle that letters is an extreme rarity. CONDITION: Fair to good, all matching. No orig finish remains with the metal a light gray cleaned metal patina with a ding on left side of receiver and numerous small nicks around the ejection port. Forearm has a crack at the left side of bbl channel and another on the right side, otherwise wood is sound and retains most of an old restored finish. Dust cover sticks when fully retracted, otherwise mechanics are fine, strong sharp bore, dark with moderate pitting. Dust cover may be a replacement. 52506-22 JRL (8,000-15,000)