GUN FALL 2017
The live portion of this session begins on Tuesday, October 31, 2017.
INCREDIBLE DELUXE ENGRAVED MARLIN MODEL '97 LEVER ACTION RIFLE. MARLIN ''97 371253 22 MODERN; C&R; ESA Cal. 22. Spectacular small bore Marlin with 24" tapered oct bbl, full magazine, "certifiable antique ivory" bead front sight & semi-buckhorn rear sight. Mounted with very highly figured, flame and burl grain, F-style checkered American walnut with serpentine grip & M.F.A. Co. embossed 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 this rifle. Receiver is beautifully engraved in #5 pattern by Conrad Ulrich. Engraving consists of the iconic large oval vignette of a royal bull elk in a forest & mountain scene with very fine stippled background on the left side. Right side has the equally iconic vignette depicting a grizzly bear standing over a steer that he has apparently just killed. This vignette is also laid in a detailed forest scene with fine stippled background. Both vignettes are fully surrounded by extremely well executed foliate arabesque patterns that have pearled background. Engraving extends over top and bottom of receiver, top tang & forend cap with about 1" of matching patterns over the 5 exposed flats of the bbl in front of the receiver. Additional deluxe engraving patterns are on both sides of the lever & hammer, a most unusual bonus. The additional deluxe features of this rifle are extremely unusually and rarely ever encountered. PROVENANCE: Estate collection of Russell Grinnell. CONDITION: Very fine to extremely fine, all matching. Bbl & magazine tube retain about 99% strong orig blue with only faint muzzle edge wear. Receiver retains strong case colors on both sides, fading to silver on top and bottom edges and top tang. Hammer retains most of its orig case colors, moderately faded. Lever retains faded case colors in sheltered areas, mostly having turned silver. Forend cap is a silver patina. Wood is sound with only 1 or 2 minuscule nicks and overall retains about all of the finest factory finish. Mechanics are crisp. Strong bore with good shine and light to moderate pitting. 52204-5 JR (17,500-27,500)