April 24-25, 2019 Extraordinary, Sporting, & Collector Firearms
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/24/2019
According to the factory, this rifle was shipped September 7th, 1896 as a Marlin Model 1892 in .22 caliber with half octagon barrel, pistol grip stock, and Marlin hard rubber butt. Rarely, if ever, does a Marlin letter show engraving as this was part of the extra work order, not shipping sheet; and rarely, if ever, are the rifles signed by engraver. This rifle is a No. 10, the style of engraving included elaborate embossed figures of grape leaves with animal pictures in ovals on both sides. In this case, the left side features a buck and doe with this exact engraving shown on page 532 in the Marlin Firearms book by William Brophy. It is a copy from a catalog page that states the engraving is done in relief and inlaid with platinum lines, with all engraving done at the factory by Marlin employees; cost of engraving was $50. Conrad Ulrich, Jr. was the head engraver at Marlin from 1881 to 1910. The checkering style can be seen on page 520 and illustrates the checkering as specially made for a No. 10 engraved gun to accord with the grape leaf design of the engraving and was not a generally listed offering for any other grade. At the time this rifle was manufactured, there were only two higher grades of engraving, listed as the No. 15 where the leaves and grass stand out in bold relief and engraving on the lever and hammer, which is not included on the No. 10; this example has engraving on the lever, platinum lines on the hammer, and the leaves and grass stand out in bolt as offered on the No. 15. The highest grade was No. 40 and these were special order that include gold inlay as well. So this gun is actually closer to a No. 15 or is an extra feature No. 10. To our knowledge, this is the highest grade Marlin Model 1892 ever manufactured. Receiver is further embellished with platinum lines around both of the animal vignettes. All of the detail around the animals is done in high relief, including leaves, grass, trees, etc.. The right side features a squirrel where all the leaves and every acorn is done in relief. The lever has simple scroll. There is engraving at the breech of barrel with platinum inlay design and three border lines. Forend tip has engraving and platinum inlay. Stock is checkered in the special No. 10 and up pattern with beautiful piano varnish triple X walnut wood. Sports a Marlin logo rubber buttplate and period tang sight that appears to have been on there for a long period of time. No visible screw heads on sides of frame, in fact the only visible screw heads are on bottom of frame and tang. CONDITION: The half octagon barrel and full tube magazine retain 95% original factory blue with patina showing through. Razor sharp legends and edges. There receiver has turned a mellow silver finish as most engraved cased colored Marlins do. These rifles were embellished in the white and lightly cased colored after the completion of embellishment. The lever, which would have been case colored, is basically soft patina, as is the forend cap. Wood stocks are found to be numbers matching in stock mortise and is proud to metal with sharp checkering and shows a couple areas of oil darkening, a few minor dings, and some light areas of finish loss. Buttplate has a chip at toe. Bore exhibits fairly strong lands with light frosting and wear in the grooves. Fine action. Arguably one of the highest grade Marlin Model 1892's ever manufactured. It is not unusual to find high grade big bore Marlins, but given that for all intents and purposes this was manufactured as a boy's rifle, very few fathers would or could afford to pay four times the price of a rifle for a child, and elaborate boy's rifles do not exist in any numbers. This would be the crown jewel in any .22 caliber collection or a Marlin collector's prize.