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SCARCE WINCHESTER MODEL 1876 BIG 50 LEVER ACTION RIFLE.

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:2,500.00 USD Estimated At:5,000.00 - 7,000.00 USD
SCARCE WINCHESTER MODEL 1876 BIG 50 LEVER ACTION RIFLE.
PLEASE NOTE (02-21-13): As noted the bbl is the rarer 28" version not the standard 26". SN 13363. Cal. 50-95 Express. Standard grade rifle with 28" oct bbl, full magazine, half nickel front sight, 3-leaf platinum line express rear sight and mid-range tang sight with 4" staff. Mounted with uncheckered, straight grain American walnut with straight stock & crescent buttplate with trap containing a 4-pc orig brass & steel cleaning rod. Receiver is 2nd Model with screwed-on dust cover rail and dust cover that is marked "WINCHESTER EXPRESS / .50 CAL. 95 GRS." Accompanied by a Winchester Gun Museum letter which identifies this rifle in caliber 50 Express with 28" oct bbl and plain trigger shipped July 31, 1881. Model 1876 rifles were the lowest production of Winchester's lever actions seeing only 63,871 produced in the period 1876-1897. Of that limited production the Big 50 caliber is the most rare with not many produced in comparison to the smaller calibers. 50-95 rifles are very seldom encountered today. The cartridge was designed as an improvement over the venerable 50-70 Military cartridge but given its brutal recoil it did not prove terribly popular and was used primarily as a big game cartridge for animals such as bear, moose & elk. It is well recorded that Theodore Roosevelt owned & used a deluxe 1876 rifle chambered for the 50 caliber express. CONDITION: Fine to very fine. Bbl retains about 70-75% blue turning a little plummy with some chemical streaking on the upper 1/3 and over the chamber area; magazine tube retains a thin plummy blue patina with some minor chemical streaking and some light discoloration; receiver has been lightly cleaned, probably with steel wool but retains a smooth thin blue turning a little plum with strong blue in sheltered areas; hammer retains bright case colors and the lever bright case colors on the sides and in sheltered areas. Wood is sound and has been lightly refinished. Mechanics are fine, strong, sharp bore with light pitting. Consignor states this was an outstanding shooter. Cleaning rod is fine. 4-47710 JR259