1175

RARE VERY EARLY SPECIAL ORDER MARLIN MODEL 1893 LEVER ACTION RIFLE.

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:3,250.00 USD Estimated At:6,500.00 - 10,500.00 USD
RARE VERY EARLY SPECIAL ORDER MARLIN MODEL 1893 LEVER ACTION RIFLE.
SN 90863. Cal. 38-55. Standard grade rifle with rare 30" oct bbl, flat tipped button magazine, Marbles Jack front sight and semi-buckhorn rear sight. Top flat of the bbl has the standard company & patent dates roll marking with the caliber marking over the chamber area. Bbl is not marked "FOR BLACK POWDER" or "SPECIAL SMOKELESS STEEL". Top of receiver is marked "MARLIN SAFETY" and the top tang is unmarked. This rifle was made before the advent of smokeless powder and well before Marlin began marking the tangs of their rifles. Mounted with nicely figured, uncheckered, slab-sawed American walnut with straight stock & crescent buttplate. Left side of top tang, under the wood, has matching SN which number is also found in the top tang channel of the buttstock and inside the toe of the buttplate. This is a very early 1893 as the serial range for Marlin lever action rifles began with #1 in the Model 1881 and continued consecutively throughout the models, including the 1893 with SN 81393, believed to be the earliest recorded for this model. See Marlin Firearms, Brophy, p. 204. CONDITION: Extremely fine plus, all matching. Bbl retains 98-99% strong orig blue with only a few minor nicks & faint sharp edge wear; receiver, lever, hammer & buttplate retain virtually all of their brilliant, factory case colors and most of their orig factory shellac; loading gate & screws retain about all of their brilliant fire blue. Wood is sound with a very few, scattered, very light handling & storage nicks & scratches and retains virtually all of its bright orig factory varnish; shellac on the receiver shows numerous light scratches, not affecting the finish. Hammer is not solid in safety notch, otherwise mechanics are crisp, brilliant shiny bore, appears to be new & unfired. 4-47576 JR196