3027

Very Fine Special Order Winchester Third Model 1873 Lever Action Rifle with Casehardened Receiver an

Currency:USD Category:Antiques / Firearms & Armory Start Price:3,750.00 USD Estimated At:7,500.00 - 12,000.00 USD
Very Fine Special Order Winchester Third Model 1873 Lever Action Rifle with Casehardened Receiver an
This is an example of a highly desirable third Model Winchester 1873 Rifle with Cody Firearms Museum letter. The letter states that this rifle was shipped from Winchester on July 28, 1886 and returned to the factory for repair on September 2, 1887 (writer has no explanation for the aforementioned notation as all of the features check out). The Winchester records do not indicate the nature of the repair. The Cody letter describes the rifle finish as "casehardened" and states that the rifle had a round barrel, plain trigger and 1/2 magazine. The rifle has a round, blued, barrel fitted with a dovetailed, "Rocky Mountain" front sight and a sporting style rear sight and a blued half-magazine. A folding peep sight is mounted on the receiver tang. The rifle has a casehardened forearm cap, receiver, hammer, loading lever and crescent buttplate. The buttplate has a sliding brass trap. The receiver has the Third Model integral dust cover rail and dust cover with serriated edges. The stock and forearm are walnut with a varnished finish. The top of the barrel is roll-stamped with the two-line legend: "WINCHESTER'S-REPEATING-ARMS NEW HAVEN.CT./KING'S-IMPROVEMENT- PATENTED-MARCH 29.1866. OCTOBER 16.1860." ahead of the rear sight. The top of the barrel is marked: "44 CAL" just in front of the receiver. The bottom of the brass cartridge elevator is engraved: "44 CAL". The serial number, "206006B" is located on the lower receiver tang behind the loading lever latch.
BBL:
Stock: walnut
Gauge: 44 WCF
Finish: casehardened/blue
Grips:
Serial Number: 206006B


Very fine. The rifle retains 80% plus of the original blue and 50% casehardened finish. The rear sight has nearly all of the blue finish and the loading gate retains 70% or more of the niter blue finish. The forearm cap, receiver, hammer and loading lever have nearly 30% of the original casehardened finish with strong case colors. The contact points on the top and forward portion of the receiver in front of the side plates have a slight silver patina. There is scattered, light crystallization on the forward portion of the receiver and side plates. The casehardened finish on the buttplate has faded to a mottled, silver-gray with about 40% of the original finish. The stock and forearm are in fine condition with most of the original varnish and only scattered, minor handling marks. The barrel and receiver markings are crisp. This is a very fine example of a Third Model 1873 Sporting Rifle with the scarce and highly desirable casehardened finish, special order barrel and half-magazine.