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Winchester Model 1873 .38-40 24" Octagonal Rifle

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:25.00 USD Estimated At:2,400.00 - 3,250.00 USD
Winchester Model 1873 .38-40 24  Octagonal Rifle
Included in this lot is a Winchester 1873 octagon rifle in famed frontier caliber .38-40, serial number 420475, made in 1892. This is the classic “Gun That Won the West!” A particularly fine condition example, this 127 year old Winchester displays a fine aged blue patina on the receiver with more blue on the loading gate and in the protected areas. The 24” octagon barrel and magazine tube retain excellent and clear Winchester markings along with an attractive deep blue finish. All original wood displays the desirable tight wood to metal fitting around the upper and lower tangs indicating that it has never been sanded or replaced. Even the excellent condition screw heads indicate this rifle has not been taken apart or worked on. This rifle has the original steel crescent butt plate with the correct sliding brass door for holding cleaning rods. It retains a very tight action and strong springs. The sliding dust cover on the receiver top is original (these usually found missing or replaced). The brass lifter on the bottom of the receiver is un-polished and shows an attractive mellow patina. It is correctly factory marked “38 CAL.” The lever catch is also intact. This fine large caliber Model 1873 is in far better condition than normally encountered on the collector market today. Even the bore retains good rifling throughout. The buckhorn rear sight and blade front sight are Winchester original and have been on the rifle since it left the Winchester warehouse. A fine example of a rifle produced in a factory before the widespread use of electricity that is as good and solid today as it was on the day it was made. The Model 1873 was the standard for lever actions throughout the Frontier Period in the West which, in some areas, lasted well into the twentieth century. Most surviving specimens show heavy use and often abuse with broken or missing parts. This fine rifle in the very desirable large caliber .38-40 recently came out of Arizona and is in a far higher state of preservation than normally found. This firearm qualifies as an Antique, and does not require FFL Transfer or NICS Background Check.