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LOT 49
Exceptional Identified Marlin Deluxe Model 1881 Lever Action Rifle Inscribed to a Western Settler with Factory Letter - Serial no. 26935, 45-70 cal., 28 inch octagon bbl., blue finish, deluxe walnut stock. The accompanying factory letter confirms this exceptional Marlin Model 1881’s special order extra length 28 inch barrel in .45-70 caliber, double set trigger, and pistol grip stock when it was shipped on December 18, 1889. High end finishes were rarely noted
in the Marlin factory records. The deluxe stock on this rifle
is factory original. The nicely figured walnut forearm and pistol grip stock are checkered, and the stock is fitted with
a casehardened crescent steel buttplate. The Marlin Model 1881 was meant as a “working gun,” and Marlin customers were generally not inclined to spend extra money on
deluxe features, so very few Model 1881s left the factory
with special order features, making examples like this one especially desirable. The Model 1881 was the first lever action introduced by Marlin, and only 20,535 were manufactured between 1881 and 1903 compared to 63,871 of the Winchester Model 1876 it competed with.
