Page 15 - 4091-BOOK1

LOT 14
Exceptional Documented
Special Order Winchester
“Centennial” Model 1876 Lever Action Rifle
with Factory Letter - Serial no.
13540, 45-60 WCF cal., 26 inch bbl., blue/casehardened
finish, walnut stock. The Winchester factory letter describes this Model 1876
as: “Rifle, 45/60, 26 inch, 1/2 octagon barrel, Plain trigger, Shotgun butt and Casehardened”. The
letter states that this rifle was shipped from the Winchester warehouse on December 21, 1880. The rifle has the Second Model receiver with screw-fastened dust cover guide rail and dust cover with serrated finger guide along the rear edge. The special order, half-round/half octagon barrel has a standard, sporting style front sight with nickel-silver blade and folding ladder rear sight graduated to “10” and marked “1876” on the top of the leaf. The rifle has a half-magazine with button tip. The upper receiver tang is factory drilled and tapped. The stock has a special order, smooth steel, shotgun buttplate. The top barrel flat 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. “CAL. 45-60” is roll-stamped on the top of the barrel just ahead of the receiver. “45-60” is stamped in script numerals across the bottom of the brass cartridge elevator. “MODEL 1876.” is roll- stamped in fancy letters on the upper receiver tang, and the serial number is stamped in script numerals on the lower tang between the lever latch and the rear tang screw. The rifle barrel has a blue finish. The dust cover is bright blue, and the loading gate has a fire blue finish. The magazine tip, forearm cap, receiver, hammer, trigger and lever are color casehardened. The stock and forearm are straight grain American walnut with the “extra finish” polish applied to special order rifles with casehardened receivers. CONDITION: Very fine. The barrel retains 75% of the original blue finish with small, scattered spots of discoloration on the bottom and sides ahead of the forearm tip. The barrel legend and caliber markings are sharp. The dust cover retains 80% of the bright blue finish with moderate age discoloration. The loading gate has 90% plus of the original nitre blue finish. The forearm cap, receiver side plates and hammer retain 70% plus of the casehardened finish with vivid case colors. The trigger and contact points of the lever have aged to a brown patina; the sides of the lever retain most of the muted case colors. The shotgun buttplate is a mottled silver gray with patches of age discoloration and traces of light pitting on the heel and toe. The stock and forearm are in very good overall condition and retain nearly 90% of the “extra finish” varnish with a few scattered, minor handling marks. This is a very good example of a scarce special order Winchester 1876 “Centennial” Model rifle.
Estimate: 14,000 - 22,500 13