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AS PICTURED AND DESCRIBED IN THE 1971 "ANTIQUE ARMS ANNUAL"
LOT 3012
Attractive Documented Factory Engraved and Silver Plated Winchester Model 1866 Lever Action Rifle with Henry Patent and “J.H. Blake” Marked Barrel - Serial no. 24688, 44 RF cal., 24 3/8 inch octagon bbl., blue/ silver finish, walnut stock. This rifle was manufactured in 1869 and is featured on page 245 of the 1971 “Antique Arms Annual” as part of Dr. S.H. Jaynes’s collection of deluxe Model 1866 rifles and was later owned by Dave Kinsey who sold it to the consignor at the May 1994 Denver Gun Show. The rifle features beautiful scroll engraving with beaded backgrounds accented by wavy line borders, and the forend cap, frame, and buttplate are also factory silver plated. The blued octagon barrel has a German silver “Rocky Mountain” blade front sight, “HENRY’S PATENT-OCT. 16. 1860/KING’S-PATENT-MARCH 19. 1866” marked on top, and a notch and folding ladder rear sight. The right side of the barrel at the muzzle is marked “BLAKE,” and “J.H. BLAKE” is repeated just ahead of the forend cap. This may be for John Henry Blake of New York. He designed a bolt action rifle with a rotary magazine that competed against the
10 Krag-Jorgensen and Lee rifles in U.S. Military trials in the 1890s.
The Dave Kinsey Collection; Property of a Gentleman.
Estimate: 22,500 - 35,000
His rifles were manufactured in limited numbers (less than 1,000 total) by
the Blake Rifle Company for the commercial market until c. 1909. The lower tang is marked with the serial number and “B.” Sling swivels are mounted to
the bottom of the forend cap and the butt. The rifle is stocked with a smooth walnut forearm and straight wrist stock.
CONDITION: Fine with crisp factory engraving and markings, 50% original silver plating remaining on the frame, attractive age darkened patina on the silver, nice aged patina on the exposed brass, 40% original nitre blue on the loading gate, smooth gray and brown patina on the other steel, and generally minor overall wear. The wood is very good and has
moderate wear on the forend and lighter wear
on the buttstock. Mechanically excellent.
Provenance: The Dr. S.H. Jaynes Collection;