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LOT 3021
Historic Special Order Deluxe Factory Game
28
Scene Engraved Marlin Model 1881 Lever Action Rifle Identified as Presented by Buffalo Bill to Western Rancher and Guide Jim McLaughlin and Later Owned by Famous Wyoming Dude Rancher Larry Larom
- Serial no. 50351, 45 Government cal., 27 3/4 inch octagon bbl., blue/ casehardened/nickel finish, deluxe walnut stock. The Model 1881 is historically
significant as Marlin’s first lever action rifle and was significant in that it was chambered in .45-70 Government unlike the Winchester Model 1876 and was one of the most
expensive American rifles when it first came out with a base price of $32. Special order features like those seen on this extraordinary rifle would have driven the price up further. For example, the engraving alone would have added at least $5. The rifle is identified in the included provenance documentation as given to Jim McLaughlin by William “Buffalo
Bill” Cody. Cody is well-known to have gifted fine rifles to his friends in Wyoming, particularly Winchesters later in his career, but Marlin’s Model 1881 was specifically advertised as having been used by Cody in his exhibitions, and Annie Oakley is also known to have used Marlins in his shows. The included factory letter lists this rifle in .45-70 with a 28 inch barrel and pistol grip
stock. The magazine and special features sections are blank. It is listed as shipped to parties unknown on June 2, 1891. However, the documentation included with the rifle indicates the rifle was soon in Buffalo Bill’s hands given Larry Larom indicates the rifle was presented by the legendary showman to Jim McLaughlin in August 1891. Cody toured Europe in 1887-1892, including various locations
in England in the summer of 1891, and he setup his show near the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. In June of 1891, he was in Leeds, and by August of 1891 his show was in Stoke-on-Trent.
The rifle has a globe front sight, the two-line address and patent marking, a rear sight dovetail filler block, “45 GOVT” marked on top at the breech, a tang mounted peep sight, factory engraving with mainly scroll patterns along with a round panel scene on the right of a grizzly bear on a precipice with hills and trees in
the background and a second scene of a running buck in a scene with a tree and hills on the left side, casehardened frame, adjustable double set triggers, a pistol grip buttstock with nice figure as well as multi-point “B” checkering on the wrist and a nickel plated Swiss style buttplate numbered to the gun on the inside. The grizzly bear scene is particularly interesting given McLaughlin coincidentally wrote “A Word For the Grizzly Bear” for Outdoor Life in 1914 around the same time he is said to have given the rifle to Larry Larom. In his letter, he advocated for abolishing spring hunting of grizzlies and hunting with dogs to conserve the species for future hunters.
This rifle was previously part of Irving H. “Larry” Larom’s collection and was on his fireplace in his office for over 40 years. In a letter from Larom dated December 10, 1968, he
writes, “With reference to the Marlin engraved rifle, serial #50351, which I have owned since about 1914. I acquired the rifle from my former partner at the Valley Ranch, Mr. James McLaughlin. McLaughlin, at one time, had been with Colonel Cody’s Wild West Show. Colonel Cody had given the rifle to McLaughlin, while McLaughlin was driving the stage in the show. The stock on the rifle was broken, when it bounced out of the driver’s box from the stage, while performing for European Royalty. Jim McLaughlin stated that Colonel Cody gave him the rifle in August 1891 out of friendship and for services rendered.” As discussed in an included biography by Lawrence R. Borne, Larom (1889-1973) attended Cody’s shows in the East and met him back stage. He permanently moved to Wyoming from New York after making several summer trips starting in 1910 while studying at Princeton.