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LOT 3009
Documented Factory Panel Scene Engraved “Like One of One Thousand” Winchester Deluxe Model 1873 Lever Action Rifle with Silver Bands and Factory
Letter - Serial no. 35211, 44-40 WCF cal., 24 3/8 inch octagon bbl., blue/casehardened finish, deluxe checkered walnut stock. Manufactured in 1879, the factory letter indicates this incredible
Winchester Model 1873 has an octagon barrel, plain trigger, checkered stock, “New Peep and Globe” sights, and $4.50 engraving and was received in the warehouse on July 12, 1879, and shipped on July 14, 1879, in order 16080. The
rifle features silver inlaid bands and scroll engraving at the muzzle and breech like a One of One Thousand. Perhaps no other Winchester carries more public appeal or notoriety than the “1 of 1000” in both the 1873 and 1876 models and as James D. Gordon stated have “long been the epitome of desirable guns.” The One of One Thousand program was announced by Winchester in 1873
and then more fully explained in Winchester’s 1875 catalog under the headline “Variety of Arms” which stated: “Every Sporting Rifle we make will be proved and shot at a target, and the target will be numbered to correspond with the barrel and be attached to it. When one hundred barrels are thus proved, the one making the best target will be selected and set aside, and another hundred proved in the
same way, and so on until one thousand have been tested and ten targets selected with the barrels with which they were made. They will then be made up into Guns, in which each part is selected with the utmost care and finished in the finest manner. They will then be again subjected to trials for accuracy, and the best of the ten selected and marked ‘One of a thousand,’ the price of which will be $80.00 to $100.00. The other nine will be marked ‘one of a hundred,’ and the price will be from $60.00 to $75.00 each. Sportsmen will readily see that this severe process of gleaning will be a slow and expensive one, and the result be but a limited number of choice Guns, and that orders should be given in advance of their wants, or patience exercised with the necessary delay of filling them.” While this Model 1873
is not part of the 1 of 1000 series, just having 1 of 1000 type embellishments shows the influence Winchester’s advertising campaign
had on the public. When wanting the finest in firearms artistry, the 1 of 1000 proved to be a great influencer.