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LOT 1042
Excellent Documented Historic Butte, Montana, Anaconda Copper Mine Co. Shipped Winchester
Model 1886 Lever Action Rifle with Factory Letter - Serial no. 151242A, 33 WCF cal., 24 inch round bbl., blue
finish, varnished walnut stock. This Winchester Model 1886 rifle featuring a 24-inch rapid taper barrel that was
standard in rifles chambered for the .33 W.C.F. cartridge. This rifle is accompanied by a Cody Firearms Museum letter
which describes the rifle as: “Rifle, 33 Winchester, Round barrel, Full magazine” and “Shotgun butt”. The letter states
it was shipped from the Winchester warehouse to the Anaconda Copper Mine Co. in Butte, Montana, on January 31,
1913. This is notable in that Winchester very rarely kept records on where a rifle was shipped! Originally a silver mine
owned by prospector and Union Civil War veteran Michael Hickey, the name Anaconda Mine was derived from Horace
Greeley’s Civil War description of Ulysses S. Grant’s tactic of surrounding Robert E. Lee’s forces “like an anaconda.” Hickey
sold his mine to Marcus Daly in 1881 when the silver lodes were increasingly showing more copper. This was at the dawn
of the electrical age when a spike in the demand for copper was just around the corner. With shrewd foresight, Daly and his
investors, that included George Hearst, father of famed newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, developed the company
into one of the largest trusts of the early 20th century with mining operations in North America and Chile. The rifle has a blue barrel, magazine, forearm cap,
bolt, receiver, trigger and steel checkered shotgun buttplate. The hammer and loading lever are color casehardened. The stock and forearm are straight grain
American walnut with a low-luster varnish finish. The barrel has a lug mounted Lyman “Hunting Front” sight with colored bead and sporting style rear sight with flat top
and screw-adjustable center piece. The left side of the barrel is roll-stamped “MANUFACTURED BY THE WINCHESTER REPEATING ARMS CO./ NEW HAVEN. CONN. U.S.A. PAT. OCT. 14.
1884. JAN. 20. 1885.” ahead of the rear sight. “-NICKEL STEEL BARREL-/ESPECIALLY FOR SMOKELESS POWDER” is roll stamped on the left side of the barrel below the rear sight followed
by the caliber designation “33 W.C.F.” Oval Winchester “W/P” proof marks are stamped on the top of the barrel and the receiver. The upper receiver tang is roll-stamped with the second style marking:
“MODEL 1886/-WINCHESTER-/TRADE MARK REG. IN U.S. PAT. OFF.” The serial number is roll-stamped on the lower receiver tang ahead of the rear tang screw.
CONDITION: Excellent. This rifle retains 95% plus original blue finish. There is a noticeable small area of deep pitting visible on the right side of the barrel at the muzzle and on the right side of the
front sight blade as well as the magazine tube below. The hammer and
lever retain nearly 98% of the vivid original case colors. The stock and
forearm are both excellent and have 98% of the original finish. All of
the markings are perfect. This is a stunning example of a Model 1886
rifle with a 24 inch, .33 W.C.F. rapid taper barrel with extraordinary
factory documented history!
Estimate: 16,000 - 25,000
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