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LOT 3006
Exceptional, Highly Attractive Special Order Winchester Model 1886 Takedown Lever Action Rifle with Factory
Letter - Serial no. 110572, 45-90 WCF cal., 26 inch octagon bbl., blue finish, walnut stock. The powerful Winchester Model
1886 is by far one of the most iconic lever action rifles of all time and remains popular with collectors, shooters, and hunters to
this day as one of the strongest lever action designs ever developed. This rugged and dependable rifle was invented by prolific
firearms inventor John Moses Browning and was his first repeating rifle design to enter production but was far from his last.
Browning’s design was tweaked for production by none other than William Mason of Colt Single Action Army fame. The Model
1886 kept Winchester at the top of the lever action market. While a shorter action than the Model 1876, the Model 1886 was able
to chamber longer cartridges, including the .45-70 Government, and its stronger locking block design was able to handle higher
pressures even as Winchester made the jump to smokeless powders. The locking bolts on the ‘86 pass vertically through the bolt
securing it firmly in place, and the design was also sleeker by abandoning dust covers and switching to an internal cartridge elevator.
A powerful, dependable rifle was highly valued in the American West in the late 19th century and remained desirable for hunters
through the 20th century and on to today. Among its fans in the period was Theodore Roosevelt, who used this model extensively,
including testing samples for the famous Smithsonian–Roosevelt African Expedition, and the legendary Rough Rider leader also presented
Model 1886s to his friends.
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