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LOT 1040
Highly Desirable Factory Game Scene Engraved Special Order Marlin Deluxe Model 1881 Lever
Action Rifle - Serial no. 22583, 38-55 WCF cal., 28 inch octagon bbl., blue/casehardened finish, walnut stock.
Manufactured in 1889, this is a fine example of special ordered, deluxe Marlin Model 1881 rifle showing artistry
attributed as by factory Master Engraver Conrad F. Ulrich. The Model 1881 is historically significant in its own right as
Marlin’s first entry into the lever action market, as well as the first serious competitor to Winchester’s repeater dominance.
The Model 1881 design was based on patents from Andrew Burgess, H.F. Wheeler, E.A.F. Toepperwein, and John Marlin
himself and was a robust repeater which was capable of handling some of the most powerful cartridges of the time including
.38-55 and .45-70, outclassing even Winchester’s large Model 1876. The Model 1881 acted as the solid foundation from which the
Marlin company would launch their challenge to Winchester, finding more success in that challenge through the years than any other
company. These robust rifles found popularity in the American West, particularly among large game hunters, as it was the only repeater
available at the time capable of handling these large and powerful hunting cartridges such as .38-55 and the venerable .45-70. It would be
another five years before Winchester released their answer in the Browning designed Model 1886. Only around 20,535 of these rifles were produced
, with the vast majority being in standard configuration, as was favored by western hunters with limited extra income, making engraved deluxe examples
like this one scarce. Conrad F. Ulrich, who had trained under the legendary Gustave Young at the Colt factory was hired as Master Engraver by Marlin the same year
the Model 1881 was released, and it is said that he engraved essentially all of Marlin’s high grade, deluxe guns from then until 1910. The included factory letter
addressed to Mr. Tom Selleck and dated February 03, 2009 lists this rifle in .38-55 caliber with a 28 inch barrel and a pistol grip stock when shipped on 30 August
1889. Marlin factory records are notoriously incomplete and essentially never list factory engraving, even on examples such as this, which were undoubtedly
engraved at the factory by Ulrich.
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