Winchester 2nd Model 1876 Deluxe Rifle Mfd in 1879
Description:
This is a nice early example of a Winchester Model 1876 Deluxe Rifle that was built in 1879. Serial number is in the 8000 range and it letters with the Cody Museum as having special order case color hardened frame, fancy wood, set trigger, 28" half octagon barrel, and 1/2 magazine. Caliber 45-75 WCF. It went into the factory warehouse on August 5, 1879 and shipped the following day. Almost all if not ALL early Deluxe Winchesters built during the 1870's came with straight grip stocks as the pistol grips began to show up in the 1880's and quickly gained popularity. It has some figured burl which isn't as prominent on 1870's vintage deluxes as what you typically see in the 1880's and on. The varnish has darkened with age so its doesn't jump out at right away but its there. Since the stock and forearm were not ordered with checkering but does show it was ordered with case colored frame and fancy wood, this rifle is what most advanced Winchester collectors call an "un-checkered deluxe" rifle. The half octagon button magazine was a very popular feature on many of these early deluxes. Quite simply, a full octagon barrel was extra weight along with a full magazine. To a gentleman hunter from the Victorian era, it was considered "excessive" and might have implied you were a poor shot to require a full tube stuffed full of cartridges to take a single elk or moose. I know everyone likes a full magazine because it would have come in handy if you ever had to help out Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday fight those Clantons at the OK Corral, but the 1876 was a big gun and if you had to carry one out in the woods all day hunting, you'd notice the difference in this lighter weight version. A good example of a period owner of an 1876 rifle in this configuration was future President Teddy Roosevelt who was photographed in his time out West proudly displaying his deluxe half octagon half mag 1876 rifle during the 1880's. If you study the photo at the bottom of the page , you can tell Roosevelt went "all out" on his rifle with pistol grip, checkering, engraving, a plaque, and perhaps even a cheek piece if its anything like the Model 1895's he took with him to Africa. This rifle is similar to Roosevelt's albeit a little less flashy with the earlier style straight grip stock. The two things that came standard on this rifle that I view as plus marks are the more powerful 45-75 cartridge and the more aesthetically pleasing crescent buttplate with the trapdoor. Roosevelt's rifle was chambered in the less shoulder-punishing 45-60 Caliber along with a somehwat kinder shotgun style buttplate. Well, I guess those guys in the 1880's sure didn't have it as rough as those dudes back in the 1870's did. As they say, this rifle must have killed from both ends and perhaps Roosevelt met this rifle's original owner before he ordered his 76. Like the 2nd Model 1873, this 2nd Model 1876 has the screw-on dust cover rail with the scarce and seldom encountered checkered thumbprint dust cover. You only see this style cover for about a year on Winchester production around 1879 before the design was discarded in favor of a simpler form of serrations along the back edges of the cover. Overall Condition Grades to the low side of NRA Antique Fine Condition as it has about 30% of the original blue remaining on the barrel and about 35% washed out speckled case colors remaining on the frame, forend cap, and buttplate. There is still some discernable case colors on the hammer and down in the small gaps between the side plates and the rear receiver flares as well as a bit of original fire blue remaining on the loading port. There is a lot of old dried grease in the corners and protected areas on this rifle. It is in untouched condtion and we really hope the next owner will let it stay this way. Too many of these nice honest deluxes have been restored over the years to the point where these honest ones without a lot of case colors remaining are getting tough to find. For an 1870's vintage Winchester, this Deluxe has no apologies to make to anyone! It is in great shape compared to many others we've seen from this time frame. At a time when most men owned muzzle loading rifles, often surplus from the Civil War, these lever actions were quite literally the best repeating rifles on earth and they chambered center-fire ammunition that was reloadable with a pair of simple hand tools. These cost a lot of money back then and most didn't sit around. They got used and put to work. Remember, back in the 1870's were only 30,000 1873's and less than 10,000 1876's compared to hundreds of thousands of 73's and about 60,000 76's by 1890. This one has a standard rear sight...the correct early short version found often found on 1873's and sometimes 1876's instead of the ladder sight. You tend to see these flat spring rear sights on 1876's in Caliber 50-95 Express. It also has a correct period Beech Globe Combination front sight. The letter doesn't state either of them, but that's not uncommon for Winchester letters which often seem to omit details on sights. Winchester dealers would also install different sights based on customer preference not to mention Winchester sold them separately out of their catalogs as well. What I can tell is that they clearly have been on this rifle since new and fit perfectly into the window of when these sights were used on Winchesters. Here you have a Winchester 1876 made in 1879 and you'll only find this style rear sight on Winchesters produced from 1874 to 1883 while the Gold Washed Beech Globes tend to be found on Winchesters from the Mid-1870's into the early 1890's. The age and condition match the rifle perfectly so I'm considering these to be original...either factory or dealer installed...take your pick. The action on this rifle is nice. There is a lot of dried grease built up around the adjustment screw for the set trigger which isn't budging. Currently, the screw is turned in which dis-engages the set mode. In order to unturn the screw and engage the set, it will need to be soaked so the screw can turn freely. I tried gently to turn the screw but it seems gummed up from 100 years of grease and I didn't want to risk chipping the delicate slot on this tiny screw. My feeling here is that the rifle is in nice enough shape that it will probably work fine with a little clean-up. The bore is Very Good Overall..still bright with good lands and grooves and a few light pits here and there...to be expected on a black powder era 1876. If you're looking for a nice honest 1876 Deluxe that nobody has messed with (this rifle doesn't look like it's been taken apart in over 100 years) here is a nice respectable example of a Deluxe with lots of special order bells and whistles for under half what the high-%-finish examples are going for.
SOLD
Antique: Yes
Manufacturer:
Winchester
Model:
1876
Caliber Info:
45-75
Barrel Type:
Half Octagon
Action:
Lever
Triggers:
Single Set Trigger
Stock:
Straight Grip Deluxe Walnut
Butt Pad:
Crescent
Finish:
Case Color Hardened
Sights:
Standard Rear/Beech Globe Combination Front
Manufacture Date:
1879