RARE WINCHESTER MODEL 1873 OPEN TOP LEVER ACTION RIFLE.

SN 27687. Cal. 44 WCF (44-40). Standard grade rifle with 24-1/4″ oct bbl, full 1st type magazine with threaded flush cap, Rocky Mountain front sight & orig short, semi-buckhorn rear sight with checkered edges. Receiver is one of the rare rifles without a dust cover and has single set trigger. Left side of lower tang has the assembly number “405”, which number is also found in top tang channel of buttstock & inside toe of buttplate. Tangs also have a sub-assembly number “67”. About the time this rifle was produced there appeared to have been a problem with burst primers & ruptured cartridge cases. If such an incident occurred with the dust cover closed the escaping gasses would bulge or rupture the side plates, disabling the rifle. For a couple of years Winchester made 1873 & 1876 rifles without dust covers so that should a cartridge rupture the gasses would escape upward and not damage the rifle. Apparently there was an improvement in cartridge design, along with complaints from customers about trash & dirt in the receivers so Winchester resumed standard practice of installing dust covers. During the years when dust covers were not standard, a dust cover could be special ordered and installed at the factory. Mounted with uncheckered, straight grain American walnut with straight stock and crescent buttplate with trap. Left side of lower tang, under the wood, have assembly numbers “405” top tang channel of buttstock and inside toe of buttplate have matching assembly number. The Model 1873 was Winchester’s first repeating center fire rifle and was introduced during the height of the great westward expansion of Manifest Destiny when any repeating firearm was in great demand, especially the much more reliable center fire arms. The ’73, along with its companion Colt Single Action Army revolver, were credited with winning the west. These early rifles were virtually all sold for use on the western frontier and almost universally saw very hard service. PROVENANCE: Tommy Rholes Estate Collection. CONDITION: Very good to fine, all matching. Bbl retains 40-50% mottled silver blue; magazine tube retains 40-50% strong blue with the balance a brown patina; receiver retains 50-60% thin orig blue, mostly on the sides with the top & bottom a mottled silver brown patina; lever, hammer & buttplate are a grey metal patina; stock has a short crack in the wrist at the receiver, otherwise wood is sound with usual nicks, dings & scratches, a series of bruises by the buttplate tang, a gouge in the comb & a chip out of the forearm with a couple gouges in the forearm and overall retains a hand worn patina. Mechanics are fine; strong, dark bore with sharp rifling. 4-50638 JR297 (8,000-12,000) – Lot 1025

Auction: Firearms - Spring 2014

Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

Image	Lot	Price	Description
	1025	$14,950.00	RARE WINCHESTER MODEL 1873 OPEN TOP LEVER ACTION RIFLE. SN 27687. Cal. 44 WCF (44-40). Standard grade rifle with 24-1/4″ oct bbl, full 1st type magazine with threaded flush cap, Rocky Mountain front sight & orig short, semi-buckhorn rear sight with checkered edges. Receiver is one of the rare rifles without a dust cover and has single set trigger. Left side of lower tang has the assembly number “405”, which number is also found in top tang channel of buttstock & inside toe of buttplate. Tangs also have a sub-assembly number “67”. About the time this rifle was produced there appeared to have been a problem with burst primers & ruptured cartridge cases. If such an incident occurred with the dust cover closed the escaping gasses would bulge or rupture the side plates, disabling the rifle. For a couple of years Winchester made 1873 & 1876 rifles without dust covers so that should a cartridge rupture the gasses would escape upward and not damage the rifle. Apparently there was an improvement in cartridge design, along with complaints from customers about trash & dirt in the receivers so Winchester resumed standard practice of installing dust covers. During the years when dust covers were not standard, a dust cover could be special ordered and installed at the factory. Mounted with uncheckered, straight grain American walnut with straight stock and crescent buttplate with trap. Left side of lower tang, under the wood, have assembly numbers “405” top tang channel of buttstock and inside toe of buttplate have matching assembly number. The Model 1873 was Winchester’s first repeating center fire rifle and was introduced during the height of the great westward expansion of Manifest Destiny when any repeating firearm was in great demand, especially the much more reliable center fire arms. The ’73, along with its companion Colt Single Action Army revolver, were credited with winning the west. These early rifles were virtually all sold for use on the western frontier and almost universally saw very hard service. PROVENANCE: Tommy Rholes Estate Collection. CONDITION: Very good to fine, all matching. Bbl retains 40-50% mottled silver blue; magazine tube retains 40-50% strong blue with the balance a brown patina; receiver retains 50-60% thin orig blue, mostly on the sides with the top & bottom a mottled silver brown patina; lever, hammer & buttplate are a grey metal patina; stock has a short crack in the wrist at the receiver, otherwise wood is sound with usual nicks, dings & scratches, a series of bruises by the buttplate tang, a gouge in the comb & a chip out of the forearm with a couple gouges in the forearm and overall retains a hand worn patina. Mechanics are fine; strong, dark bore with sharp rifling. 4-50638 JR297 (8,000-12,000) – Lot 1025 Auction: Firearms - Spring 2014 Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

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RARE WINCHESTER MODEL 1873 OPEN TOP LEVER ACTION RIFLE.