EXTREMELY RARE, SPECIAL DELUXE BROWNING MODEL 1878 SINGLE SHOT RIFLE PURCHASED FROM THE BROWNING FAMILY.

EXTREMELY RARE, SPECIAL DELUXE BROWNING MODEL 1878 SINGLE SHOT RIFLE PURCHASED FROM THE BROWNING FAMILY. SN 476. Cal. 40-70 Sharps straight. Beautiful deluxe rifle with 34-1/4″ medium weight oct bbl, Kentucky rifle style Rocky Mountain front sight and what appears to be a Marlin sporting rear sight with very fine notch. Top flat of the bbl, above rear sight, is marked “BROWNING BROS. OGDEN, UTAH, U.S.A.” and below the rear sight “PAT. OCT. 7. 79” along with the caliber & SN. Receiver is special 2nd type with Rigby ribs over top three flats of the receiver and a thin reinforcement around edges of breech block opening. It has checkered trigger with serpentine lever. Mounted with exceptional burl & shell grain, streaky European walnut with elaborately checkered horn semi-schnable tipped forearm and serpentine pistol grip buttstock with black inlay, a shallow cheekpiece and brass Swiss buttplate. As noted in the brief biography of Mr. Kontes, above, he states that he first saw this rifle as a 13 or 14 year old boy in 1945 in Mr. J. Ed Browning’s office at his Buick dealership in Idaho Falls, Idaho. When Mr. Browning died, having no children, this rifle was bequeathed to his nephew, Merwyn Browning, who traded it to one of Mr. Kontes’ friends for a custom fly rod and some money and Mr. Kontes was subsequently able to purchase it from his friend. This rifle has remained in Mr. Kontes’ possession until consigning to this auction. Accompanied by an orig hand written receipt dated 6-24-81 on Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. letterhead with address of Idaho Falls, Idaho over the signature of Merwyn W. Browning. Receipt states “I recently sold a Browning 40-70 caliber rifle to John Kontes. This rifle I inherited from my grandfather, J. Ed Browning, who was the son of one of the original Browning Bros. in Ogden, Utah in the gun business.” Also accompanied by copies of photographs of Matt Browning (J. Ed Browning’s older brother), J. Ed Browning, Charles Browning and twins J. Ed & Merwyn. There are copies of photographs of J. Ed Browning, Matt’s oldest son, of Matt Browning working at a milling machine and of Matt Browning seated in front of J. Ed Browning with twins Merwyn & J. Ed as young men. PROVENANCE: John C. Kontes Collection. CONDITION: Very good. Bbl & receiver retain traces of orig finish being mostly a silver/gray patina with fairly sharp edges on the bbl & receiver. Stock has a hairline on each side back of the top tang and the forearm is missing a couple of slivers by the bbl channel, otherwise wood is sound with a chip from the right wrist at the receiver and a bruise in the checkering in the left wrist and with light nicks & scratches and retains most of an old restored finish. Mechanics are fine, strong bright bore with some light orange peel pitting in front of chamber. 4-46635 JR347 (60,000-90,000)

Auction: Firearms - Fall 2012

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
	1333	$0.00	EXTREMELY RARE, SPECIAL DELUXE BROWNING MODEL 1878 SINGLE SHOT RIFLE PURCHASED FROM THE BROWNING FAMILY. SN 476. Cal. 40-70 Sharps straight. Beautiful deluxe rifle with 34-1/4″ medium weight oct bbl, Kentucky rifle style Rocky Mountain front sight and what appears to be a Marlin sporting rear sight with very fine notch. Top flat of the bbl, above rear sight, is marked “BROWNING BROS. OGDEN, UTAH, U.S.A.” and below the rear sight “PAT. OCT. 7. 79” along with the caliber & SN. Receiver is special 2nd type with Rigby ribs over top three flats of the receiver and a thin reinforcement around edges of breech block opening. It has checkered trigger with serpentine lever. Mounted with exceptional burl & shell grain, streaky European walnut with elaborately checkered horn semi-schnable tipped forearm and serpentine pistol grip buttstock with black inlay, a shallow cheekpiece and brass Swiss buttplate. As noted in the brief biography of Mr. Kontes, above, he states that he first saw this rifle as a 13 or 14 year old boy in 1945 in Mr. J. Ed Browning’s office at his Buick dealership in Idaho Falls, Idaho. When Mr. Browning died, having no children, this rifle was bequeathed to his nephew, Merwyn Browning, who traded it to one of Mr. Kontes’ friends for a custom fly rod and some money and Mr. Kontes was subsequently able to purchase it from his friend. This rifle has remained in Mr. Kontes’ possession until consigning to this auction. Accompanied by an orig hand written receipt dated 6-24-81 on Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. letterhead with address of Idaho Falls, Idaho over the signature of Merwyn W. Browning. Receipt states “I recently sold a Browning 40-70 caliber rifle to John Kontes. This rifle I inherited from my grandfather, J. Ed Browning, who was the son of one of the original Browning Bros. in Ogden, Utah in the gun business.” Also accompanied by copies of photographs of Matt Browning (J. Ed Browning’s older brother), J. Ed Browning, Charles Browning and twins J. Ed & Merwyn. There are copies of photographs of J. Ed Browning, Matt’s oldest son, of Matt Browning working at a milling machine and of Matt Browning seated in front of J. Ed Browning with twins Merwyn & J. Ed as young men. PROVENANCE: John C. Kontes Collection. CONDITION: Very good. Bbl & receiver retain traces of orig finish being mostly a silver/gray patina with fairly sharp edges on the bbl & receiver. Stock has a hairline on each side back of the top tang and the forearm is missing a couple of slivers by the bbl channel, otherwise wood is sound with a chip from the right wrist at the receiver and a bruise in the checkering in the left wrist and with light nicks & scratches and retains most of an old restored finish. Mechanics are fine, strong bright bore with some light orange peel pitting in front of chamber. 4-46635 JR347 (60,000-90,000) Auction: Firearms - Fall 2012 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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