SPECTACULAR CASED ENGRAVED WINCHESTER MODEL 1866 LEVER ACTION RIFLE.

SPECTACULAR CASED ENGRAVED WINCHESTER MODEL 1866 LEVER ACTION RIFLE. Cal. 44 RF Henry. SN 46027. Beautiful rifle with 24-1/4″ oct bbl, full magazine, 1/2-nickel front sight and Henry style ladder rear sight. Winchester and King’s markings on the top flat. It has highly figured, about 4X, American walnut stock and forearm, uncheckered with straight grip and crescent buttplate with trap containing a 4-piece brass and iron-wiping rod. The receiver, forend cap, carrier and buttplate tang are beautifully engraved in Nimschke style with full coverage foliate arabesque patterns with punch dot background. The front flats of the receiver have about 95% coverage and the engraving extends completely over the top of the receiver, around the hammer and down the top tang. The front of the ejection port is engraved with an oval leaf shaped pattern. The buttplate tang is full coverage engraved with geometric, foliate and arabesque patterns with punch dot background and the forend cap has about 50% coverage arabesque patterns. The receiver, forend cap and buttplate are silver plated while the lever, hammer and trigger are gold washed. It is accompanied by an original Schuyler, Harley & Graham French fitted rosewood case that measures 46-1/2″ long x 10-5/8″ wide x 3″ deep. It has silver bound top corners with silver reinforcing bands around the bottom corners and an unmarked 2-1/2″ silver shield in the center of the lid. It has mortised sliding locks on each end of the front of the case and a mortised key lock with silver diamond escutcheon in the center. The case is lined with red and green velvet, French fitted with compartments for the rifle and ten boxes of ammunition with a lid compartment in the rear and a mahogany cartridge block containing 41 rnds of mixed original ammunition. The boxes are all of Winchester manufacture, eight of which are marked for the 1866 rifle, two are not marked for which model. There are three full boxes, one of which is still sealed, and another box which contains twelve original rounds. The other six are empty. One of the boxes has an overlabel “SHOT CARTRIDGES”. According to family history this rifle was presented to James J. Hill. James Jerome Hill was born September 16, 1838 in Canada and died on May 29, 1916 of an infection. During his life Mr. Hill is credited with building the Great Northern Railroad and, along with J. Pierpont Morgan, also acquired the Northern Pacific and the Burlington lines. He was also a steamboat magnate and ran a shipping line from the Columbia River down to San Francisco and to the Orient. When he died he reportedly left an estate of 53 million dollars. Accompanying this rifle is a book Highways of Progress by James J. Hill (1910), a 2-volume set The Life of James J. Hill by Joseph Gilpin Pyle (1917) and a paperback book James J. Hill / Empire Builder of the Northwest by Michael P. Malone (1996). CONDITION: Extremely fine, possibly unfired. Bbl and magazine tube retain about all of their bright original factory blue with a light spot from a rack storage and another small spot of flaking with a few scattered pinpoints of surface rust. Receiver, forend cap and buttplate also retain virtually all of their original silver plating and most of the screws retain generous amounts of their original bright blue. Lever retains about 50% original gold plating with the balance a medium patina. Trigger and hammer retain about 85-90% gold plating. Wood is sound with a few scattered surface nicks and scratches and a series of small bruises on the right side of the forearm with some finish flaking near the right side of the top tang. Otherwise it retains most of its beautiful bright piano varnish finish. Loading gate retains most of its bright niter blue. Mechanics are crisp with a brilliant shiny bore. Case is sound with numerous small grain checks in the lid and faded interior with moderate wear around the areas of the sights and hammer. Boxes are mostly intact with light to moderate soil and some wear. An extraordinary rifle in exceptionally fine condition worthy of the highest level of collector. 4-52482 JR745 (75,000-125,000)

Auction: Firearms - Fall 2004

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
	432	$184,000.00	SPECTACULAR CASED ENGRAVED WINCHESTER MODEL 1866 LEVER ACTION RIFLE. Cal. 44 RF Henry. SN 46027. Beautiful rifle with 24-1/4″ oct bbl, full magazine, 1/2-nickel front sight and Henry style ladder rear sight. Winchester and King’s markings on the top flat. It has highly figured, about 4X, American walnut stock and forearm, uncheckered with straight grip and crescent buttplate with trap containing a 4-piece brass and iron-wiping rod. The receiver, forend cap, carrier and buttplate tang are beautifully engraved in Nimschke style with full coverage foliate arabesque patterns with punch dot background. The front flats of the receiver have about 95% coverage and the engraving extends completely over the top of the receiver, around the hammer and down the top tang. The front of the ejection port is engraved with an oval leaf shaped pattern. The buttplate tang is full coverage engraved with geometric, foliate and arabesque patterns with punch dot background and the forend cap has about 50% coverage arabesque patterns. The receiver, forend cap and buttplate are silver plated while the lever, hammer and trigger are gold washed. It is accompanied by an original Schuyler, Harley & Graham French fitted rosewood case that measures 46-1/2″ long x 10-5/8″ wide x 3″ deep. It has silver bound top corners with silver reinforcing bands around the bottom corners and an unmarked 2-1/2″ silver shield in the center of the lid. It has mortised sliding locks on each end of the front of the case and a mortised key lock with silver diamond escutcheon in the center. The case is lined with red and green velvet, French fitted with compartments for the rifle and ten boxes of ammunition with a lid compartment in the rear and a mahogany cartridge block containing 41 rnds of mixed original ammunition. The boxes are all of Winchester manufacture, eight of which are marked for the 1866 rifle, two are not marked for which model. There are three full boxes, one of which is still sealed, and another box which contains twelve original rounds. The other six are empty. One of the boxes has an overlabel “SHOT CARTRIDGES”. According to family history this rifle was presented to James J. Hill. James Jerome Hill was born September 16, 1838 in Canada and died on May 29, 1916 of an infection. During his life Mr. Hill is credited with building the Great Northern Railroad and, along with J. Pierpont Morgan, also acquired the Northern Pacific and the Burlington lines. He was also a steamboat magnate and ran a shipping line from the Columbia River down to San Francisco and to the Orient. When he died he reportedly left an estate of 53 million dollars. Accompanying this rifle is a book Highways of Progress by James J. Hill (1910), a 2-volume set The Life of James J. Hill by Joseph Gilpin Pyle (1917) and a paperback book James J. Hill / Empire Builder of the Northwest by Michael P. Malone (1996). CONDITION: Extremely fine, possibly unfired. Bbl and magazine tube retain about all of their bright original factory blue with a light spot from a rack storage and another small spot of flaking with a few scattered pinpoints of surface rust. Receiver, forend cap and buttplate also retain virtually all of their original silver plating and most of the screws retain generous amounts of their original bright blue. Lever retains about 50% original gold plating with the balance a medium patina. Trigger and hammer retain about 85-90% gold plating. Wood is sound with a few scattered surface nicks and scratches and a series of small bruises on the right side of the forearm with some finish flaking near the right side of the top tang. Otherwise it retains most of its beautiful bright piano varnish finish. Loading gate retains most of its bright niter blue. Mechanics are crisp with a brilliant shiny bore. Case is sound with numerous small grain checks in the lid and faded interior with moderate wear around the areas of the sights and hammer. Boxes are mostly intact with light to moderate soil and some wear. An extraordinary rifle in exceptionally fine condition worthy of the highest level of collector. 4-52482 JR745 (75,000-125,000) Auction: Firearms - Fall 2004 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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