Winchester 1876 Extra Heavy Weight Barrel, Short Rifle, 1 of 3 Made, w/ Letter, Tools, and Cleaning Rods

This is a very rare Model 1876 Rifle with a Special Order Short 24" Extra Heavy Weight Octagonal Barrel in 45-75 WCF. There were only three made in this configuration and here is one of them. I got the Winchester bug 42 years ago and I've owned many and seen even more over the past four decades but this is my first acquisition of a Lever Action with a special order Extra Heavy Weight Barrel. What's even more amazing is that IT'S A SHORT RIFLE on top of that. It came out of Kansas and looks the part as it shows all the attributes of a Western-used gun. One would surmise that whoever ordered this rifle in 1886 was fond of the Sharps Buffalo Rifle as it has the feel and weight of one, particularly the Sharps Business Rifle. Serial number is in the 52,000 range, made in 1886. The configuration is confirmed in the Winchester Factory Letter that comes with it from a previous owner who lettered it in the late 1990s. It would be interesting to contact the Cody Museum and ask if this was shipped with the other two in this configuration like a dealer or just a one-off. It also comes with the 45-75 Bullet Mold and 1880 Type 2 Reloading Tool with its ultra rare Decapping Pin which you rarely find as most were lost.

Overall Condition grades to the lower end of NRA Antique Very Good with a Fine Plus to Excellent Bore that is bright and shiny with strong lands and grooves. No rings or bulges. The metal is a light grey patina with almost no finish remaining and looks sharp with good markings and edges. Many years ago it appears to have been lightly cleaned and has aged about halfway back to what will eventually turn back into a nice brown patina again. The stock and forend are untouched with nice wood to metal fit and solid. It has lots of character and open grain from being in a more arid climate out West.

This was definitely a working rifle for someone but they handled it with respect and most importantly, they took good care of the bore which is in FINE condition. Interestingly, on the left side of the stock near the buttplate are the initials "T.H." When I bought this, it came with no story or history but I couldn't help but wonder about an infamous Old West "Gun For Hire" who was known to be fond of the Model 1876 named "Tom Horn". When I got it home and pulled out the letter from the well-worn Cody Museum sleeve, tucked inside was a short biographical background about Tom Horn. Hah!!! I guess the previous owner was thinking the EXACT same thing that I was when he acquired this over a quarter of a century ago. Of course, this is all just pure fun and speculation. "What If" and nothing more! The T.H. could have just as easily been Thad Harris or Tim Hawkins but it was sure fun to contemplate. In the BIO with the Factory Letter, it stated that Horn was reputed to be fond of the Model 1876 but generally, it is attributed that he owned a 45-60 and this is a 45-75. As a gun for hire, it noted that his specialty was vanquishing cattle rustlers from a distance with a Sharps Rifle. This practice eventually led to his demise in the early 20th century. So a short handy rifle with an extra thick barrel for accuracy and a repeating lever action in case you had more than one target? Hmmmmm!!!!! The 28" Standard 1876 was cumbersome but this shorter barrel would have given the owner more mobility for carrying on horseback while providing better accuracy with the thicker barrel.

It weighs 11.5 pounds with the cleaning rods in the stock. Despite the weight, actually feels and points quite nicely and solid on your shoulder. And yes, it comes with an ORIGINAL four piece set of standard rifle Winchester Cleaning Rods with the 1880's era brass tip with the correct period softer shoulder. It has the original rear ladder sight, marked 1876. Front sight looks to be the original base with a longer thinner low profile German Silver Blade in the style of the Rocky Mountain sight. It's been there probably its whole life and I wouldn't dare change it and it actually looks better in my opinion than the original blade and well-thought out by the original owner of this rifle. Again, I wonder if he had a Sharps and had hunted buffalo back in the day as it has that vibe to it. We did take a side-by-side comparison photo of a standard 1876 Barrel and this Extra Heavy Weight at the muzzles to note the difference. Barrel is clearly marked 45-75 W.C.F. on top behind the rear sight and the brass, (actually gun metal bronze) loading block reads "45-75" in script form. Upper tang is marked "MODEL 1876" bracketed by two fleur de lis designs. Nice two line barrel address. All the screws look good.

According to Herbert Houze's book on the Winchester 1876 which tabulates all special order features for the 63,000+ production run from 1876-1898, there were only 39 Extra Heavy Weight Barrels in 45-75. Of that, only three of them had 24" barrels instead of the standard 28". In addition, there were a handful more 1876 24" rifles with Extra Heavy Barrels in calibers 45-60 (7) and 40-60 (6)and none recorded in caliber 50-95. Of the 16 total Short Rifles with this barrel weight, all were octagonal barrels except for one half-round in 40-60. I can't say enough about this rifle. It's not a 1 of 1000, it's a 1 of 21,000 in my book! A once in a lifetime Winchester for your collection. Complete with original Winchester Bullet Mold, Reloading Took, Decapping Pin, Cleaning Rods, and Factory Letter.

Item# i559

$8,750