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Historic Winchester "One of One-Hundred" Model 1876 Centennial Lever Action Rifle with Factory Letter. . ...
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Sold on Jun 19, 2023 for:
$615,000.00
Bid Source: Live: Phone bidder
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Description
The Very First Winchester Model 1876 1 of 100 Shipped!
Historic Winchester "One of One-Hundred" Model 1876 Centennial
Lever Action Rifle with Factory Letter.Serial no. 470 [lower tang], 45-75 W.C.F. caliber, 28-inch octagonal barrel. The barrel engraved in script "One of One Hundred" and it is surrounded by the factory scroll engraving on the breech section along with a silver band at the breech [Only silver banded example known], a silver blade front sight with a dovetailed base. Barrel is also marked with the two-line; WINCHESTER'S-REPEATING ARMS. NEW HAVEN. CT. / KING'S-IMPROVEMENT-PATENTED-MARCH 29. 1866. OCTOBER 16. 1860. Plain grade walnut straight stock, iron forend cap. Crescent buttplate with trap, no ramrod present. Upper tang marked MODEL 1876, no caliber marking which is expected for such an early gun.
Factory letter included states: A Rifle, Octagonal barrel, Plain trigger, Buckhorn and Oat sights, 1 of 100. Received in warehouse on September 20, 1877. Shipped from warehouse on September 20, 1877, Order number 9979. Signed and dated, Jessica A. Bennett, Records Specialist, Cody Firearms Museum.
Note: In The Story of the Winchester 1 of 1000 and 1 of 100 Rifles Book, by Edmund E. Lewis, he says "Although far less famous than the 1 of 1000, the 1 of 100 is significantly more rare in either the Model 1873 or Model 1876." Winchester Model 1876 "1 of 100" serial no. 470 is pictured on page 119 of the same book. This 1876 is known to be the very first 1 of 100 Model 1876 shipped, stated by Edmund Lewis states in the factory ledgers list ["Derived from Warehouse Ledges"]. Also on Page 119 in the same book, it states; "During the Winchester '73 motion picture search, covered in Chapter Ten of this book, serial number 470 was reported by T.H. Baker of Alma, Nebraska. Baker was not awarded a Model 94 rifle since they were reserved for those reporting Model 73 1 of 1000s. This was confirmed in a letter of September 21, 1950, from E. Hartshorne, Assistant Director of Research & Development at Winchester". . . . ."The original owner of this rifle, Robert Axtell Welts, was born on November 7, 1855, in Macomb County, Michigan, near Detroit". . . . . ."he left home at the age of twenty-one and traveled to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to visit the Centennial Exposition. Welts returned to Northern Michigan where he worked at logging and later built a sawmill. No one knows how he obtained this rifle, but Welts' daughter kept it for many years after his death. The rifle passed down to his grandson. Lowell Hawkinson, Hawkinson's son, Ronald, inherited the rifle from his father's death in 1987. The rifle was previously in the Warren Anderson collection"
Please note: According to Lewis; "All Model 76 1 of 100s are First Model rifles in 45-75 W.C.F. None of them were produced in 45-60 W.C.F. as were some of the the 1 of 1000s, and none were 40-60 W.F.C. These calibers did not appear until 1879 and 1884 respectively, which was long after production of the Model 76 1 of 100s had ceased."
Condition: Good as presented for this model. Slight traces of original bluing in protected areas with the balanced turned into a brown and gray mottled patina overall. Marred screws. Condition of wood matches the overall gun, mars and dings overall. A few deeper scuffs are found near the buttplate and pronounced on the left side of the stock. Bore dark, mechanically sound.
Gun previously sold in a well-known Midwest auction house for $690,000. Lot 24, September 10, 2021. Collection of a Southern Gentleman.
Auction Info
2023 June 19 Arms & Armor, Civil War & Militaria Signature® Auction #6271 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
June, 2023
19th
Monday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 5
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
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