Recently received Cody letter indicating my 45-60 was received in the warehouse on Nov. 24, 1882 and shipped on May 17, 1883 order number
4321. Is it unusual for a gun to sit in the wharehouse that long? Most letters I have seen shipping was a day or two after arrival in warehouse.
As always thank you all for your knowledge.
Hello Win 728,
Yes, most rifles did spend a short time in the warehouse at Winchester. Commonly less than a few weeks. That said, there are many instances when a rifle for some unknown reason lingered on the shelf for many months before it was shipped out. This is found amongst all the rifles that I have seen. I am certain that there are quite a few guys here who will be able to chime in about their own experience with the same findings.
Michael
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Model 1892 / Model 61 Collector, Research, Valuation
My 1866 SRC sat in the warehouse for over 14 years (November 13, 1883 to August 16, 1898).
My guess is there were several full nickel guns made for some order that fell through (U.S. for Indians?) and the .44 Henry Rim Fire and the 1866 were getting obsolete. Then Winchester was cleaning house and the weapons were dumped on resellers for cheap. From there they became kids guns. I know one of them was a prize won at a fair.
All just wild-eyed speculation on my part.
Here’s more, all in 1892:
1886 38-56: one day
1886 45-90 (28" bll): seven months +
1886 40-82: six months +
1886 40-82: six months + (different weapon from the one above)
1886 40-64: one month +
I have looked at several hundred thousand factory warehouse ledger entries over the past many years, and the average time between the received date and the sold date is less than three weeks.
That stated, there are definitely a small number of instance where a particular gun sat in the warehouse for a very long time. The longest that I have seen, is a Model 1885 Singel Shot that was in the warehouse for 19+ years 😯
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
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