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hello, I wanted to post this item I found on gun Brookner to see if I am learning. I have been collecting for no where near as long as most of you, but I find myself reading, reading and researching more than ever before I buy anything. I missed one of these winder muskets at a show this past November and have been looking since.this one appears to be improperly listed or it’s a scam. The serial number comes back as 1890, but I did t think these were made till 1918,19 or 20. Like I said I still learning and more than happy to be told the correct information. Notice there are no picture of the serial number either.
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/796983297
thanks
November 7, 2015
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It looks remarkably like a 1918 vintage Winder musket in my collection, it’s a safe bet the serial number is incorrect.
Mike
If the serial number it actually in the 42300 range, the lower tang was originally in a different Model 1885 (high-wall). The serial number range for the 3rd variation Winder Musket (also referred to as the Model 87), is typically 121000 – 139700, though there are a few hundred of them with serial numbers in the 67557 – 120900 range. When Winchester received the government contract in December of 1917 for the 3rd variation Winder Muskets, they immediately begin scrounging up all of unused high-wall receiver frames that they had on hand, and then re-milled them to low-wall dimensions to assemble them. During my years long survey of the warehouse ledger records (for the caliber survey), I found (206) of them listed in the records with a serial number < 121000. Serial number 67557 is the earliest confirmed serial number, and there were (70) of them found in the 101000 – 101999 range.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
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