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I acquired an 1876 Winchester Sporting Rifle in .45-60 caliber. It is a second model made in 1881. 28″ round barrel. It has the Kings patent with the 1880 date. Very little finish; mostly brown with some cracked wood. Poor bore. Not a collector item I am sure but, I had not had one before and had a chance to trade off a refinished Colt SAA for it, so I am good with it. It has a Cody letter. I am going through Bert’s check list: the sights. Well the front sight is marked W.F.SHEARD, TACOMA WASH, PAT. JUNE 12, 1900. So it is obvious the front sight is not original to the gun. The rear sight is a single leaf with Buckhorn, not marked. The receiver shows traces of blue; were these blued or casehardened? The dust cover looks like the one on my 1873, just plain with serrations on the sides of the narrowed end. The full length mag tube front retaining ring is about 3.75″ from the end of the tube to the center pin and about 3.875″ to the end of the barrel. A little longer than the 3.5″ in the check list. It appears to have been well used but, reasonably taken care of. The cracks in the butt stock are the only evidence of abuse or damage, top and bottom running toward the butt, like a lot of side pressure was put on it and the wood couldn’t take it. Any thoughts? Thanks!.
Keith,
Get a letter from Cody and it will tell you what configuration it was when made. The other thing you can do is remove a side plate and look on the backside. That will usually have better finish and you can tell if it was blued or cased. If you put up pictures we can probably tell you what you have too. If you can’t figure out how to post pictures you can always email them to me. What is the serial number?
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
Hey, thanks Bob. I do have the Cody letter and the configuration matches but, no notation as to finish. I will pull a side plate and check the finish. Regarding the dust cover: it is like the one on my 3rd model 1873…is that correct for 2nd model 1876? Thanks again, keith (Here are some photos, more coming later).
keith said
Hey, thanks Bob. I do have the Cody letter and the configuration matches but, no notation as to finish. I will pull a side plate and check the finish. Regarding the dust cover: it is like the one on my 3rd model 1873…is that correct for 2nd model 1876? Thanks again, keith (Here are some photos, more coming later).
That is a second model dust cover for the Model 1876. As I recall, the 1873’s had 3 types of dust covers but the 1876’s only had 2 types. The thumbprint dust cover was only used until sometime shortly after SN 7000.
"This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."
Thanks for the ID on the dust cover. I had the patent date wrong on the barrel, it is 1860 and not 1880. I also have determined that the rear sight is of correct Winchester style but the one on this gun is of later manufacture no having any edge treatment on the vertical buckhorn and with the adjustable “notch”.
Keith,
If the letter does not state a finish then it considered standard finish which would be blue. Case color was a special feature and would of been stated.
The first model 76 was a open top with no dust cover. That happened along with the 73’s during a patent infrigment court case and Winchester quit putting dust covers on the two models until the case was settled. You will find 76’s and 73’s were in the ledger its noted as “LID” which means they added the dust cover.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
I pulled the side plates and the finish was blue. Also oiled and greased the internals while I had it opened up. I plan on firing a few low pressure reloads through it just to say I did it. Will anyone throw me a figure on what they think this gun is worth? I know it is hard from just photos and my verbal description but…..thanks.
April 26, 2015
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I’d love to see more photos covering larger areas and of the complete rifle.
Bruce Koligian said
I’d love to see more photos covering larger areas and of the complete rifle.
Here is the best I can do with photos covering a large area:
$1800
1876 Winchester, it’s original….Positive
Round barrel, poor bore, cracked stock….negative
The wood can be repaired and many time’s even a poor bore will shoot ok…..
I’m not a Winchester expert, but I’ve bought a few, interested in hearing other opinions.
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