I was trolling GunAuction and happened across an auction for an 1886 that was modified by a person named Russ at the Winchester factory. Apparently, his name pops up in the ledgers from time to time regarding modifications to existing rifles. The seller included a copy of the Cody letter and an e-mail from Jesi describing the situation. Has anyone encountered this before? The rifle seems to conform to the modifications noted in the letter, except for the checkering.
http://classic.gunauction.com/search/displayitem.cfm?itemnum=12466603
Item #12466603 in case the link doesn’t work.
spursfan
His name was Russell Leander, and he was the primary person that the warehouse sent completed firearms to for a different barrel to fill an order. I have seen at least several thousand entries in the warehouse ledgers with his name listed in the remarks column. Primarily for the Model 1885, and the Models 1893 & 1897. His name appears less frequently in all of the other pre-1900 model records, but it is still relatively common. In later years (post 1910), the records show "To Heere" instead of "To Russ".
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Interesting info. The rifle has checkering that wasn’t mentioned in the Cody letter. Is that an after-market job? I see the rifle is up to $4000 today but the reserve is not met. Since I’m not very familiar with Model 86s, does anyone have an opinion on price relative to what ou see in the auction ad? Thanks.
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