Chuck said

Discus420 said

Chuck said

I am not an expert on most things but I do know for a fact that there are more engraved 66’s than Winchester ever had engraved.  Be very careful of guns in the non letterable range.

  

noted in “The Winchester Book” by Madis that “A comparative count of engraved guns, comparing early models 66 with the later numbers, indicates that the early models 66, prior to serial numbers 125,000, were engraved at the factory in such large comparative numbers that the total ratio of engraved guns is brought to a much larger figure. Models 66, therefore, made prior to 1875 and numbers near 125,000 were much more frequently engraved than numbers after 125,000″ (P126).

So yes Chuck you are correct ! There are more 1866’s engraved than any other model. and more before 1875 also. mine was made in 1874 and is before 125,000 

Deerhunter Thanks for posting my listing and No I have not found an expert seems its all a matter of opinion because there are no letters for the 1866. I cant wait the 9 months minimum to get it into the RIA . 

  

You kind of missed my point.  There are a lot of fake engraved 66’s.   Pauline does look at 66’s.  We’ve had her do it.

  

You seem to be in a big hurry to get an opinion on your carbine. As others have suggested, Pauline is probably going to be your quickest route to an opinion. For a fee she will do a thorough examination and provide you with a letter expressing her opinion, good or bad. Like Joe Friday used to say, “just the facts”. I highly doubt she will say much about the gun based on the photos you provided and she may want the gun shipped to her for a hands-on evaluation. I once owned an engraved 66 and I had it for years before it was questioned and several more years, with lots of opinions, before I became convinced it was not right. The one thing I learned throughout my ordeal was that there are lots of period engraved Model 1866’s, both marked by an engraver and not marked. There is nothing wrong with a high quality, period engraved 66 done by an unknown engraver but if a gun has been altered and attributed to a famous engraver when it was in reality not engraved by the famous engraver then it becomes a mis-represented gun that a serious collector will not want anything to do with. Even when you have an engraved Winchester which will letter as engraved, the records don’t seem to note who did the engraving. There are a lot of JU marked Winchesters out there and provenance is hard to come by.