Manufactured in 1896, the second year of production, as one of the first 5,000 manufactured with the flat sided receiver. The included factory letter lists the rifle as manufactured in 1896 with a checkered pistol grip stock when received at the warehouse on 27 March 1897 and shipped the same day. The pistol grip stock may be a factory notation error as the rifle has a straight lower tang. The top of the barrel is marked with the two-line address and caliber marking at the breech. The upper tang has the two-line trademark/model, serial number on the lower tang, and two-line patent dates are on the trigger plate. "3852" is marked on the butt of the stock and "1111/C" is marked inside the buttplate along with an illegible hand marking in white. It is fitted with a pinned German silver blade front sight and an elevation adjustable buckhorn rear sight. It is mounted with a finely figured, H-pattern checkered, Schnabel tip forearm with ebony insert and a checkered straight grip stock with a smooth shotgun buttplate. The consistent wear between the metal and wood on this rifle and the extended period of time between manufacture and receipt at the warehouse lead the writer to believe that it left the factory in this configuration without the ledger being modified, and has been paired with this wood ever since. It was not uncommon for special orders to be modified to meet demands before leaving the Winchester factory, and this rifle appears to be an example of just that.
Fine, retains 70% of the faded original blue finish on the barrel, 40% of the original blue on the remainder, and strong traces of the original case colors on the hammer with the balance having thinned to mostly a mottled grey-brown patina. The wood is very good with some minor handling marks scattered throughout, a small patch of filler near the upper right tang, and mostly well-defined, partially recut checkering. Mechanically excellent.
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