Manufactured in 1873, when the West was still very much wild. The legendary Model 1866 was essentially a Henry Rifle with improvements invented and patented by Winchester shop Superintendent Nelson King in 1866. As a direct descendant of the Henry rifle, the Model 1866 traces its lineage back to earlier repeaters like the Volcanic, went on to see heavy use in conflicts related to land, gold and other resources on the frontier in the second half of the 19th century in the hands of settlers, Native Americans, outlaws, lawmen, and hunters; and is credited for ushering in the era of the repeating arm, making it one of the earliest and most widely used repeating rifles in the American West. Here is your chance to own a rare special order Model 1866 rifle! The 24 inch octagon barrel is fitted with a dovetail blade front sight and an elevation adjustable rear sight. The gun has the extremely rare factory reversed rear sight found only on guns from early 1873 and 1874 when they began the Model 1873 production using Model 1866 barrels cut for a ladder sight. The sighting face of the sight is milled opposite of a normal rear sight due to it being installed backwards to fit the dovetail cut near the receiver. The top barrel flat is stamped with the two-line Winchester New Haven address and King’s improvement patent date marking. The rifle is fitted with a special order half magazine. Winchester expert and author George Madis explained that encountering a half magazine on a Model 1866 is "very rare" ("The Winchester Book," page 66). The forend cap is the late production type that is cast in one piece. Early production forend caps for half magazines used a standard design with the hole for the magazine tube filled with a brass plug. The forend cap, receiver, and buttplate are brass. The special order hammer, cartridge elevator, loading gate, and lever are plated in nickel ("nickel trim" as referred to by collectors). The buttplate has a trapdoor, and the butt trap contains a four piece cleaning rod. The serial number stamped in block numbers on the lower tang. Sling eyelets are attached to the underside of the forend cap and buttstock. The special forearm and stock are nicely figured walnut with an oil finish and fitted with special order sling eyelet. Over 170,000 Model 1866s were manufactured but these Winchesters were purchased as working firearms and saw hard use. Special order Model 1866s are rarely encountered as customers were not willing to incur additional costs for extra features. This is a Model 1866 in rare configuration that is a must have for the serious Winchester collector!

Fine. The barrel has a pleasing smooth brown patina with slight traces original blue finish in the protected areas and excellent marking. The exceptional receiver and buttplate have an attractive mellow appearance. The receiver has tight fitting side plates. The loading gate, hammer, cartridge elevator, and lever retain 80% of the original nickel plating. The wood is very fine with a barely noticeable repair at the toe and minor handling marks. Mechanically excellent. A Winchester Model 1866 rifle with special order half magazine missing from even the most advanced collections.