Winchester Model 1886 Sporting Rifle with Cody Firearms Museum letter that states this rifle was shipped from the Winchester warehouse on March 17, 1892. The letter describes the rifle as caliber 38/56 with octagon barrel, special order set trigger, Lyman wind gauge tang sight, Lyman front sight and shotgun butt. The rifle has the very desirable color case-hardened frame and case hardened forearm cap, hammer and loading lever. The full octagon barrel, full-length magazine, bolt and loading gate have a blue finish. The stock and forearm are straight-grain walnut with a low-luster varnish finish. The black, hard rubber, shotgun buttplate is checkered and has the round Winchester logo in the center. The barrel has a replaced dove-tail mounted Lyman "Jack Sight" and a sporting rear sight with serrated edges and five-notch elevator. A replaced Lyman peep sight with large sighting disc and folding aperture is mounted on the receiver tang. The rifle has the special order Winchester, adjustable, single set trigger. The top of the barrel is roll-stamped: "- MANUFACTURED BY THE- / - WINCHESTER REPEATING ARMS CO. NEW HAVEN CONN. U.S.A.-" in two lines ahead of the rear sight. The caliber, "38-56 W.C.F." is roll-stamped between the rear sight and the receiver. The Winchester 1894 and 1895 patent dates are roll-stamped in two lines on the lower tang behind the trigger. The serial number, "29251" is stamped in script numerals behind the rear tang screw.

Excellent. The rifle retains more 97% of the original blue and 75% casehardened finish and shows only very limited handling wear. The barrel and magazine have nearly all of the original blue finish intact and show only very minor edge and high-point wear. The bolt and loading gate have nearly all of the original blue finish. The case colors on the forearm cap, sides and top of the frame and sides of the lever have faded slightly. The contact points on the bottom of the frame and lever have a silver patina. The bore is bright. The markings on the barrel and frame are crisp. The top of the front sight blade is dented and the colored bead is missing. The stock and forearm are both in excellent condition and retain most of the original varnish finish with only a few very minor handling and storage marks. This is an excellent example of a Model 1886 Sporting Rifle with special order front and tang sight, single set trigger and shotgun buttplate with the very desirable color case-hardened frame.