Winchester Model 1873 rifle with Cody Firearms Museum letter that states it was shipped from the Winchester warehouse on June 1, 1886. The letter describes the rifle's features as: "Octagon barrel" and "Plain trigger". The barrel, magazine, forearm cap and receiver are blued and the hammer, lever, and crescent buttplate have a case-hardened finish. The stock and forearm are straight-grain American walnut with a polished oil finish. The rifle has the Third Model receiver with integral dust cover guide and dust cover with serrated edges. The crescent steel buttplate has a sliding brass trap door; the butt trap contains a four-piece, jointed, steel cleaning rod. The barrel is fitted with a Beach folding combination front sight and a sporting style rear sight with serrated edges. The receiver tang is factory drilled and tapped for a rear sight. The top barrel flat is roll-stamped with the two-line legend: "WINCHESTER'S-REPEATING ARMS. NEW HAVEN. CT./KING'S-IMPROVEMENT-PATENTED-MARCH 29.1866. OCTOBER 16. 1860." "44 CAL" is roll-stamped on the top of the barrel between the rear sight and the receiver. The bottom of the brass cartridge elevator is stamped "44 CAL" in script letters. The upper receiver tang is roll-stamped: "{ MODEL 1873 }" in fancy script with foliate devices at either end. The serial number "206190B" is stamped in script numerals on the lower tang between the lever latch and the tang screw.

Excellent. The rifle is all original and retains 95% of the original blue finish. The barrel, magazine and forearm cap have nearly all of the original blue finish intact and show minimal wear. The receiver is in excellent condition and retains 95% of blue finish; wear is limited to minor finish loss of the edges of the side plates and receiver and a few very minor handling marks. The most significant wear is along the lower left edge of the receiver and the side plate which show minor edge wear and several tiny spots of discoloration. The stock and forearm are in excellent condition. At least 95% of the original polished oil finish remains intact. Wear is limited to a few very minor handling marks on the stock and forearm. All of the markings are crisp. This is an excellent example of a Winchester Model 1873 Lever Action rifle.