Winchester Model 1885 High Wall rifle with Cody Firearms Museum letter. The letter describes the rifle features as: (1) Caliber: 22 WCF, (2) Barrel Type: Round, (3) Barrel Weight: :#1, (4) Barrel Length: 26 Inches and (5) Trigger: Plain. The letter states this rifle was shipped from Winchester on June 14, 1887. The rifle has a blued barrel and shotgun buttplate. The receiver, hammer, lever and trigger are color case-hardened. The forearm and pistol grip stock are deluxe, fancy grain walnut with checkered panels and a high polish 'piano' finish. The forearm tip and the bottom of the pistol grip have ebony inlays. The barrel has a special order, gold-plated, Beach folding combination front sight and a sporting style buckhorn rear sight. A folding "mid range vernier peep sight" is mounted on the receiver tang. The underside of the barrel has the weight: "1" stamped just ahead of the forearm tip. The top of the barrel is roll stamped with the two-line legend: "- MANUFACTURED BY THE-/-WINCHESTER REPEATING ARMS CO. NEW HAVEN. CONN. U.S.A.-" with inverted arrows on either side of both lines. The caliber designation: "22 WCF" is roll-stamped on the top of the barrel between the rear sight and the receiver. Three British proof and inspection marks are stamped on the left side of the barrel between the rear sight and the receiver. A "Crown/V" inspection mark is stamped on the upper left corner of the receiver. The one-line patent date is stamped on the lower tang between the trigger and the tang screw and the serial number, "11053", is stamped in script numerals on the lower tang.

Excellent. The rifle is all original and retains more than 90% of blue and color case-hardened finish. Nearly all the blue finish is present on the barrel; wear is limited to some minor finish loss at the muzzle and several insignificant scratches along the top of the barrel. The bore is mirror bright. The buttplate retains about 80% of the blue finish with handling wear at the heel and toe and some scattered age discoloration. The receiver has nearly all of the vivid case colors. The case colors on the lever have a dark patina. The sides of the trigger have some finish wear. The Vernier rear sight is in very good condition with some minor edge wear. The markings on the barrel and receiver are crisp. The fancy grain walnut stock and forearm are in excellent condition with very minor handling and storage wear and retain more than 90% of the piano finish. The checkering on the forearm and pistol grip shows only light handling wear. This is an excellent example of a Deluxe, British proofed, Winchester Model 1885 High Wall rifle.