Winchester Model 1886 Lever Action Rifle with "Arapahoe County" factory engraved on the left side of the receiver. This rifle is one of fifty Model 1886 rifles ordered from Winchester by Arapahoe County Sheriff William K. Burchinell in March 1894 to arm special deputy sheriffs. These deputies were appointed by the county to defend the Denver City Hall in what was known as the "Arapahoe County War". The Panic of 1893 caused wide-spread unemployment in Denver and the Colorado silver mines. In response to the economic distress, Colorado Governor Davis H. Waite called a special session of the state legislature in January 1894. Following clashes with Arapahoe County Board members he had previously appointed, Governor Wait mobilized several companies of the state militia and directed them to seize the Denver City Hall and eject two police and fire board commissioners and several other appointees. In response to Governor Waite's threats, County Sheriff Burchinell appointed 500 special deputies, ordered additional firearms and ammunition, barricaded City Hall and defied the governor's threats to seize the building. The "war" ended when Governor Waite stood down the militia and agreed to allow the Colorado Supreme Court to decide whether he had the authority to appoint or dismiss county officials. This rifle is accompanied by a Cody Firearms Museum letter that describes it as: "Rifle, 40/82, Round barrel, Plain trigger" and "Engraved 'Arapahoe County'". The letter states that it was one of fifty rifles shipped from Winchester on July 14, 1894, as part of Order No. 16557. Additional documents that accompany this rifle describe details of the "Arapahoe County War". The rifle has a blued barrel, magazine, bolt, trigger and loading gate and color casehardened forearm cap, receiver, hammer, and crescent buttplate. The stock and forearm are straight grain American walnut with a varnish finish. The 26 inch round barrel has a standard sporting style front sight with nickel-silver blade and buckhorn, sporting style rear sight with serrated edges and screw-adjustable center piece. The upper tang is factory drilled and tapped for a rear sight. "Arapahoe County" is engraved in script letters on the left side of the receiver. 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.-" ahead of the rear sight. The caliber designation: "40-82 W.C.F." is roll-stamped on the top of the barrel between the rear sight and the receiver. The model designation: "-MODEL 1886.-" is roll-stamped on the upper tang. The 1884 and 1885 patent dates are stamped behind the trigger on the lower tang. The serial number "89713" is stamped in script numerals behind the rear tang screw.

Very fine. This rifle is all original and retains 70% of the original blue and 50% color casehardened finish. Wear is limited to a few scattered and minor handling marks and some thinning on the left side of the magazine. The barrel legend and caliber designation are crisp and the bore is mirror bright. Nearly all of the blue finish is present on the bolt and trigger. The finish on the loading gate has faded to a blue-gray patina. The forearm cap, hammer, sides and top of the receiver retain most of the color casehardened finish. The case colors show contact wear and silvering on the lever and the bottom of the receiver. The crescent buttplate has a silver-gray patina with some spots of darker age discoloration. The stock and forearm are in very good overall condition and retain about 80% of the original varnish finish. The stock has nearly all of the finish and scattered light handling and storage marks on both sides. The finish on the forearm shows expected handling wear with several of light dents and scratches on the left side and bottom. This rifle remains in outstanding condition for a "working" rifle shipped from Winchester 122 years ago. This is a great example of a historic and very desirable Winchester Model 1886 rifle.