This Winchester Deluxe Model 1892 Fancy Lever Action Rifle was manufactured in 1896 an subsequently returned to Winchester by the owner, for some attentive "detailing". The rifle includes a copy of a Cody Firearms Museum letter that describes the rifle features as "25/20 caliber" with octagon barrel, plain trigger, checkered stock with pistol grip and shotgun butt. The letter states that this rifle was shipped from the Winchester warehouse on June 8, 1896, and was returned for repair on April 22, 1912. The rifle has a full blue finish with deluxe, highly figured, fancy grain walnut forearm and pistol grip stock. The stock and forearm have Winchester "Style H" checkering and a high polish piano finish. The pistol grip has a black hard rubber grip cap embossed "WINCHESTER REPEATING ARMS". The barrel has a Lyman Winchester Express front sight with white bead and a sporting style rear sight with sliding insert. The left side of the barrel is die-stamped "-MODEL 1892-WINCHESTER-25-20W.C.F.-/-TRADE MARK-" in two lines below the rear sight. The right side of the barrel is die-stamped "MADE IN U.S.A.WINCHESTER REPEATING ARMS CO./-NEW HAVEN CONN.-" below the rear sight. Oval Winchester "W/P" proofmarks are stamped on the top of the barrel and receiver. The upper receiver tang is stamped with the first style marking "MODEL 1892/-WINCHESTER-/PAT. OCT. 14 1884". The serial number "56827" is stamped in large numerals across the bottom of the receiver. The rifle is complete with the original wooden crate that was apparently used to ship it from Winchester in 1912. The upper left corner of the crate is stenciled "FROM/WINCHESTER REPEATING ARMS/NEW HAVEN CONN. U.S.A." "C.O.D." is boldly stenciled in black ink near the center of the crate and an illegible "NY" shipping address is written in grease pencil near the muzzle end of the crate. The remains of an old shipping label are visible near the center of the crate. The crate lid is fastened with brass hinges. The interior contains two wooden blocks and two pieces of scrap cloth padding. Winchester shipping containers from the pre-WWI period are almost non-existent. This is only the second Winchester rifle from this period with an original factory crate ever offered for sale by Rock Island Auction Company.

Extremely fine as factory refurbished. The rifle retains 99% of the bright original factory blue finish and shows only very light handling and storage wear. The blue finish on the serrated steel buttplate has faded to a brown patina, and the finish on the upper tang and lower receiver has thinned slightly from handling. The exceptional deluxe grain walnut stock and forearm have nearly all of the high polish piano finish, and the checkering is sharp. Wear is limited to a few minor storage marks. The crate shows the wear expected of a 101-year old wooden box, but the Winchester return address remains legible. This is an outstanding example of a Winchester Model 1892 Deluxe Sporting Rifle with the original Winchester shipping crate. This is possibly one-of-a-kind example of an extremely rare deluxe Winchester Model 1892 Rifle.