The low serial number and the "E. REMINGTON & SONS. ILION. N.Y." barrel address suggest this rifle was manufactured around 1883-1888. Around 8,000-10,000 of these rifles were manufactured between 1883 and 1907 in a variety of configurations and levels of embellishment. The action was designed by Lewis L. Hepburn who was the superintendent of Remington's mechanical department and a top notch marksman and member of the American Creedmoor International Shooting Team. The design was patented in 1879 and first introduced the following year. This rifle doesn't fit neatly within the standard configurations and was clearly a special order target rifle for a serious shooter or possibly a marksmanship award. Nickel plating is a rarely seen finish on target rifles given its potential for glare but flashier finishes are regularly seen on presentation and prize rifles, and the nickel contrasts beautifully with the dark oiled finish on the stock and forend. The right side of the frame features an engraved scene with a Creedmoor target on a hill by a tree, and the left side has a stag jumping over a fence. A coordinating rabbit scene is on the trigger guard bow. The muzzle also has a border design, and scroll engraving is featured on the breech end and on the action. The barrel has a bead and globe combination front sight, "E. REMINGTON & SONS. ILION. N.Y." on top, "40 1 7/8" on the bottom ahead of the forend, the matching serial number and "VW" on the bottom covered by the forend, and no rear sight seat. The multi-point checkered forend has a hard rubber cap and is marked "J APPEL" inside indicating it was previously owned by well-known Remington collector Jack Appel of New York. The action has the standard Hepburn patent marking on the right, a long range Vernier peep sight fitted to the upper tang, and the serial number on the lower tang, The round-knob pistol grip buttstock has multi-point checkering, no cheek rest, and a checkered hard rubber shotgun buttplate.