Original Item: Only One Available. If you were looking to do some big game hunting with Teddy Roosevelt out in the "Old West", this is just what you need! This very fine example of the "Second Model" Winchester Model 1876 rifle is in the "big game hunting" .40-60 Winchester caliber, with a 26" heavy round barrel and full length magazine tube. This was sometimes referred to as the "Express" model. Teddy Roosevelt's Model 1876, on the other hand, was one of those with the half octagonal barrel and half length magazine tube, and his gun was significantly more ornamented.

Correctly marked on the upper receiver tang, with MODEL. 1876., the rifle is also marked with the caliber CAL 40 - 60 over the chamber on the barrel and 40 - 60 on the brass carrier block. It bears serial number 49511 on the lower receiver tang, denoting the year of manufacture as 1884. The barrel is fitted with a standard Winchester bronze blade front sight and "round top" rear adjustable sight. The engraving on top of the barrel is still fully legible:

Stocks are in very good condition, and are the lovely reddish-brown color of aged finished walnut, with a great grain. We do not see any sign that they were refurbished at any time. They show very little wear or damage, with no cracks, major gouges, or chunks missing, making them some of the best stocks we've ever seen on one of these rifles. The crescent butt plate is in good shape with a working storage compartment door, however the compartment is empty.

This lever action repeater is offered with a crisp tight action in fully functional condition, with a working original dust cover. Metal work is very good, with the original finish worn to a lovely light gray patina from decades of cleaning. There are a few areas of light peppering, but nothing out of line with a rifle over 125 years in age. Bore is in very good condition, showing clear lands and grooves with a mostly bright finish. There is some wear and a few areas of stubborn fouling and oxidation, but we would rate this at about 7 out of 10, definitely above average.

A great example of an iconic big game hunting rifle! These are hard to find in any condition. Fully cleaned and ready for display!

Specifications:-

Year of Manufacture: 1884
Caliber: .40-60 Winchester
Cartridge Type: Centerfire Cartridge
Barrel Length: 26 Inches
Overall Length: 46 1/2 Inches
Action type: Lever Action Repeater
Feed System: 12-round tube magazine

The Winchester Model 1876, or Centennial Model, was a heavier-framed rifle than the Models 1866 and 1873, the "Guns that Won the West." The new design was chambered for full-powered centerfire rifle cartridges suitable for big-game hunting, rather than the handgun-sized rimfire and centerfire rounds of its predecessors. While similar in design to the 1873, the 1876 was actually based on a prototype 1868 lever-action rifle that was never commercially produced by Winchester.

Introduced to celebrate the American Centennial Exposition, the Model 1876 earned a reputation as a durable and powerful hunting rifle. Four versions were produced: a 22-inch (56 cm) barrel Carbine, a 26-inch (66 cm) barrel Express Rifle with a half-length magazine, a 28-inch (71 cm) barrel Sporting Rifle, and a 32-inch (81 cm) barrel Musket. Standard rifles had a blued finish while deluxe models were casehardened. Collectors identify a first model with no dust cover, a second model with a dust cover rail fastened by a screw, and a third model with an integral dust cover. Total production was 63,871 including 54 One of One Thousand Model 1876s and only seven of the One of One Hundred grade.

Originally chambered for the new .45-75 Winchester Centennial cartridge (designed to replicate the .45-70 ballistics in a shorter case), versions in .40-60 Winchester, .45-60 Winchester and .50-95 Express followed; the '76 in the latter chambering is the only repeater known to have been in widespread use by professional buffalo hunters. The Canadian North-West Mounted Police used the '76 in .45-75 as a standard long arm for many years with 750 rifles purchased for the force in 1883; the Mountie-model '76 carbine was also issued to the Texas Rangers. Theodore Roosevelt used an engraved, pistol-gripped half-magazine '76 during his early hunting expeditions in the West and praised it. A '76 was also found in the possession of Apache warrior Geronimo after his surrender in 1886.

The Model 1876 toggle-link action receiver was too short to handle popular big-game cartridges, including the .45-70, and production ceased in 1897, as big-game hunters preferred the smoother Model 1886 action chambered for longer and more powerful cartridges.

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