Make: Winchester

Model: 1876

Serial Number: 56810

Year of Manufacture: 1885

Caliber: .45-75 Winchester Center Fire (WCF)

Action Type: Lever Action with Tubular Magazine

Barrel Length: 28"

Sights / Optics: The front sight is a German silver blade in a slotted base dovetailed to the front of the barrel. The rear sight is a folding ladder-style sight which presents a "V"-notch when folded down. When folded up, the ladder arm is graduated from 2-10 in hundreds of yards. The slider is missing. The top tang is drilled, tapped, and filled for a tang sight (none present). 

Stock Configuration & Condition: The stocks are two-piece smooth walnut with a steel nosecap, straight grip, and steel crescent buttplate with sliding door storage compartment (there’s nothing in the compartment). The stocks have scattered nicks, scuffs, and scratches with a few more notable dings. There’s a small loss at the rear of the top tang. There’s some discoloration where the wood meets metal. The LOP measures 12 7/8” from the front of the trigger to the back of the buttplate. The buttplate has mostly worn to white with scattered minor erosion. The stocks are in about Very Good overall condition as Antique.

Type of Finish: No finish remains.

Finish Originality: There are signs of aggressive cleaning, but we don't see any evidence of a new finish being applied.

Bore Condition: The bore is gray. The rifling is worn, but visible. There is erosion and pitting scattered through the bore. In this writer's opinion, the bore rates 3 or 4 out of 10.

Overall Condition: This rifle retains about 0% of its metal finish. The metal surfaces have worn or been cleaned to white. There is scattered discoloration from oxidation and some minor surface erosion. There are some scattered nicks, scuffs, and scratches including tool-marks at the magazine bracket. Some surfaces show signs of aggressive cleaning. The action shows operational wear. The screw heads range from sharp to disfigured with usable slots. The markings range from clear to worn, but legible. Overall, this rifle is in Good condition as Antique (see Mechanics).

Mechanics: The lever safety has worn such that the trigger can be pressed with the lever open. Otherwise, the action functions correctly. The hammer has a half-cock safety position. We have not fired this rifle. As with all used firearms, thorough cleaning may be necessary to meet your maintenance standards.

Box, Paperwork & Accessories: Included is a Winchester factory records letter indicating that this was produced as a Rifle, 45/75 caliber, octagonal barrel, plain trigger, received in warehouse September 13, 1887 and shipped September 14, 1887 on order number 23893.

Our Assessment: “The Winchester, stocked and sighted to suit myself, is by all odds the best weapon I ever had, and I now use it almost exclusively, having killed every kind of game with it, from a grizzly bear to a big-horn…[It] is the best gun for any kind of game to be found in the United States, for it is deadly, accurate, and handy as any, stands very rough usage, and is unapproachable for the rapidity of its fire and the facility with which it is loaded.”

-Theodore Roosevelt, “Hunting Trips of a Ranchman”, published in 1885.

The Winchester Model 1876 was a heavier-framed rifle than the Model 1873, and was the first to be chambered for full-powered centerfire rifle cartridges, as opposed to rimfire cartridges or pistol caliber centerfire rounds. While similar in design to the 1873, the 1876 was actually based on the prototype 1868 lever-action rifle that was never commercially produced by Winchester. It was introduced to celebrate the American Centennial, and earned a reputation as a durable and powerful hunting rifle that was also used by the Canadian North-West Mounted Police and the Texas Rangers. Additionally, Theodore Roosevelt carried one on his early hunting expeditions in the Dakota Badlands, and one was found in the possession of Apache warrior Geronimo after his surrender in 1886. The Model 1876 was largely superseded by the John Browning designed Model 1886, which was introduced in even heavier calibers.

This Antique Winchester Model 1876 Rifle has a 28" octagonal barrel chambered in .45-75 Winchester Center Fire, a cartridge designed specifically for the rifle’s short action. It has a shorter, fatter case intended to give the performance of the .45-70 Govt. in that shorter action. Teddy Roosevelt is said to have favored the .45-75 Winchester round as a grizzly bear cartridge. This rifle is in Good condition as Antique, showing its age, but retaining a fair bore and generally strong mechanics, though the lever safety is worn. The 1876 Winchester was only made for 21 years, with a total of about 63,871 produced in rifle, carbine, and musket configurations. The result is that ALL Model 1876s are collectible today. This would be a great rifle to add to an Old West frontier collection, placed between an 1873 and an 1886.