Make: Winchester

Model: 1876 Carbine, North West Mounted Police

Serial Number: 46108

Year of Manufacture: 1884

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

Action Type: Lever Action with Tubular Magazine

Barrel Length: 22" Round

Sights / Optics: The front sight is a bladed post fixed to the front of the barrel. The rear sight is the NWMP variant of the "Spanish meter" folding ladder-style sight screwed to the rear of the barrel. The top tang is drilled, tapped, and filled for a tang sight (none present).

Stock Configuration & Condition: The stocks are two-piece smooth walnut. The forend is a carbine-style, which for the Model 1876 is a nearly full-length forend, with a spring-clip secured barrel band and a steel nosecap. The buttstock has a straight grip, straight comb, and steel carbine-style buttplate. The stocks have several scattered nicks and a few more notable bruises. The forend has a repaired chip behind the nosecap on the right and another behind the barrel band on the right. There is a filled gouge behind the nosecap on the left. Most marks have been finished over, but the "N.W.M.P." banner cartouche on the right of the buttstock is still visible. The forend has no play front-to-rear. The LOP measures 13” from the front of the trigger to the back of the buttplate. The buttplate is marked "9.51.7.82" in white paint. The significance of this marking is unknown, so we have elected to leave it in place. The buttplate has mostly worn to white with some scattered discoloration from oxidation. The stocks are in about Very Good overall condition as refurbished Antique.

Type of Finish: Blue

Finish Originality: Original

Bore Condition: The bore is gray. The rifling is generally well defined. There is light erosion and pitting scattered through the bore. There is a bulge in the bore approximately 1" from the muzzle. In this writer's opinion, this bore rates a 3 out of 10.

Overall Condition: This carbine retains about 5% of its metal finish. There is some finish remaining in protected areas and around raised features. Most of the receiver has worn or been cleaned to white. The barrel has gone to a mottled light patina. There is some scattered minor surface erosion, mostly on the receiver. There are several scattered nicks and light scratches. There are tool marks around most screw heads. The action shows operational wear. The screw heads range from sharp to tool marked with usable slots. The markings are clear. Overall, this carbine is in Very Good condition as Antique.

Mechanics: The action functions correctly. We have not fired this carbine. As with all used firearms, thorough cleaning may be necessary to meet your maintenance standards.

Box, Paperwork & Accessories: This carbine comes with a Winchester factory records letter indicating its production as a Carbine, received in warehouse July 30, 1885 and shipped August 1, 1885 on order number 22020 with 199 other Model 1876s. Also included is extensive documentation compiled from Mounted Police Research & Consulting, Library and Archives Canada, The National Archives, and ancestry.com of the two Constables and one Sergeant to whom this carbine was issued. 

Our Assessment: 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 rare Antique Winchester Model 1876 3rd Model Saddle Ring Carbine was made in 1884, and purchased by the Canadian North West Mounted Police in 1885. The NWMP Model 1876 Carbines are among the most sought-after variants of the Model 1876, and this one comes with extensive documentation, not only verifying its authenticity, but also providing detailed information about its particular service history with the “mounties” of "G" Division. At the time this carbine was issued, "G" Division had just been assigned to Fort Saskatchewan (the military post, the modern day city is named after the original fort), located a short distance northeast of Edmonton in what is now Alberta, Canada. Fort Saskatchewan had been established soon after the “March West” in 1874, in which the NWMP made an arduous journey of some 900 miles to Southern Alberta in response to the Cypress Hills Massacre of 1873. The area had relatively rich wetlands and forests compared to the surrounding semi-arid prairie, and had become a powderkeg of fur traders, American bison and wolf hunters, Canadian merchants, Metis freighters, and First Nations indigenous peoples. Three NWMP "mounties" of “G” Division are identified as having been issued this carbine, two Constables and one Sergeant, between 1888 and 1900. The carbine was transferred to the Canadian Militia after 1902, and has since made its way back to its place of origin, the US. Information is provided about each of the three “mounties”, including one dedicated cavalryman who served with the Canadian NWMP, the Third United States Volunteer Cavalry ("Grigsby's Cowboys") during the Spanish-American War, and "Strathcona's Horse" (a unit of “Canadian Cowboys” assigned to the British Army in South Africa) during the Second Boer War.

Any Winchester Model 1876 Carbine would be a welcome addition to a collection, but the North West Mounted Police carbines are perhaps the most desirable of any and all. This one is well documented and oozing with history, and it will take a prized place in even advanced collections.