Make: Winchester

Model: Model 1876

Serial Number: No serial number visible due to corrosion

Year of Manufacture: Ca. 1880s (Antique)

Caliber: .50-95 Express (based on archival listing & provenance)

Action Type: Lever Action Rifle with Tubular Magazine (shortened)

Markings: No factory markings are visible due to rust and heavy oxidation. However, the slab-sided receiver, large lever loop, and overall profile confirm this as a Winchester 1876 rifle, consistent with surviving examples in the large-bore .50-95 Express configuration.

Barrel Length: 30 3/4”

Sights / Optics: The front sight is a beaded blade fixed in a base soldered to the barrel. The rear sight is a u-notch elevator-style sight mounted to the barrel in its original dovetail. Remarkably, both sights remain intact despite the rifle’s overall condition.

Stock Configuration & Condition:

The forend is covered with aged animal hide or rawhide wrap, secured with hand-driven tacks and exhibiting typical warping and cracking from exposure. The buttstock is composed of what appears to be native-cut timber or driftwood, bound tightly in sinew. It is heavily weathered but still retains its shape. A cavity in the rear of the stock suggests it once housed a trapdoor compartment, now long absent. There are no modern repairs present — only the improvised, aged elements consistent with ceremonial placement and prolonged environmental exposure.

Type of Finish: None remains; the receiver and barrel exhibit uniform deep oxidation and surface scaling.

Finish Originality: Original and untouched; no restoration has been attempted or performed.

Bore Condition: The bore is dark and oxidized, but visible rifling remains throughout. In this writer’s opinion, the bore rates 5/10.

Overall Condition: This rifle is in relic-grade condition. The receiver and barrel are deeply rusted with surface scaling and loss of metal. The magazine tube is shortened and collapsed. Internal mechanics are presumed seized. The sights are surprisingly intact, and the furniture—while improvised—is securely affixed. The overall appearance speaks clearly to prolonged open-air exposure and ceremonial abandonment, not misuse or neglect.

Mechanics: The action is seized and non-functional. No mechanical testing was performed. This rifle is sold as a non-firing historical artifact only. As with all used and antique firearms, a thorough inspection by a qualified gunsmith would be necessary before any consideration of handling or disassembly.

Box, Paperwork & Accessories:

The rifle includes provenance documentation linking it to the Frank Walker Collection, and was sold as Lot #418 in North American Auction Co. on September 11, 2024. The auction listing identifies this piece as a Winchester Model 1876 .50-95, believed to have been owned by a Native American and recovered from a scaffold burial site. Additional documents accompany the rifle, including references to Plains Indian ceremonial firearm burials, supporting the assertion that this piece was interred as part of a cultural rite rather than lost or discarded. These materials will accompany the rifle at auction.

Our Assessment:

This haunting and historically significant Winchester Model 1876 is a rare example of a frontier rifle whose value lies not in its condition, but in its story. From the rusted receiver to the hand-bound sinew stock, every inch of this artifact whispers of another life — one that likely ended not on a battlefield, but in ceremony. The presence of both original sights, the substantial surviving bore rifling, and a partially intact buttstock compartment elevate it far above the typical relic-grade lever gun.

Recovered from what is believed to be a Native American scaffold burial, and supported by documentation from the respected Frank Walker Collection, this rifle serves as a poignant testament to how firearms were revered tools and spiritual companions. The hide-wrapped forend and sinew-bound stock are consistent with ceremonial practices recorded among Plains tribes during the late 19th century. This was not a discarded weapon — it was deliberately placed in a ritual of passage, to serve its owner in the afterlife.

For collectors of ethnographic artifacts, antique firearms, or those preserving the intersection of Native history and frontier arms, this piece is without equal. It is more than an antique — it is a memorial preserved in iron and wood, a bridge between Winchester’s legacy and the people who once shouldered it.