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Winning Bid US $21840 First bid $12500 Quantity 1 # of bids 11 Time left Auction has ended   Started 2022-11-03 00:00:00 Ended 2024-03-01 22:05:02

SCARCE & SIGNIFICANT John Moses Browning DELUXE Falling Block Rifle, Model 1878, CAL: 41, MFG: Early 1880's, SN: 293, Lever Single Shot Rifle, 34 5/8'' Octagon barrel. John Moses Browning was born in Ogden, Utah, in 1855. By the second year of the Civil War, he was working his father's shop repairing firearms. By 1878 Browning had developed his first firearm design & began ''HAND'' producing them in a small shop along with his younger brother Matthew. Arrangements were made in 1883 for Winchester to purchase the patent rights & manufacture the rifles as the Model 1885 on a larger scale. By this time, estimates were that the brothers had manufactured around 500 rifles. Interestingly, the brothers continued to hand make the rifles in their shop until it came to the attention of Winchester who promptly scolded the brothers & explained to them they no longer had the right to produce the rifle. In total, less than 600 rifles by most educated estimates were produced. A hundred or less are believed to still exist. These early Utah rifles mark the beginning of Browning's long & highly influential career & laid the groundwork for his long relationship with Winchester that led to the iconic lever action models 1886, 1892, 1894, & 1895 rifles & carbines as well as the Winchester Model 1887 & the Model 1897 pump shotguns. He went on to produce a number of designs manufactured by other companies pump action shotguns, early Colt & FN automatic pistols including the Model 1911 & Hi-Power pistols, Auto- 5 shotgun, Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), & .50 caliber Browning machine gun. However, the 1878 Falling Block is the only firearm John M. Browning designed, produced & marketed/sold on their own, all of his other designs were either manufactured or manufactured & sold under another brand. This particular rifle is even rarer than most Browning single shots in that it is fitted with a fabulous grain, deluxe round knob buttstock & forearm, while most had plain grain, standard straight grip stocks. The grip & bottom of the forearm are checkered. The stocks are excellent, as likely refinished at some point in history. The vast majority of the oil finish remains & the checkering is crisp. There are four tiny steel pins in the checkering of the wrist, some faintly visible hairline cracks near the upper tang, some bruises & scrapes, & a slight hairline crack on the right side of the forearm near the tip. The metal blue finish on the barrel remains at 80%, fading or toning a bit gray, with edge wear toning to a brown patina. The case-hardened receiver, block & lever all have a thin brown patina. The barrel is fitted with a German silver blade front sight & a Winchester ''1876'' folding ladder & notch rear sight. It is marked ''BROWNING BROS, OGDEN, U.T.'' (Utah Territory) in one line behind the rear sight & in two lines on the breechblock. The top of the barrel at the breech is marked with the serial number. The stock carries a deep upper tang crescent metal buttplate. The bore is very good, with some speckled pits amongst strong rifling. The action is crisp, smooth & tight. This is a rare opportunity to purchase one of the exceptionally rare, hand made rifles by the man most people recognize as the most significant & important firearm designers of 19th & 20th centuries. J. M. Browning personally worked on, held & possibly test fired this very rifle. Only a hundred total are believed to still exist & few have deluxe wood. Again, these rifles are rarely ever seen & are missing from even many of the most advanced collections. Antique, No FFL Req. - Value: 25000 to 35000

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Price

SCARCE & SIGNIFICANT John Moses Browning DELUXE Falling Block R... Item # 4011 This auction is over. No new bids can be placed. Price: US $21840

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