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Winning Bid US $3255 First bid $1000 Quantity 1 # of bids 12 Time left Auction has ended   Started 2023-10-31 00:00:00 Ended 2024-12-06 22:31:55

VERY RARE Winchester Hotchkiss, 1879 FIRST MODEL CARBINE, CIVILIAN MODEL. Cal. .45-70, MFG: 1882, S/N: 16359, Bolt Action Carbine, 24'' Round barrel. Designed around 1875 by American designer Benjamin Berkeley Hotchkiss, the rifle was designed as a bolt-action repeater. Hotchkiss obtained four patents on the design by 1877, & sold his patents to the Winchester Repeating Arms Company the same year. The weapon was then submitted to the 1878 Ordnance Board trials for the United States Army who wanted to investigate the possibility of the adoption of a magazine rifle. The weapon was tested against a number of prototypes. It was one of the best performers, being one of the fastest rifles & one of the most reliable, surviving various sand & dust tests. However, when it came to the final test, the ''overcharged cartridge'' test, the Hotchkiss' bolt broke; this was mainly due to a manufacturing defect. Winchester managed to rectify the problem & at the end of testing, the Hotchkiss design was recommended for adoption by the committee. However numerous small flaws were soon discovered & the Hotchkiss underwent numerous modification until ultimately being rejected by the Army in favor of the simpler US Springfield 1873. The Winchester-Hotchkiss was a simple bolt-action rifle using an internal tube magazine holding five rounds. Made in three variations, the Winchester-Hotchkiss was the first centerfire bolt-action repeating rifle used by any major party. To load the rifle, the bolt was opened and rounds pushed into the chamber & backwards into the stock. A catch grabs the rim of the first cartridge & holds it in place until the trigger is pulled, whereupon it is released & pushed upwards into the receiver with the magazine spring acting as motive power. When the bolt is pulled backwards, the empty casing is kicked out the rifle; when the bolt is pushed back forward, the bolt catches onto the rim of the next cartridge & drags it into battery. The bolt has one locking lug, & vent holes are present at the rear of the receiver to act as pressure relief in case of a ruptured cartridge. The rifles feature a magazine cutoff which prevents any additional rounds from feeding into the gun from the magazine. On First Model rifles, this was a switch on the right hand side of the receiver which also acted as a safety. On Second Model rifles, this was a two-position lever riding on the top left of the receiver. On Third Model rifles, this was a two-position lever mounted on the left side of the receiver. On Second & Third Model rifles, the safety is separate of the magazine cutoff. There were only 6396 First Models produced, & of the First models, only 312 of those were Civilian models. This is one of those very rare First Civilian models. It has the original one piece stock, which is excellent, with several minor handling marks to the original finish. The barrel displays a mix of remaining blue worn to a thinning brown patina, while the receiver retains 50% of the original finish. The carbine carries the original metal buttplate & saddle ring. Barrel carries the original slide adjusting ladder sight & box front carbine sight. Bore is excellent & bright, but with spotty areas of cleaned roughness. Comes with a copy of a Cody Winchester Factory Records Letter confirming configuration & shipping dates. An excellent early example of a Hotchkiss civilian carbine. No FFL Req. - Value: 2000 to 4000

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Price

VERY RARE Winchester Hotchkiss, 1879 FIRST MODEL CARBINE, CIVILI... Item # 4089 This auction is over. No new bids can be placed. Price: US $3255

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