280 Ross m-10

From the Neidy collection.

Antique Indian Wars Cavalry Kepi Cavalry insignia on top .Hat is made by Rogers and Peet of New York.  Rogers and Peet made military attire as well as civilian clothing and was founded on November 6th 1874.  It remained in business until 1962.  The makers name is on the sweat band..about one inch of sweat band is missing at rear of cap and a very small sliver of foam is present possibly for hanging or display purposes?  The lining is present on the sides of the cap with a we bit of stitching missing on one side under the sweat band but remains in very good condition.  Cap has several minor small moth holes..and is missing the front leather band and the two cap buttons.These things can still be found on Ebay for a reasonable price.  Over all, the cap is still in very good condition.    

Civil War Cavalry Kepi.  This kepi is marked  First California.  It is from "The First California Volunteer Cavalry Regiment".  The regiment was formed between August and October 31st, 1861.  The outfit remained in southern California until spring of 1862 when it became part of the California column.  As can be seen in the pictures the hat is missing the first C in California.  There are a few small moth holes and is also missing its liner.  The liners are missing out of many Civil War kepis and I would hazard a guess that when the severe heat came in the summer, they were removed for self preservation.  The soldier although remained in full uniform.  This Kepi has a very nice leather band and buttons.  It is a very nice piece of history.  

Civil War Cavalry Cap $1495, Indian Wars Kepi $550

From the Cousineau collection.

Chambered in 35 WCF, this rifle sports a mint bright shiny bore.  The wood is solid with only a small chip out of the wrist, finish on the barrel is 90% plus, finish on the receiver is 40-50 %.  Mechanically is functions as it should.  Barrel ring being knurled on top for glare is an interesting feature not normally encountered on standard rifles.  Overall, a very nice example of an 1895, rifle.

​$1850 Canadian

The Winchester Model 71 was a lever action rifle introduced in 1935 and discontinued in 1958.  Essentially, a slightly modified version of the Browning designed 1886, it was only chambered for the 348 Winchester round; except for an extremely rare 45-70 and 33 WCF. It was also (other than 400 rifles chambered for the .348 in the Cimarron 1885 Hi-Wall in 2005-06) the only firearm that ever used that cartridge. The Model 71 was conceived as a replacement for both the 1886 and the 1895 as a complement to the Winchester Model 70 bolt-action rifle and to replace a raft of cartridges (the .33 Winchester, the .45-70, the .35 Winchester, and the .405 Winchester) with just one (the .348 Winchester. The rifle and cartridge were very effective against any North American big game animal in heavy timber, including the great bears, if using the 250-grain (16 g) bullet. It was once very popular for hunting in Canada and Alaska.  The 71 was built in 2 different barrel lengths the standard rifle and the short rifle and in two configurations, the standard rifle and the deluxe rifle.  After a certain year Model 71's came from the factory drilled and tapped for side mounted peep sights.  Unfortunately, economics caused the rifle to be very expensive, and with less costly lever action rifles available in common and fairly powerful rounds such as 35 Remington and the growing popularity of cheap bolt-actions in military and Magnum chambering's, the Winchester 71 with its excellent but unique cartridge was destined for commercial oblivion. The .348 was also the only 34 caliber cartridge ever made by an American manufacturer and essentially the first short magnum cartridge, making it a little problematic for hand loaders, as there was never a wide selection of 34 caliber bullets.  Cartridges of the World remarks that factory ammunition was available in 150, 200 and 250-grain (16 g) weights. Only the 200-grain (13 g) weight is still available in factory ammunition.  Browning re-issued the Model 71 as a limited edition in the mid 1980s. The Winchester and Browning versions showed very high degrees of craftsmanship.  As of August, 2013, the Winchester Repeating Arms website again lists model 71s as available, new from the factory.  The Winchester Model 71 still has a loyal following for what is arguably "the finest big bore lever gun that has ever been" as well as being used as a strong and solid platform for various 'wildcat' projects.  

This example sports a 20" barrel with hooded integral-ramp front sight. Short tang. Super Grade swivel studs. Checkered walnut stock with capped pistol grip and original checkered steel buttplate. Bolt peep sight. Checkered hammer. No extra holes.  Excellent bore, factory short rifles are extremely rare, this is the only one I have ever owned and frankly the only one I have ever seen.  

From my collection.

In 1763 France adopted a new infantry musket, much stronger than the previous design, to answer the needs of an accelerated fire coming from the war tactics developed during the Seven Years War. The new gun was found  too heavy and was replaced after only three years by the 1766 Model. After this date it has been replaced by the Model 1770/71 and the muskets given back from the soldiers have been used in 1775 when the American Independence War started and France distributed numerous 1763 - 1766 muskets to the troops in the American revolution and of the new born United States of America. Many Charleville Muskets were used in Upper and Lower Canada in the early 1800's and specifically the war of 1812.  This example is is very fine condition with strong wood and excellent original finish.  Mechanically it functions as it should.  A very fine example with tons of history, American and Canadian.   Antique in Canada, no license required.

$3,595 Can. Antique

The 44 WCF was standard for the “gun that won the West,” though it also was made in 38 WCF (first offered in 1879), 32 WCF (introduced in 1882) and .22 rimfire (1884), with a few special-order guns built in .22 extra long rimfire. Model 1873s had iron receivers until 1884, when a steel receiver was introduced. The Model 1873 was offered as a sporting rifle (with a 24” round, octagonal or half-octagonal barrel), a carbine (with a 20” round barrel) and as a musket (with a 30” round barrel). The Model 1873 was officially discontinued in 1919, after approximately 720,000 guns had been produced.

The First Model 1873 (s/n 1 to about 31000) has grooved guides on each side to retain the dustcover (sometimes referred to as a “mortised dustcover). The Second Model (s/n 31000 to 90000) has a dust cover on one central guide secured to the receiver with two screws. The central guide rail on the Third Model is integrally machined as part of the receiver. The Model 1873 .22 Rimfire Rifle was the first .22 caliber repeating rifle in America was introduced in 1884 and discontinued in 1904. Winchester sold a little more than 19,000 .22 caliber Model 1873s.

This example was a barn find, it had been in the same family for generations and spent all of its life in the barn.  The family member I got it from admitted that it had been lost in the barn until discovered recently and brought to me.  It has been in my collection for many years.  The outside appearance shows a very hard life as a tool, however, it functions flawlessly and has an amazingly bright shiny bore with really strong distinct rifling, only a bit of corrosion in a line, down one section of the bore, probably it was lying on its side for many years and that is where the moisture accumulated.  It is an excellent shooter.  As you can see in the pics the serial number is not visible, I attempted to polish the area where the number would normally be and tried etching chemical in an attempt to raise the serial number, I met with no success.  Due to the fact that the upper tang is void of any model indication and there is no provision for a tang mounted peep sight, my research indicates that this carbine is lower than serial number 600 and likely lower than 350.  One needs to ask the question, how rare is this rifle.......?  Being under 600 serial number how many of these carbines were produced and how many have survived.....?