i thought i would share pics of my new purchase with you guys
it cost me 2 86s and a little to boot  but i have never been more satisfied in one trade in my life 
it will be handed down to my children
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the gun letters to a tea.
and in a 22 short how cool is that!!!!

rafter-7

well,
i have owned those 86s for many years so i am not into this gun too bad i have had many offers to sell but i wanted to trade for somthing like this 
When ever i pull out a lever gun a screaming single shot comes home the only problem i have is that there is only two levers left and thier both marlins one 93 38-55 and a 94 25-20 both case frames and i only take them out to oil them so i think this will end my fun......maybe!

rafter-7

here is what the factory letter states;
september 25 1973

The winchester single shot serial 779xx  as a rifle, 22s,octagon barrel set trigger.schuetzen checked stock, pistol grip. cheekpiece. Scheutzen plate, no rear seat. Midrange and wind guage sights.12 1/2" pull. Shipped April 24, 1897, no other information listed.

Sincerely,
T.E. Hall
Curator

Beautiful!  I hope you have good luck with .22 Short ammo.  Is that a "Winchester Special Sporting" stock pattern?

Richard

i was looking at my pics and realized all i showded you was the left side 
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so here is the right side

as for the special sporting stock i dont know but i can tell you this  with the 12 1/2 pull it was built for a guy a lot smaller than me but i will find a way to make it work!!!
It is very uncomfortable from the bench 
the gun weighs about 11 pounds 30" full octogon #3 barrel makes her kinda nose heavy but again i will deal with it
the checkering is even so sharp it actually bites in your hands you really can get a grip on this gun

rafter-7    The guy advertised it as 98% blue 96% case

i took the forearm off the day it was shipped to me to check for rebarrel marks or any proof marks from the factory to prove tampering there was nothing 
The only thing i found that was puzzling is the #3 barrel mark was just infront of the forarm like always and there was a extra #3 on the same plain about 1/4 inch in front of the reciever under the forarm it was the factory stamp but i have not come across that before but i have never got to inspect a 30" barrel before either
my father looked at the gun and he thinks its unfired but i think it has been not much though... the bore is perfect

rafter-7 
BTW i have found that older winnies like RWS ammo at least that is where i start R25 in this case. byron and i shoot a lot of rimfire between us we got close to 50,000 rounds so i am sure we will find somthing that works   
  My neighbor said it best "the gun aint no damn good with out any ammo

chad  rafter-7

Rafter,

  FITZ is right. In fact I'm playing with a Win. H.W. in .32/40 right now that has the caliber marked in small letters on the top and larger letters on the bottom of the barrel. When I see these duplicate markings I just assume someone at the factory had a slow day. 

PETE

last few days i have been tring to wrap up small grain harvest and last night at dark it hailed marbles for about 5 minutes  at daylight i am going to asses the damage but on the bright side i am down to 70 acres af flax some beans and corn

i felt good about the second mark on my barrel and i shot it the other day all you here is the click of the hammer the slap of the bullet and a foot it is twice as quite over my pellet gun we did not shoot for groups there was no time

rafter-7