*EXTRAORDINARY & SPECTACULAR ONE OF A KIND INSCRIBED WINCHESTER MODEL 1886 DELUXE ENGRAVED GOLD

*EXTRAORDINARY & SPECTACULAR ONE OF A KIND INSCRIBED WINCHESTER MODEL 1886 DELUXE ENGRAVED GOLD INLAID & CARVED LEVER ACTION RIFLE. SN 124863. Cal. 45-70. Wonderful Model `86 with 22" lightweight, tapered rnd bbl with full magazine, pedestal mounted Lyman ivory bead hunting front sight & semi-buckhorn Winchester rear sight. Just in front of the rear sight on top of the bbl is engraved, in a single line, "BUILT for BENJAMIN TAFT", reading from muzzle to receiver. Mounted with spectacular center crotch-cut, flame grain, American walnut with B-style carved forearm & capped pistol grip stock that has Winchester hard rubber buttplate. Receiver is phenomenally engraved by John Ulrich & signed on bottom tang. Engraving consists of deep relief vignettes of a large oval on left side with figures of a walking bull elk, a standing & a reclining cow elk in a mountainous forest scene with fine shaded background. Right side of receiver has a deep relief engraved walking bull moose vignette just forward of loading gate & a smaller oval vignette of a whitetail buck above loading gate, both with extremely detailed backgrounds. Bottom of receiver is engraved with the round vignette of the head of a whitetail buck inlaid in gold. Balance of receiver has about 80% coverage very fine foliate arabesque patterns with heart shaped borders. Top of receiver, receiver ring, bolt, top tang, lever, takedown ring & forend cap are all engraved to match. Large vignette on left side & gold inlay on bottom are surrounded by gold wire inlay with a gold wire border on both sides of the receiver & around takedown ring, rear edge of receiver & forend cap. Top tang also has gold wire inlay. Chamber & muzzle ends of bbl have gold wire bands. All screwheads are also beautifully engraved which is indicative of the extraordinary level of engraving on this rifle. All this combines to present one of the most stunning Winchesters extant. Left side of lower tang, under wood, is stamped with assembly number "274" and "XX R". This assembly number is also found in the top tang channel of buttstock, on bbl under forearm & inside forearm cap. Accompanied by several copies of Cody Firearms Museum letters with different dates all stating the same thing. They fully identify this spectacular rifle as found in caliber 45-70, 22" rnd bbl, plain trigger, style "B" carved fancy pistol grip stock with oil finish, takedown, with bbl marked "BENJAMIN TAFT", engraved $50.00, style #3, moose in place of Rocky Mtn. goat, smokeless, received in warehouse July 19, 1901, returned to warehouse Aug. 7, 1901 & shipped again Aug. 7, 1901 to order #100821. Also accompanying is a letter from Waddy Colvert`s Research Service which notes that there were only 2,213 Models 1886 made with 22" bbls out of the approx. 159,000 produced. Mr. Colvert also states that genealogical research of Mr. Taft revealed that he was born in 1854 to Henry Taft of Cincinnati, Ohio & that he was cousin of President William Howard Taft and a distant cousin to Robert Taft, Governor of Ohio. This rifle is pictured on p. 343 of Winchester-An American Legend, Wilson. It was also pictured in the James Fowler Collection of the Antique Arms Annual and was featured as a "Members` Favorite" in the Winchester Arms Collectors Association publication. And finally it is pictured on the cover of Norm Flayderman`s No. 65 Catalog of February 1964 and is Item #704 in the catalog with an asking price of $2,500.00. A copy of the Flayderman Catalog accompanies this rifle. PROVENANCE: Norm Flayderman, Feb. 1964 catalog, Item #704; James Fowler Collection; Gary Robertson Collection; LeRoy Merz; Clyde "Junior" Stewart Collection; Randy Saba Collection; Wes Adams Estate Collection. CONDITION: Extremely fine. Bbl & magazine tube retain about 98% strong orig blue with some slight spiraling on magazine