"MARLIN MODEL 1891 DELUXE ENGRAVED GOLD PLATED LEVER ACTION RIFLE. SN 116523. Cal. 22. Extraordinary full gold-plated Type 3 rifle with 24" oct bbl, full magazine, standard dovetail front sight, fixed rear sight with a locking Lyman tang sight. Fitted with extremely beautiful flame grain, B-style checkered American walnut with straight stock & Marlin embossed hard rubber buttplate. Receiver is beautifully engraved by Conrad Ulrich in #3 style with the vignette of a squirrel holding an acorn perched on a limb on left side, surrounded by fine foliate arabesque patterns with punch dot background & multiple borders. Right side has full coverage foliate arabesque patterns with punch dot background & matching multiple borders. Top of receiver has "Marlin safety" with simple arabesque patterns, with foliate arabesque patterns about 1-1/2" over chamber area of bbl. Top tang is marked "MODEL 1891" and has light arabesque patterns with simple borders. Bottom of receiver & sides of forend cap are engraved with foliate arabesque patterns. Altogether only about 18,643 of these little rifles were made, which total includes about 5,000 with loading gates. Very few were ever ordered as deluxe with checkering and even fewer were engraved. Reference Marlin Firearms, Brophy. Page 534 of this publication pictures the left side of this rifle, showing the engraving. Caption states that this is a Model 1892, however distinctive marks on forearm & buttstock are readily identifiable as this exact rifle. CONDITION: Very fine. All metal retains virtually all of an extremely fine, very professionally restored gold finish. Wood is sound with usual nicks & dings and light scratches with some heat crazing on buttstock. Forearm is about half dark oil stained & shows moderate to heavy wear and retains 60-70% orig piano varnish finish. Buttstock shows moderate wear with some oil staining around wrist and retains 92-93% strong orig varnish. Hammer will not hold in safety notch, otherwise mechanics are fine, strong bore with fine erosion in grooves. Missing firing pin. 4-33759 JR56 (17,500-27,500)"
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