Good Winchester Model 1901 10 Gauge

This is another nice Winchester 1901 Shotgun. The gun has a pretty decent bore, some original finish on the receiver, and has the original steel butt plate which was often removed and replaced with a rubber pad. The rest of the finish is faded as can be seen but the woodwork is good with no problems. This is a pretty good representative gun.
The model 1901 was basically a redesign on the earlier 1887 model. Both 10 and 12-gauge models were offered in the Model 1887. It was soon realized that the action on the M1887 was not strong enough to handle early smokeless powder shot shells, and so a redesign resulted in the stronger Winchester Model 1901, 10-gauge only, to handle the advent of the more powerful smokeless powder. No 12-gauge chambering was offered, as Winchester did not want the Model 1901 to compete with their successful 12-gauge Model 1897 pump-action shotgun. Other distinguishing characteristics of the Model 1901 are:
a two piece lever
the Winchester trademark stamp was moved to the upper tang, behind the hammer
serial numbers between 64,856 and 79,455
This particular shotgun has a serial number can be dated to 1902 and would have been one of the first ones manufactured. A real “Cowboy” gun.
This is a good 1901 and would be considered scarce in the USA but rare in the UK. I am finding these increasingly difficult to source in the USA as there are actually more registered Winchester collectors than the number of these guns that were manufactured! This shotgun is chambered for the short 10 gauge cartridge and does not require a license to own it in the UK.

Code: 50705