{"id":588,"date":"2022-12-01T18:10:59","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T18:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/?p=588"},"modified":"2022-12-01T18:10:59","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T18:10:59","slug":"collectible-firearms-for-serious-gun-collectors-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/?p=588","title":{"rendered":"Collectible Firearms for Serious Gun Collectors"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Buffalo Bill Cody<\/a> needs no introduction to those even vaguely familiar with the American West. The Union scout, Pony Express rider, Civil War soldier, Medal of Honor recipient, Indian fighter<\/a>, and buffalo hunter was already a living legend by the time he founded his Wild West show in 1883, and factory-documented Buffalo Bill presentation firearms are some of the scarcest treasures in gun collecting<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Winchester Model 1895 lever action carbine offered in Rock Island Auction Company\u2019s December 9-11 Premier Firearms Auction<\/a> is factory documented as presented by Buffalo Bill Cody to Fred Kavanaugh, Cody\u2019s friend and business partner.<\/p>\n

The historical significance of this exceptional Winchester 1895 carbine cannot be overstated. Most firearms presented by Buffalo Bill have found their way into museums and are not available on the private market. Add to those rarities its high condition, factory-documented provenance, and its direct connection to Buffalo Bill\u2019s home-away-from-home, the Irma Hotel<\/a> in Cody, Wyoming, and you have a true cornerstone in not only Wild West memorabilia but historic arms collecting as a whole.<\/p>\n

The Buffalo Bill Wild West Show<\/h3>\n

In 1883, William Cody founded \u201cBuffalo Bill’s Wild West\u201d<\/a>, a circus-like extravaganza that toured widely for three decades in the United States and Europe. Cody\u2019s legendary show was a highly popular form of late 19th<\/sup>-century entertainment that featured Native Americans, cowboys, scouts, and marksmen and markswomen performing elaborate productions.<\/p>\n

Throughout its existence, the Buffalo Bill Wild West show featured performances by figures forever synonymous with the American frontier like Buck Taylor \u201cKing of the Cowboys,\u201d<\/a> Annie Oakley<\/a>, Frank Butler, Sitting Bull<\/a>, Johnny Baker \u201cThe Cowboy Kid,\u201d Rough Rider Billy McGinty, Pawnee Bill<\/a>, Dr. William Frank Carver, Montana Frank, and Calamity Jane<\/a>. In the winter of 1886, the show was retooled for an impressive four-act indoor performance at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n

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