Treasures from the Buffalo Bill Center of the West’s Cody Firearms Museum and Buffalo Bill Museum headed to the annual SHOT Show (“Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade”) in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 19 – 22, 2016. The Show is the largest and most comprehensive trade show for all professionals involved with the shooting sports, hunting, and law enforcement industries.
“Winchester celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2016,” noted Cody Firearms Museum Curator, Ashley Hlebinsky, “and for the SHOT show, the company focuses on three themes: the Winchester Model 1873 (featured firearm), the Winchester Connection, and the Presentation Winchesters. At both the Winchester Ammunition and Winchester Repeating Arms booths at the SHOT Show, we plan to display historic Winchesters from our collection that fit each theme.”
The Winchesters that were on display from the Center of the West are iconic in firearms circles:
- Buffalo Bill’s arena Model 1873 smoothbore rifle
- Former Winchester Canada President R.F. Bucher’s custom Winchester Model 101 double-barrel shotgun
- President Eisenhower’s Model 1894 lever-action rifle
- President Kennedy’s Model 70 bolt-action rifle;
- Zane Grey’s Model 1895 takedown rifle;
- Ernest Hemingway’s Model 21 double-barrel shotgun; and
“In honor of their anniversary, Winchester is marketing new versions of the Models 1873, 101, 1894, and 70,” Hlebinsky added. “This makes for an extraordinary comparison between the long guns from our collection and Winchester’s commemorative versions.”
The “Winchester Connection” includes a series of historic guns from the Olin Corporation’s contribution to Winchester history, including two from the Center’s collection: John Olin’s Winchester Model 1897 slide-action shotgun, serial number 1,000,000, and his Winchester M1 Carbine, serial number 1,000,001.
The Center helped facilitate the display of the “Great Basin Gun” which also made an appearance at the Show, courtesy of the National Park Service. The historic, weathered Winchester was unearthed at Great Basin National Park in Nevada in November 2014. The Center conserved and formerly displayed the rifle during summer 2015 at the Cody Firearms Museum.
Rounding out the Las Vegas trip was the Antique Arms Show, January 22 – 24, 2016, with the Center’s Firearms Records Office in attendance to offer research services on Winchester, Marlin, and L.C. Smith firearms, and coming soon, Parker.
