The Story of The Old 1886 Winchester That Belonged to My Grandfather Benjamin Garlock (1877 – 1971)
From the time I was a small boy growing up at Marshville, I remember Grandpa’s 1886 model Winchester 38-56 sitting with the other family guns in a kitchen closet. In a young boy's mind, it was a remarkable thing. One which could be used to hunt huge game and settle frontiers. It was long and heavy with a full octagon barrel and full magazine. Grandpa had used it for many years hunting deer at Stratford. By the time I came on the scene, its bore was not in good condition and 38-56 cartridges were almost impossible to obtain. Grandpa was getting old and the rifle was too heavy for him to carry. He took it to a man in Gloversville who cut the barrel off and reduced the magazine by about half. This ruined the authentic old rifle. When I was 12 years old I began to collect a few old guns. At that time I asked Grandpa then 65 years old to tell me more about the rifle and about the carving he had done on the stock. The upper tang of these earlier 1886 Winchesters were simply marked “Model...