Winchester Model 1876 (Model 76) serial numbers by year
The Centennial Model — a Model 1873 action enlarged for big-game cartridges like the .45-75, and the rifle of Canada’s North-West Mounted Police.
- Produced:
- 1876–1898
- Action:
- lever-action
What year was your Model 76 made?
Winchester Model 76 value: what it sells for at auction
114 Winchester Model 1876s sold one gun to a lot at Rock Island Auction Company (86) and Morphy Auctions (28) between Sep 2023 and Sep 2026. The table groups them the way the auction house coded each lot: antique, curio and relic, or modern. Half of the guns in each row sold inside the “most sell between” range; a quarter sold below it and a quarter above. Eight in ten sold inside the wider “nearly all between” range.
Standard guns only. Left out: deluxe and special-order guns (checkered or fancy wood, pistol grips, odd barrel lengths, special sights), engraved, inscribed, presentation, and commemorative pieces, and lots of two or more guns. A deluxe or special-order gun sells for more than these figures, often several times more. Condition and originality drive most of the spread inside a row.
Enter your serial number above and this section picks out the row for your gun’s era and lists the most recent sales like it.
| Era | Sales | Most sell between | Typical | Nearly all between |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antiquemade before 1899 | 114 | $2,362 – $7,378 | $3,525 | $1,934 – $16,080 |
By configuration
The same sales split by what the lot title called the gun, all eras together.
| Configuration | Sales | Most sell between | Typical | Nearly all between |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rifle | 102 | $2,350 – $5,288 | $3,231 | $1,925 – $14,252 |
| Carbine | 10 | $5,361 – $11,426 | $9,988 | $4,085 – $28,200 |
These are sold prices for standard guns, not an appraisal. Prices realized as published by each house after the sale; both houses' figures include the buyer's premium. A dealer buying for resale will offer less than these figures; a private sale between collectors often lands near the typical price for the gun’s condition. If your gun has factory upgrades, a factory letter that confirms them is what moves it above these numbers. Updated after each major sale. The full picture, model by model →
Where the serial number is
Lower tang (bottom of receiver, in front of trigger guard).
Why the sources give different years
Nobody kept one official list of which Winchester Model 1876 serial numbers were made in which year. The dates come from a list typed up by Winchester's customer-service desk, which mixes real records with estimates, and other published compilations, each named above its table. For some serial numbers these sources are years apart, so this page shows what each one says instead of picking one.
Madis vs. factory dates lists every model where the sources part ways, with a real serial number from each.
Sources for this model: oldguns.net/Proofhouse approximate starting-serial table · Winchester customer-service list (2012)
Winchester Model 1876 serial numbers by year
The full Model 1876 serial number chart, one table for each published source. Each row gives the serial numbers that source assigns to a year. Find the row your number falls in.
The tables agree with each other except at a year-end boundary or two, where they differ by a handful of serials. A row marked “approximate” comes from a table whose figures are estimates rather than factory records.
Proofhouse / oldguns.net table
An online compilation of approximate figures, most of them traced back to Madis.
Cited as: oldguns.net/Proofhouse approximate starting-serial table
| Year | Serial numbers |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 1 – 1,429 |
| 1877 | 1,430 – 3,579 |
| 1878 | 3,580 – 7,967 |
| 1879 | 7,968 – 8,971 |
| 1880 | 8,972 – 14,700 |
| 1881 | 14,701 – 21,715 |
| 1882approximate | 21,716 – 32,407 |
| 1883 | 32,408 – 42,410 |
| 1884 | 42,411 – 54,666 |
| 1885 | 54,667 – 58,714 |
| 1886 | 58,715 – 60,397 |
| 1887 | 60,398 – 62,420 |
| 1888 | 62,421 – 63,539 |
| 1892 | 63,540 – 63,561 |
| 1893 | 63,562 – 63,670 |
| 1894 | 63,671 – 63,678 |
| 1896 | 63,679 – 63,702 |
| 1897 | 63,703 – 63,869 |
| 1898 | 63,870 |
- 1882: The published table prints 21,716 as the start of 1882. But its own 1881 line, 7,058 guns starting at 14,701, ends at 21,759, and Winchester's list opens 1882 at 21,760. The 21,716 figure is a copying error.
- 1888: The starting serial 63,540 is repeated for 1889, 1890, 1891 and 1892. The older published tables enter no production for 1889 to 1891.
- 1892: There are no factory records for 1889 to 1891. The starting serial numbers in between are estimates.
- 1894: The starting serial 63,679 is repeated for 1895 and 1896. The older published tables enter no production for 1895.
- 1896: There are no factory records for 1895. Its starting serial number is an estimate.
- 1898: The table marks 63,870 as the end. Winchester's own list and the factory records end one number higher, at 63,871.
Winchester's own customer-service list (2012)
A year-by-year list Winchester's customer-service desk typed up to answer owners' letters. Partly real records and partly estimates, as the list itself says.
Cited as: Winchester customer-service list (2012)
| Year | Serial numbers |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 1 – 1,429 |
| 1877 | 1,430 – 3,579 |
| 1878 | 3,580 – 7,967 |
| 1879 | 7,968 – 8,971 |
| 1880 | 8,972 – 14,700 |
| 1881 | 14,701 – 21,759 |
| 1882 | 21,760 – 32,407 |
| 1883 | 32,408 – 42,410 |
| 1884 | 42,411 – 54,666 |
| 1885 | 54,667 – 58,714 |
| 1886 | 58,715 – 60,397 |
| 1887 | 60,398 – 62,420 |
| 1888 | 62,421 – 63,539 |
| 1892 | 63,540 – 63,561 |
| 1893 | 63,562 – 63,670 |
| 1894 | 63,671 – 63,678 |
| 1896 | 63,679 – 63,702 |
| 1897 | 63,703 – 63,869 |
| 1898 | 63,870 – 63,871 |
What to know about Model 1876 serial numbers
- The older published tables enter no production for 1889 to 1891 or for 1895. Do not fill those years in by estimating between the numbers on either side.
- Production dropped sharply after the Model 1886 came out. Only a trickle was made from 1889 onward.
- The last Model 1876 serial number is 63,871. Winchester's own customer-service list ends 1898 at that number, and the factory records at the Cody Firearms Museum cover 1 to 63,871. OldGuns prints 63,870 as the end of its year-by-year table but 1 to 63,872 as the model's overall range. Both are one number off the factory figure, and the difference does not change any year.
- Winchester's own customer-service list is a retyped compilation, not the original records. The list itself says that no complete original serial record from 1866 onward is known to exist, and that some of its figures are estimates.
Related models, and why
Shared serial sequences, successors, and look-alikes — each link says why it is here, straight from the record notes.
Other Winchester lever-action rifles
Winchester rifles that never had a serial number
These have no serial number to look up. Their pages explain why, and how to date one from its features.
Want proof on paper? Order a factory letter
The Cody Firearms Museum holds Winchester’s original records and, for a fee, will search them for your serial number and send you a letter with the recorded dates and details. It is the closest thing to the original factory entry you can own, and it is what auction houses and appraisers accept.
Its records cover Model 1876 serial numbers: 1–63,871. A number outside that coverage cannot be lettered.
Order a factory letter from the Cody Firearms Museum →What a factory letter shows, and when one is worth ordering →