From - The Winchester Book', by George Madis - on page 217...
"In 1876, at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, the Model 1876 made its first public appearance.
The new gun was called 'the Centennial Model' commemorating the anniversary of the Revolutionary War, and it was a revolutionary gun.
First of the production Winchesters to chamber the larger cartridges, last of the models that used the toggle and link system which had made a success of the lever action Winchester and its predecessors.
By the end of 1876, the new gun was ready..."
Serial numbers at the beginning of 1876 start at '1' and end with '1429'.
Scouts Out!