Lot 59: Special Issue Ruger Number 1 Single Shot Rifle In Caliber .30-06

Special Issue Ruger Number 1 Single Shot Rifle In Caliber .30-06. Corbin Park Series Serial Number 5 Absolutely New And Spectacular, From what we can gather, a limited series of these rifles were made for the members of the Blue Mountain Forest Association otherwise known as Corbin Park. Corbin Park is named after its creator; Austin Corbin – A self-made millionaire, and known as the “Father of the Banking Industry”. Austin Corbin bought up dozens of farms in west central New Hampshire in the late 1800s to create one of the largest hunting preserves in America. Corbin Park, otherwise known as the Blue Mountain Forest Association is a private, enclosed shooting preserve with extremely limited membership. The approximately 26,000 acre preserve was founded in 1890 by Austin Corbin. Corbin used his fortune to buy up as much land as he could in the Croydon-Grantham area to establish a gigantic hunter’s playground. The majority of the park is in Croydon, with over 10,000 acres. Corbin’s intention was to bring together at his preserve, “all the animals of the world that can live there harmoniously.” Originally, it was stocked with bison, white-tailed deer, black-tailed deer, mule deer, European red deer, bighorn sheep, moose, antelope, caribou, Himalayan mountain goats, pheasants and wild boar from the German Black Forest. The bison, deer, elk and boar all flourished, but the pheasants flew over the 150 miles of fences and the rest of the species proved unable to survive. Corbin Park once had the largest bison herd in the country, and supplied bison and deer to refuges, parks and zoos all over the U.S. The organization has somewhat of a mysterious reputation. Fully fenced, the public is strictly forbidden entry. The names of the members are kept secret as is the buy-in price for new members (rumored to be over one million dollars) and the annual dues are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars). Teddy Roosevelt hunted there and you can bet that if you saw today's membership list you would recognize some of the names. William Ruger Sr. was a member and was so tied to the place that he moved one of his factories to nearby Newport, New Hampshire. According to the factory serial number, this rifle was made in 2005. It is probably part of a very small series made only for the members of Corbin Park. This particular one was made for the late William Ruger Jr., Chairman and President of Ruger Firearms at the time and bares his initials "WBRJR" in gold. It is new and unfired in its original box with all papers and accessories. It has a 21 inch barrel with both ramp mounted front and rear sights. The wood is spectacular honey colored walnut with sharply contrasting black stripes. The receiver is scroll engraved and the rifle is profusely gold inlaid with a pair of gold circles around both the muzzle and the rear of the barrel. "Corbin Park No. 5" is spelled out in gold on the right side of the barrel. The receiver and pistol grip cap are inlaid with 3 images of animals that that roam Corbin Park, present and past: wild boar, elk and buffalo. A very rare and beautiful rifle that is sure to increase in value as time goes by.

Price Realized: $4,250

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