Cody's Giant Winchester

Above, Cody's giant Winchester. Roadside America photo.

Last year, Mitch Geriminsky and I went to Cody, Wyoming to attend the Winchester Arms Collectors Association (WACA) gun show and to visit the Cody Firearms Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.

While in Cody, we also stopped by the Irma Hotel for dinner. Unbeknownst to us, near the Irma Hotel a 30 foot Winchester lever action would be displayed atop a gun store's roof. 

I just found out about this last evening.

According to Cowboy State Daily:

Fifty years ago, the highlight of the Cody Stampede Parade marking America’s bicentennial celebration was a 30-foot-long .30-30 Winchester rifle, dominating a float that also carried legendary Western actor John Wayne.

That rifle has been sitting atop a storefront in downtown Cody since. 

Everyone loves the giant Winchester, so they might have noticed when it recently suddenly disappeared from the roof where it had been prominently displayed since its trip down Sheridan Avenue decades earlier.

Like John Wayne himself, Cody’s giant Winchester rifle is coming back, better than ever, for another 50 years dominating Cody’s historic downtown.

“We're putting it back to what it was in 1976, as best we can,” said Mike Darby, owner of the Irma Hotel and the giant Winchester. “I can’t confirm or deny what we’re going to do with it, but we’re hoping to have it done by July 3.”

Apparently, the Winchester was removed before our arrival. 

To read more, go here. 

To read Roadside America's entry, go here.