Winchester rifle

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Winchester Model 1873 rifle
Winchester Model 1873 Short Rifle 1495.jpg
"The Gun that Won the West"
Type Rifle
Place of origin United States
Service history
Used by United States
Ottoman Empire
Wars American Indian Wars,
Russo-Ottoman War of 1877,
North-West Rebellion,
French intervention in Mexico Spanish-American War.
Production history
Designed 1873
Manufacturer Winchester Repeating Arms Company
Produced 1873–1919
Number built ~720,000
Variants Full-stocked "Musket", Carbine, Sporting model
Weight 9.5lb (4.3 kg)
Length 49.3in (125.2 cm)
Barrel length 30in (76.2 cm)

Action Lever-action
Feed system 15-round tube magazine
Sights Graduated rear sights, Fixed-post front sights

Winchester rifle is usually used to refer to the lever-action rifles manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, though the company has also manufactured many rifles of other action types. Winchester rifles were among the earliest repeating rifles; the Winchester repeater was incredibly popular and is colloquially known as "The Gun that Won the West" for its predominant role in the hands of Western settlers.


Volcanic pistol
1860 Henry and 1866 Winchester Musket









Winchester lever-action repeating rifles[edit]

Winchester Model 1866[edit]



These rifles were used in number by the Ottoman Empire in the 1877 Russo-Turkish War, where they made quite a name for themselves during the Siege of Plevna. The battle incidentally caused all the major powers to seriously consider adopting repeating rifles, considering the outnumbered Turks inflicted four times as many casualties as the Russians did with their single-shot Krnka and Berdan rifles.

The Swiss Army selected the Winchester Model 1866 to replace their existing single-shot Milbank-Amsler rifles, but political pressure to use a domestic design resulted in this decision being rescinded. Instead, the Vetterli Model 1867, a bolt-action design utilizing a copy of the Winchester's tubular magazine, was adopted.

Winchester Model 1873[edit]

Winchester 73 toggle-link action

One of the most successful, and certainly one of the most famous Winchester rifles was the Winchester Model 1873, manufactured between 1873 and 1919. Originally chambered for the .44-40 cartridge, it was later produced in .38-40 and .32-20, all of which were also popular handgun cartridges of the day, allowing its users to conveniently carry one type of ammunition for both their rifles and pistols. Due to feeding problems, the original Model 1873 was never offered in the military standard .45 Colt cartridge, although a number of modern reproductions of the rifle are chambered for the round. The popularity of the Winchester in .44-40 led Colt to manufacture a version of the Single Action Army revolver chambered for the same round, called the "Frontier Model";[3] Winchester produced three variations of the Model 1873: the rifle, carbine, and musket (although the musket variation accounted for less than 5–10 percent of those produced). The rifle variation used a 24" barrel, while the carbine used a 20" barrel. The carbine was the most popular due to its portability.

Winchester established a One of One Thousand grade in 1875. All barrels were test-fired for accuracy during the manufacturing process. Barrels producing unusually small groups were fitted to rifles with set triggers and special finish and marked One of One Thousand to be sold at a price of $100. A second grade of barrels producing above average accuracy were fitted to rifles marked One of One Hundred and sold for a price $20 higher than list. Approximately 136 One of One Thousand Model 1873 rifles were sold with only eight Model 1873s of the One of One Hundred grade.[4]

Winchester rifles were readily available on the frontier and became hugely popular, with over 720,000 produced. This popularity has led the Model 1873 to be credited as "The Gun that Won the West", and inspired the 1950 Western film Winchester '73 starring James Stewart and directed by Anthony Mann. Production of the latter movie included a search for One of One Thousand and One of One Hundred rifles by Universal Studios with advertisements in sporting magazines and posters in sporting goods stores.[4]

In 2013 Winchester brought back this iconic rifle. The rifle is manufactured under license from the Olin company by FN/Browning in the Kochi Prefecture of Japan by the Miroku Corporation. This marks the third of the classic Winchester rifle models to be re-introduced, the previous models being the Model 1892 and the Model 1894. The new model is available with a 20" round barrel and chambered in .357 Magnum/.38 Special only. It is nearly identical in design to the original Model 73s including the trigger disconnect safety, sliding dustcover, and crescent shaped buttplate, but with two notable exceptions. An additional safety mechanism, a firing pin block that prevents it from moving forward unless the trigger is pulled, was integrated and the cartridge carrier was changed to eject used casings away from the shooter. The fixed, tubular magazine has a maximum capacity of ten rounds.[5]

Winchester Model 1876[edit]

Teddy Roosevelt with his engraved Model 1876


The 1876 was introduced to celebrate the American Centennial, and earned a reputation as a durable and powerful hunting rifle. Production included 54 One of One Thousand Model 1876s and only seven of the One of One Hundred grade.[4] Originally chambered for the new .45-75 WCF cartridge (designed to replicate the .45-70 Gov't ballistics in a shorter case), versions in .40-60, .45-60 and .50-95 Express followed; the '76 in the latter chambering is the only repeater known to have been used in any numbers by the professional buffalo hunters.[6] The Canadian North-West Mounted Police used the '76 in .45-75 as a standard long arm for many years with 750 rifles purchased for the force in 1883;[7] the Mountie-model '76 carbine was also issued to the Texas Rangers. Theodore Roosevelt used an engraved, pistol-gripped half-magazine '76 during his early hunting expeditions in the West and praised it. A '76 was also found in the possession of Apache warrior Geronimo after his surrender in 1886.[8]

Winchester Model 1886[edit]

Main article: Winchester Model 1886
Winchester Model 1886

The Model 1886 continued the trend towards chambering heavier rounds, and had an all-new and considerably stronger locking-block action than the toggle-link Model 1876. It was designed by John Moses Browning, who had a long and profitable relationship with Winchester from the 1880s to the early 1900s. William Mason made some improvements to Browning's original design. In many respects the Model 1886 was a true American express rifle, as it could be chambered in the more powerful black powder cartridges of the day, such as the .45-70 Government (chambering a rifle for the popular .45-70 had been a goal of Winchester for some time). The 1886 proved capable of handling not only the .45 Gov't but also .45-90 and the huge .50-110 Express "buffalo" cartridges,[9][10] and in 1903 was chambered for the smokeless high-velocity .33 WCF. In 1935 Winchester introduced a slightly modified M1886 as the Model 71, chambered for the more powerful .348 Winchester cartridge.

Winchester Model 1892[edit]

Main article: Winchester Model 1892
Winchester Model 1892

Winchester returned to its roots with the Model 1892, which, like the first lever-action guns, was primarily chambered for shorter, lower-pressure handgun rounds. The Model 1892, however, incorporates a much stronger Browning action (based on the larger M1886) than the earlier Henry-derived arms of the 1860s and 1870s. 1,004,675 Model 1892 rifles were made by Winchester, and although the company phased them out in the 1930s, replicas are still being made by the Brazilian arms maker, Rossi, and by Chiappa Firearms, an Italian factory. In its modern form, using updated materials and production techniques, the Model 1892's action is strong enough to chamber high pressure handgun rounds, such as .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum, and .454 Casull. The Winchester '92 was commonly used in Hollywood Western movies and TV shows, as a substitute for the Winchester '66 and '73 models, because it has a similar appearance, and was cheaper and easier to acquire.[11]

Winchester Model 1894[edit]

Main article: Winchester Model 1894
Winchester Model 1894

The John Browning designed Winchester Model 1894 is the most prevalent of the Winchester repeating rifles. The Model 94 was first chambered for the .32-40 cartridge, and later, a variety of calibers such as .25-35 WCF, .30-30, .32 Winchester Special, and the .38-55. Winchester was the first company to manufacture a civilian rifle chambered for the new smokeless propellants, and although delays prevented the .30-30 cartridge from appearing on the shelves until 1895, it remained the first commercially available smokeless powder round for the North American consumer market. Though initially it was too expensive for most shooters, the Model 1894 went on to become one of the best-selling hunting rifles of all time—it has the distinction of being the first sporting/hunting rifle to sell over one million units, ultimately selling over seven million before US production was discontinued in 2006. The Winchester 94/.30-30 combination is practically synonymous with "deer rifle" in the United States.

Winchester Model 1895[edit]

Main article: Winchester Model 1895


Winchester Model 88[edit]

Introduced in 1955, sixty years after Winchester's last all-new lever-action design, the Model 88 was unlike any previous lever action; it was really a lever-bolt hybrid. A short-throw underlever operated a three-lug rotating bolt, and rounds were fed vertically from a detachable box magazine. These bolt-action features in a "lever-action" permitted the use of high-powered modern short-case cartridges with spitzer bullets: .243, .284, .308 (7.62mm NATO) and .358 Winchester. The 88 did not prove to be especially popular, although it has its share of devoted enthusiasts, and was discontinued in 1973. It is, however the third biggest selling lever action rifle in Winchester's storied history, following only the M1894 (1st) and M1892 (2nd). The later Sako Finnwolf and Browning BLR have similar actions.

Winchester Model 9422[edit]

Winchester's Model 9422 was introduced in 1972 and was rapidly recognized for high quality. It was designed to capture the image of the traditional lever-actions with exposed hammer, straight grip, tube magazine and barrel bands. Unlike older Winchester lever actions it came grooved for scope mounting. It was offered in .22 Long Rifle and .22 WMR, and was priced at the high-quality end of the .22 sporting rifle market.


The 9422 had worldwide appeal to customers raised on 'westerns' and to those looking for a fun and historic way to introduce their children to shooting. Over the course of production a higher finished model called the 9422 XTR, a .17 rimfire model, and several commemorative models were offered. Production ended in 2005.[13]

Winchester Model 1885 Single Shot Rifle[edit]

In 1885, Winchester entered the single-shot market with the Model 1885 rifle, which John Browning had designed in 1878 (the beginning of the fruitful 20-year Winchester-Browning collaboration). The Winchester Single Shot, known to most shooters as either the "Low-wall" or "High-wall" depending on model, but officially marketed by Winchester as the Single Shot Rifle, was produced to satisfy the demands of the growing sport of "Match Shooting", excelling at it, with Major Ned H. Roberts (inventor of the .257 Roberts cartridge) describing the Model 1885 Single Shot as "...the most reliable, strongest, and altogether best single shot rifle ever produced."[14] Winchester produced nearly 140,000 Single Shot rifles from 1885 to 1920, and it was found that the falling-block Model 1885 had been built with one of the strongest actions known at that time. Winchester also produced a large number of Single Shots in .22 caliber for the US Army as a marksmanship training rifle, the "Winder musket."

Winchester bolt-action rifles[edit]

Winchester lever-action rifles remained the most popular in the US through WWI and the interwar period. However, advances in the development of bolt-action rifles made them increasingly preferred over lever actions. These new rifles, such as Mauser's Gewehr 98 and the US M1903 Springfield, featured box magazines that could chamber pointed "Spitzer" bullets, which lever-action rifles with tubular magazines could not use for safety reasons (a pointed bullet can accidentally fire the round in front of it in a tubular magazine). The most influential bolt-action designs, as developed by Mauser and other military manufacturers, had front locking lugs, which both stabilized the cartridge head very well and strengthened the action considerably. This allowed for ammunition to reach unprecedented velocities, increasing long-range accuracy while not compromising operator safety. The bolt action was also simpler and cheaper to manufacture than high-powered leverguns like Winchester's 1886 and 1895 models, making them extremely competitive in the marketplace.

In response to the increasing competition from these bolt-action rifles, Winchester introduced the Winchester Model 54 in 1925. This was not Winchester's first bolt rifle (that distinction belonged to the Winchester-Hotchkiss rifle of 1878), but it was by far their most successful to date. It was based indirectly on the Mauser Gewehr 98 design, but with modifications and popular North American chamberings such as the widely available .30-06 Springfield, which made it more appealing to American hunters than were the European imports or sporterised military rifles. The Model 70 was developed from the Model 54, which it replaced in 1936. The Model 70, often dubbed the "rifleman's rifle",[15] was produced continuously at New Haven (except during WWII) until 2006, and production has resumed at FN Herstal's plant in Columbia, South Carolina.

In 1920 Winchester introduced the high-quality Model 52 .22 bolt-action target rifle, which from its inception and for years thereafter was America's reference standard smallbore match rifle. A very desirable sporter model of this action was also made from 1934–59.[16] On the other hand, from 1900, Winchester manufactured inexpensive single-shot .22 bolt-action "boy's rifles," including the models 1900, 1902, 1904 and Thumb Trigger (99), and mid-range .22 bolt action repeaters including the Models 69, 72 and 75.

Winchester self-loading rifles[edit]

Winchester Models 1903 and 63[edit]

Main article: Winchester Model 1903

The Winchester Model 1903 was the first commercially available self-loading .22 rimfire caliber in the US. Designed by T.C. Johnson, the Model 1903 was chambered for the unique .22 Winchester Automatic cartridge. In 1919, the Model 1903 moniker was shortened to Model 03, and following a partial redesign in the 1930s, was renamed the Model 63. The Model 63, introduced in 1933, was chambered for the popular and widely available .22 Long Rifle cartridge. It was initially made with a 20" barrel, then with a 23" barrel from 1936 until the end of production in 1958. About 175,000 Model 63 rifles were manufactured, with the last 10,000 having grooved receiver tops for scope mounting. Both the 1903/03 and the 63 have tubular magazines in the butt stock of the rifle and are loaded through a slot in the right side of the butt stock.

Winchester Rifles, top: Rifle 73/92/86 Take-down/05 Self Loading

Winchester Models 1905, 1907, and 1910[edit]

Main article: Winchester Model 1905
Main article: Winchester Model 1907
Main article: Winchester Model 1910

The early center fire Winchester self-loading series of rifles began with the Model 1905, chambered for the .32SL and .35SL cartridges. Following a demand for a higher-powered self-loading rifle, the Models 1907 and 1910 were introduced along with their respective cartridges, the .351SL and .401SL.[17]

Winchester repeating shotguns[edit]

Winchester Model 1887/1901[edit]

The Winchester Model 1887 was the first successful repeating shotgun design, developed by John Browning and produced by Winchester from 1887-1920. Browning felt that a pump-action would be much more appropriate for a repeating shotgun, but as Winchester was primarily a lever-action firearms company they felt that their new shotgun must also be a lever-action for reasons of brand recognition. The M1887 was chambered for 12ga black powder shotshells, and after the switch to smokeless powder at the end of the 19th Century, the M1901 was introduced, being chambered for 10ga smokeless shells. Although a technically sound gun design, the market for lever-action shotguns waned considerably after the introduction of the Winchester 1897 and other contemporary pump-action shotguns; modern reproductions of the gun have been manufactured by Norinco in China, ADI Ltd. in Australia and Chiappa Firearms in Italy. Reproductions have sold well in Australia since that country's ban on pump and semi-auto shotguns.

Winchester Model 1893/1897[edit]

Main article: Winchester Model 1897

Another Browning design, the Winchester Model 1893 was the first successful pump-action shotgun design; as strengthened in 1897 for smokeless-propellant shells, it remained in production until the mid-1950s. Unusually for a repeating shotgun, the Model 1897 could be taken apart for easier carriage/storage, and was available in a variety of barrel lengths from 20in to 36in. During World War I it was issued as a trench gun, with short barrel, heat shield and bayonet.

Winchester Model 1911[edit]

Main article: Winchester Model 1911

Winchester's long association with John Browning came to an acrimonious end when the company refused to accept Browning's terms for the right to manufacture his revolutionary 1898 design for a self-loading shotgun; the landmark Browning Auto-5 was produced instead by Fabrique Nationale in Europe and later by Remington Arms in the US. However, Browning's semi-automatic patents had been so tightly drafted by Winchester's own lawyers that it took years for T. C. Johnson to develop a self-loading shotgun which didn't infringe them; this was the Model 1911 SL. The 1911 unfortunately was a flawed and potentially dangerous design, and was not a commercial success; it was dropped in 1925.

Winchester Model 1912[edit]

Main article: Winchester Model 12

Designed by T.C. Johnson as an internal-hammer modification of the Model 1897, the Model 1912 (later re dubbed the Model 12) was one of the most successful pump shotguns ever made, with nearly 2 million produced before its cancellation in 1963. Like the Model 1897 it came in take-down form, and likewise was issued in trench gun and combat versions during both World Wars, Korea and Vietnam. The Model 12 was popular with the military, law enforcement, hunters, and sporting clay competitors, the latter regarding it as having superior balance and "point" among pump-actions.

1964 changes[edit]

In the mid-to late 1950s, a management change at Winchester led to an extensive and extremely controversial[18] redesign of their firearms in 1964. This is regarded by many[19] as the year the "real" Winchester ceased to be, and consequently "pre-'64" rifles command higher prices than those made afterwards. Winchester itself went on to have a troubled future as competition from both the US and abroad began to decrease its sales. Although in the 1970s the company attempted to recover its reputation by bringing out the well-received SuperX-1 semiautomatic shotgun, produced along pre-1964 lines, the cost of manufacture again proved unsustainable. In 1980, the company was split into parts and sold off. The name "Winchester" remained with the ammunition making side of the company, and this branch continues to be profitable. The arms making side and New Haven facilities went to U.S. Repeating Arms, which struggled to keep the company going under a variety of owners and management teams. It finally announced plans to close the New Haven facility, the producers of the Model 1894, in 2006.

On August 15, 2006, Olin Corporation, owner of the Winchester trademarks, announced that it had entered into a new license agreement with Browning to make Winchester brand rifles and shotguns, though not at the closed Winchester plant in New Haven. Browning, based in Morgan, Utah, and the former licensee, U.S. Repeating Arms Company, are both subsidiaries of FN Herstal. In 2008 FN Herstal announced plans to produce Model 70 rifles at its plant in Columbia, SC.

See also[edit]


  1. ^ a b c Taylor, Jim, A Short History of the Levergun,
  3. ^ The .44-40 was somewhat less powerful than the .45 Long Colt, but ballistically almost identical to the "Schofield" .45 Smith & Wesson, which from 1877 was the actual standard Army cartridge for both Colt and S&W revolvers.
  4. ^ a b c Lewis, Edmund One of One Hundred October 2005 American Rifleman pp.96,129&134
  5. ^ Schreier, Philip (November 2013). "'Guaranteed by Us': Winchester's 'New' Model 1873". American Rifleman 161 (11): 64. Retrieved 23 October 2013. 
  6. ^ "The Winchester Model 1876 Rifle". Retrieved 2008-12-26. 
  7. ^ p. 542 Walter, John Rifles of the World 2006 Krause Publications
  8. ^ Herring, Hal. Famous Firearms of the Old West: From Bill Hickok's Colt Revolvers to Geronimo's Winchester, Twelve Guns that Shaped Our History, Morris Book Publishing LLC, 2008.
  9. ^ As well as the related .50-100 and .50-105. Barnes, Frank C., ed. by John T. Amber. ".577/500 Magnum Nitro Express", in Cartridges of the World, p.116.
  10. ^ "Winchester's Big 50", American Rifleman.
  11. ^ | John Wayne spinning his trademark Winchester 1892 with an oversized loop lever from "True Grit" which was set in October 1880...12 years before the Model '92 was introduced.
  12. ^ Madis, p. 426
  13. ^ Dave Anderson "Gone but not forgotten: Winchester's 9422 lever action". Guns Magazine. . 21 Jan. 2009.
  14. ^ Kelver, p. 47
  15. ^ "Winchester Model 70 rifles (Win. Model 70)". Retrieved 2008-12-26. 
  16. ^ Houze, Herbert (2006). The Winchester Model 52: Perfection in Design. Gun Digest Books. p. 72. ISBN 9780896891630. 
  17. ^ Stabbings, Hasry. Rifles: A Modern Encyclopedia. Stack pole Co. 1958.<co.>
  18. ^ Shooting writer Jack O'Connor: "...I saw the pilot model of 'New Model 70.' At the first glimpse I like to fell into a swoon. The action was simplified, the trigger guard and floor plate made of a flimsy looking one-piece stamping. The stock had stodgy lines and no checkering, and the barrel channel was routed out so much a herd of cockroaches could hold a ball below the barrel... I told them the creation would not sell, that it was one of the ugliest rifles I had ever seen."
  19. ^ "1964 was a big year for Olin/Winchester. That was the year that their revised (for cheaper manufacture) line of firearms was introduced. The reaction from gun writers and the shooting public to the changes was swift and terrible, and Winchester has never regained their former position of dominance." Hawks, Chuck, "The Winchester Model 94",


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