Weapons and firms. Let's start with the fact that once again we recall that … gunsmith John Mosex Browning was a very talented designer and, which is also very important, he never sat idle.
No sooner had his M1885 rifle go into production, than after it he designed another, truly iconic model of the M1886 "Winchester". I must say that after the release of the M1873 "Winchester", it was soon followed by the M1876 model of the year, which differed only in that it became the first model of this company's carbine, which could fire powerful rifle cartridges with a central ignition of.45-75 caliber.
This patron was very similar to the army.45-70 Government, so there is a clear purpose to seduce the American army with this model. Moreover, the difference consisted only in a heavier receiver, which was required to withstand the high pressure developed by the rifle cartridge at the time of the shot.
The 1876 model was also produced for.40-60,.45-60 and.50-95 Express cartridges. This model has gained particular popularity among bison hunters and it is clear why - due to its exceptional destructive power.
However, the cartridges in this rifle were old, filled with black powder!
Stage one: model 1886
As for the 1886 model, designed by John Browning, it was created in order to fire even more powerful rifle cartridges compared to the 1876 model, say, such as.45-70,.45-90 and.50- 110 Express.
Therefore, he had to redo the design of its mechanism, which had not changed since 1873, and at the same time completely change the shutter locking system.
However, the cartridges for this rifle were still filled with black powder. However, the strength of both the barrel and its bolt were such that in 1903 the M1886 barrels were bored for.33 WCF (8.6 mm) smokeless powder cartridges.
In 1935, Winchester introduced a slightly modified M1886 called Model 71 chambered for.348 Winchester (8.8mm). In total, more than 160,000 copies of the M1886 rifles were produced.
Stage two: model 1892
The next step on the way to the most perfect "Winchester" was the model developed by Browning in 1892. Moreover, when the company asked him to make an improved version of the M1886, capable of competing with a recent model of a similar rifle from the Marlin firm, Browning said that he would do the job in less than a month. And if he is late, he will not take money from the company.
As a result, two weeks later, he presented a prototype of the M1892 rifle. Initially, it used.32-20 (7, 94 mm),.38-40 (10, 17 mm) and.44-40 Winchester (10, 8 mm) cartridges, followed by a variant in 1895. 25-20 (6.6mm). A certain number of M1892 in 1936-1938. was produced in caliber.218 Bee (5.7 mm). But the.44-40 caliber rifles proved to be the most popular, far ahead of all others in terms of sales.
The great popularity of this model is evidenced by the fact that the M1892 was used by Admiral Robert E. Peary during his travels to the North Pole.
And Secretary of War Patrick Hurley on December 13, 1932, the Winchester firm donated the millionth rifle. Famed Amazon explorer Percy Fawcett was also armed with this rifle.
And the British Royal Navy used 21,000 copies of this "Winchester" during the First World War. Interestingly, at the very beginning of the same World War I, the Royal Flying Corps purchased model 1886 rifles chambered for.45-90 Sharps (11.6 mm), equipped with special incendiary bullets designed to ignite hydrogen in German airships.
The Garat, Anitua & Sia company of Eibar in Spain copied the 1892 model.
And began to produce under the name "Tiger" chambered for.44 Largo (.44-40 Winchester) with a 22-inch barrel, 12-cartridge magazine and a saddle ring, and many rifles were equipped with swivels.
Well, in total, from 1915 to 1937, 1,034,687 of these rifles were produced. Since 1923, they have been issued to various Spanish paramilitaries, including the Civil Guard. "Tigers" in the 1950s were sold in large numbers to the countries of South America and even to the United States.
Winchester ceased production of the M1892 in 1941.
But firms such as Browning, Chiappa, and then Amadeo Rossi in Brazil and Winchester's subsidiary in Japan continued to produce it.
In 1997, Winchester again produced a limited production of the M1892. And in November 2006, she announced the release of Model 1892, the 100th anniversary model "John Wayne" chambered for.44-40.
In early 2012, the company again produced a number of large loop carbines on the reload lever in four calibers:.44 Magnum,.357 Magnum,.44-40 (44 WCF) and.45 Colt. At the same time, only the initial release of rifles of this model amounted to 1,007,608 copies.
The third stage: "Winchester" М1894
Model "Winchester" 1894 American historians of weapons R. L. Wilson and Hal Herring named
"The most advanced lever action rifle."
And this is most likely true. Because they were produced more than all others - a total of 7.5 million copies.
First of all, we note that the M1894 was the first American magazine rifle in which cartridges with smokeless powder were to be used.
Initially, it was also created for black powder cartridges:.32-40 Winchester and.38-55 Winchester. However, the Winchester company at this time was already engaged in the development of the.30-30 Winchester or.30 WCF (Winchester Centerfire - that is, the centerfire cartridge), which eventually became synonymous with the 1894 model itself.
The cartridge allowed, with a smaller caliber of 7, 85 mm, to have an muzzle velocity of 759 m / s, which was unrealistic for rifles that fired black powder cartridges. True, the receiver had to be lengthened. Because the sleeves of the new smokeless powder cartridges were significantly longer than the old ones.
The combination of the firepower of the Model 1894 with its compact, lightweight (3.1 kg weight) and easy-to-carry design of the gun itself made it a very popular rifle among American hunters. Especially those that hunted white-tailed deer in the dense forests of the eastern United States.
And it was not for nothing that it was the first rifle sold in more than 7,000,000 copies. Moreover, in 1927 the Winchester company presented the millionth model of 1894 to President Calvin Coolidge. The $ 1 ½ million was donated to President Harry Truman on May 8, 1948. And the two-millionth rifle in 1953 was given to President Dwight Eisenhower.
During the First World War, the US government purchased 1,800 M1894 rifles with 50,000.30-30 rounds of ammunition for the US Army Liaison Corps personnel stationed in the Pacific Northwest, in order to prevent the strike of workers from causing delays in the production of Sitka spruce lumber. for the production of fuselages and wings of military aircraft.
In order not to waste Lee-Enfield rifles, the British Royal Navy in 1914 also purchased about 5,000 M1894 rifles in.30-30 caliber for the crews of patrol ships and minesweepers.
France followed the lead of the British and also bought 15,100 carbines with sling swivels on the left side of the stock and barrel and a metric rifle scope. These carbines were issued to motorcyclist couriers, gunners, railway personnel and some balloon units. Samples captured by German forces were designated Gewehr 248 (e).
But in World War II, "Winchester" M1894 was used by Canadian rangers on the Pacific coast, which were supposed to protect the west coast of Canada from a possible Japanese invasion.
Model 1894 for its long history was also produced as Model 55 (in production from 1924 to 1932 with a barrel length of 610 mm) and Model 64 (in production from 1933 to 1957 and with a barrel 660 mm).
In 1964, the production of the M1894 was improved to make it less expensive to manufacture.
But, as was the case with the M1892 and M1886 models, the price of older rifles only increased from this. And then something happened that should have happened.
Since there were fewer long cartridges in the magazine under the barrel (7–8 versus 12–15 in the 1973 Winchester), the M1894 model was also produced for short revolving cartridges. So the usual tubular magazine, as before, began to hold from 9 to 13 rounds.
The design of the M1894 was significantly stronger than the 1866, 1873, and 1876 models based on the Benjamin Henry system. It can be fired with any modern high pressure revolving cartridges. For example, such as.44 Magnum.
The production of М1894 in the USA ceased in 2006.
At this time, there were 14 versions of the M1894 in the company's catalog.
Well, in 2010, Winchester Repeating Arms re-released the 1894 rifle in two "limited edition" models in honor of the 200th anniversary of Oliver F. Winchester, who was born in New England in 1810.
Photos courtesy of Alain Daubresse.
