Winchester Model 1885

Winchester Model 1885

The Winchester Model 1885 is a single-shot rifle with a falling-block action. It was principally designed by John Browning. Two models were produced, the Low Wall and the High Wall.

History

In 1878, the 23-year-old Browning designed a falling-block single-shot rifle, for which he was granted a patent the following year. Browning and his brother commenced making the rifles by hand in their second-floor workshop in Ogden, Utah, with limited success.

In 1883, Thomas G. Bennett, Vice-President and General Manager of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, traveled to Ogden and negotiated the purchase of the single-shot design, as well as the prototype of what would become the Model 1886 lever-action – the beginning of the fruitful 20-year Winchester–Browning collaboration. Winchester's engineers made some improvements to Browning's design, including angling the block at six degrees to create a positive breech seal, and released the rifle as the Model 1885. Two popular models were made, the so-called Low Wall which showed an exposed hammer, firing less powerful cartridges, and the so-called High Wall for stronger cartridges whose steel frame covered most of the firing hammer when viewed from the side; but both were officially marketed by Winchester as the Single Shot Rifle.

It was produced principally to satisfy the demands of the growing sport of long-range "Match Shooting", which opened at Creedmoor, New York, on June 21, 1872. Target/Match shooting was extremely popular in the US from about 1871 until about 1917, enjoying a status similar to golf today, and the Winchester company, which had built its reputation on repeating firearms, had in 1885 challenged the single-shot giants of Sharps, Remington, Stevens, Maynard, Ballard ^[1] et al., not only entering the competition, but 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."^[2]

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. The falling block action was so strong that the Winchester Company used it to test fire newly created rifle cartridges. To satisfy the needs of the shooting and hunting public, the Model 1885 Single Shot was eventually produced in more calibers than any other Winchester rifle. Winchester also produced a large number of Single Shots in .22 caliber for the US Army as a marksmanship training rifle, the "Winder musket."

In 2005, Winchester reintroduced their famed 1885 Single Shots, labeled the Limited Series. The 21st-century Winchester Single Shot rifles are built with modern technology and steels, enabling them to fire modern smokeless cartridges; the currently popular cartridges of .17 Remington, .243 Winchester and .30-06 Springfield were offered with standard rubber recoil pads and straight butt plates. However, four of those Limited Series Model 1885 SSs were subtitled Traditional Hunters. Those four rifles, in calibers .38-55 and .405 Winchester, .45-70 Government, and .45-90 BPCR, were built in the style of the 19th century, with crescent steel butt plates and 19th-century style folding tang sights, along with full octagon 28-inch-long barrels. Their rifling, in the case of the .38-55, are the (Winchester) traditional one complete turn within eighteen inches (1-18") with rifle grooves at .376, and rifle lands measuring .368 of an inch. The .45-70 is by far the most readily available of these four vintage cartridges.

Modern cartridge advantages

The overall length of a Model 1885 with a 28-inch barrel^[3] is the same basic length as a Winchester bolt-action Model 70 with a 24-inch barrel. With a longer barrel more powder is burned, resulting in bullet velocities that are significantly increased over bolt-action rifles that have the same overall length.

See also

• Falling-block
• List of Winchester models
• Single-shot
• Winchester Repeating Arms Company
• Winchester Rifle

References

• McLerran, Wayne (2014). Browning Model 1885 Black Powder Cartridge Rifle - 3rd Edition: A Reference Manual for the Shooter, Collector & Gunsmith. TexasMac Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9893702-5-7, 418 pages.

Sources

1. Kelver, Gerald O. Major Ned H. Roberts and the Schuetzen Rifle. 1998. Pioneer Press

External links

• Winchester Repeating Arms Recently Historic Rifles
• Winchester Repeating Arms Currently Produced Rifles
• Modern cartridges, hunting experiences and bullet velocities in the Model 1885. By theDIYhunter

John Browning
Semi-automatic pistols	FN M1900 Colt M1900 Colt M1902 FN Model 1903 M1903 Pocket Hammer M1903 Pocket Hammerless FN M1905 M1908 Vest Pocket FN Model 1910 M1911 Colt Woodsman Baby Browning Hi-Power
Rifles	Winchester Model 1885 Winchester Model 1886 Winchester 1892 Winchester Model 1894 Winchester Model 1895 Remington Model 8 Remington Model 24 FN Trombone
Shotguns	Winchester Model 1887 Winchester Model 1897 Browning Auto-5/Remington Model 11 Remington Model 17 Stevens Model 520/620 Browning Superposed Ithaca 37
Machine guns	Colt–Browning M1895 Browning M1917 Browning Automatic Rifle Browning M1919 M2 Machine Gun
Cartridges	.25 ACP .32 ACP .38 ACP .380 ACP 9mm Browning Long .45 ACP .50 BMG

Winchester firearms and cartridges
Rifles	Lever-action Henry rifle Model 1866 Model 1873 Model 1876 Model 1886 Model 1892 Model 1894 Model 1895 Model 53 Model 55 Model 64 Model 65 Model 71 Model 88 Model 150 Model 250 Model 255 Model 9422 Bolt-action Model 1878 Hotchkiss Model 1895 Lee Navy Model 1900 Model 1902 Model 1904 Model 43 Model 47 Model 51 Imperial Model 52 Model 54 Model 56 Model 57 Model 58 Model 59 Model 60 Model 60A Model 67 Model 68 Model 69 Model 70 Model 72 Model 75 Model 121 Model 131 Model 141 Model 320 Model 325 Model 670 Model 770 Pump-action Model 1890 Model 1906 Model 61 Model 62 Model 62A Model 270 Semi-automatic Model 1903 Model 1905 Model 1907 Model 1910 Model 30 Model 63 Model 74 Model 77 Model 100 Model 190 Model 490 Full-automatic Olin/Winchester FAL Model 1917 Falling-block action Model 1885
Shotguns	Pump-action Model 1893 Model 1897 Model 1912 Model 25 Model 42 Model 1200 Model 1300 Lever-action Model 1887 Model 1901 Model 9410 Single-shot Model 20 Model 36 Model 37 Model 37A Model 41 Double-barrel Model 21 Model 24 Model 96 Model 101 Semi-automatic Model 1911 SL Model 40 Model 50 Model 59 Model 1400 Model 1500 SX-1
Cartridges	.17 Winchester Super Magnum .22 Magnum (WMR) .218 Bee .219 Zipper .22 Hornet .220 Swift .223 Winchester Super Short Magnum .225 Winchester .243 Winchester .243 Winchester Super Short Magnum .25-20 WCF .25-20 Winchester .256 Winchester Magnum .25-35 Winchester .25 Winchester Super Short Magnum .264 Winchester Magnum .270 Winchester .270 Winchester Short Magnum 7mm Winchester Short Magnum .284 Winchester .30-30 Winchester .307 Winchester .308 Winchester .300 Winchester Short Magnum .300 Winchester Magnum .32 Winchester Special .32-20 Winchester .325 Winchester Short Magnum .33 Winchester .338 Winchester Magnum .345 Winchester Self-Loading .348 Winchester .35 Winchester .35 Winchester Self-Loading .351 Winchester Self-Loading .356 Winchester .358 Winchester .375 Winchester .38-40 Winchester .38-55 Winchester .38-56 WCF .38-72 Winchester .40-60 Winchester .40-72 Winchester .401 Winchester Self-Loading .405 Winchester .44 Henry .44-40 Winchester .45-60 Winchester .45-75 Winchester .458 Winchester Magnum .50-110 Winchester