Winchester

The Winchester Repeating Arms Company, though long since out of commission, is an integral part of American armament history. It was a notable repeating weapons manufacturer in the last half of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. It had its origins in the discontinued the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company, launched by Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson. Volcanic Repeating Arms Company was far from successful, and its owners sold it to majority share investor Oliver Winchester along with its sole product – the Volcanic. This weapon was later redesigned to create the Winchester repeating rifle

Oliver Winchester, born on November 30, 1810, was an American entrepreneur who dealt in clothing. In fact, a particular type of shirt known as the Winchester shirt is popularly attributed to him. He was also quite active in politics. After acquiring the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company from Smith and Wesson’s founders, he moved its operations to New Haven and renamed the company as the New Haven Arms Company.

Right from the earliest years, Winchester chalked up an impressive list of innovations in firearms. For instance, the famous the Henry rifle (the first reliable lever-action repeating rifle) was designed by Benjamin Tyler Henry – an American gunsmith and manufacturer while he was in Winchester’s employ. This rifle figured prominently in the American Civil War, where it was extensively used by the Union army. Winchester also worked in conjunction with the legendary firearm designer and inventor John Browning – a partnership that led to the introduction of a number of groundbreaking repeating rifles and shotguns. Among the most notable shotguns to emerge form this period were the Winchester Model 1887, Model 1897 and Model 1912. Winchester and Browning also worked together to develop a number of lever-action rifles which are still being manufactured. These included the Model 1886, Model 1892, Model 1894 and Model 1895 rifles.

After the Civil War, the company was renamed as Winchester Repeating Arms Company and the highly successful Henry rifle was further redesigned to produce the legendary Winchester Model 1866. This was followed up by the Model 1873, which was the first firearm to chamber the Winchester center fire cartridge. By the turn of the century, Winchester and John Browning were in competition with each other. What might have emerged from a continued amicable partnership between these two geniuses can only be conjectured at. However, Winchester and Browning eventually found themselves racing neck to neck to develop the world’s first-ever self-loading rifle – a race which Winchester won by virtue of sheer design prowess and also a certain amount of patent manipulation. Oliver Winchester’s political skills apparently stood him in good stead on this score.

Winchester Repeating Arms Company continued to bring out the best of Browning’s designs after that, having acquired all rights to these from the renowned gun designer. During World War I, the company supplied the American army with the bulk of its M1917 Enfield rifles. This model was freely adapted from the British .303 caliber P14 rifle and was therefore named the American Enfield. Despite their differences, John Browning continued to work at Winchester till the iconic Browning Automatic Rifle, or BAR, was developed and in full production.

Thereafter, Winchester managed to bring in new firearms through the efforts of Clifford Warner and Ralph Clarkson, who designed the so-called U.S. M1 carbine. Winchester Repeating Arms Company was acquired by Olin Corporation. Olin Corporation initiated some major design and manufacturing reorientations in the mid ‘50s and a number of new products were included, but sold it off again in 1981. For a few years, U.S. Repeating Arms produced firearms under the Winchester banner, but this company finally closed Winchester’s historic New Haven site in 2006. More reshuffles followed, after which Olin Corporation and the Browning Company signed an agreement for continued manufacture of Winchester rifles and shotguns.