Winchester Model 1885
| Winchester Model 1885 | |
|---|---|
| Type | Rifle |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Production history | |
| Designer | John Browning |
| Manufacturer | Winchester |
| Produced | 1885–1918 |
| Specifications | |
| Barrel length | 26 inches (66 cm) |
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| Action | Falling block |
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.
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 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."
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