Winchester Model 1887

Winchester Model 1887 shotgun
A full-length Winchester M1887 with 30 in. barrel & the 18 in. barrel 'Mare's Leg' variant.
Type	Shotgun
Place of origin	United States
Service history
Used by	Various Law enforcement agencies and Stagecoach companies
Production history
Designer	John Browning
Designed	1887
Manufacturer	Winchester Repeating Arms Company
Produced	1887–1901; 1901–1920 (Model 1901)
Variants	M1901
Specifications
Weight	8 lbs. (3.6 kg)
Length	39¼ in. (997 mm)
Barrel length	20 in. (508 mm), 30 in. (762 mm)
Caliber	12-gauge, 10-gauge
Action	Lever-action
Feed system	5+1 round tubular magazine
Sights	front bead

The Winchester Model 1887 and Winchester Model 1901 are lever-action shotguns originally designed by famed American gun designer John Browning and produced by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Model 1887 was one of the first successful repeating shotguns. Its lever-action design was chosen at the behest of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, best known at the time as manufacturers of lever-action rifles such as the Winchester model 1873. Designer John Browning suggested that a pump-action would be much more appropriate for a repeating shotgun, but Winchester management's position was that, at the time, the company was known as a "lever-action firearm company", and felt that their new shotgun must also be a lever-action for reasons of brand recognition. Browning responded by designing a breech-loading, rolling block lever-action. To Winchester's credit, however, they later introduced a Browning designed pump-action shotgun known as the Model 1893 (an early production version of the model 1897), after the introduction of smokeless powder.

Shotgun shells at the time used black powder as a propellant, and so the Model 1887 shotgun was designed and chambered for less powerful black powder shotshells. Both 10 and 12-gauge models were offered in the Model 1887; 12-gauge variants used a 2 5/8" shell, 10-gauge variants fired a 2 7/8" shell.

The standard barrel length was 30" with 32" available as a special order. In 1888 a 20" barrelled version could be ordered and Winchester offered the shotguns with Damascus barrels.

By 1900 it was soon realized that the action on the M1887 was not strong enough to handle early smokeless powder shotshells, and so a redesign resulted in the stronger Winchester Model 1901, 10-gauge only, to handle the advent of the more powerful smokeless powder. A 12-gauge chambering was not offered, as Winchester did not want the Model 1901 to compete with their successful 12-gauge Model 1897 pump-action shotgun. Other distinguishing characteristics of the Model 1901 are: