Winchester Model 1887/1901

Winchester Model 1887 shotgun
Winchester Model 1887
Type	Shotgun
Place of origin	United States
Service history
Used by	Various law enforcement agencies, 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 round tubular magazine
Sights	front bead

The Winchester Model 1887 and Winchester Model 1901 were 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.

1 Overview
2 Reproduction
3 References
4 External links

Overview

The Model 1887 was the first truly successful repeating shotgun. 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 firearms 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 12-gauge shotshells, with a 10-gauge chambering being offered soon afterwards. 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. No 12-gauge chambering was offered, as Winchester did not want the Model 1901 to compete with their successful 12-gauge Model 1897 pump-action shotgun.

Although a technically sound gun design, the market for lever-action shotguns waned considerably, as John Browning had predicted, after the introduction of the Winchester 1897 and other contemporary pump-action shotguns; Model 1887 production totaled 64,855 units between 1887 and 1901, with 79,455 Model 1887/1901 shotguns being manufactured before it was discontinued in 1920.

Reproduction

Over the years, a number of gun companies tried to produce Model 1887/1901 shotguns that could chamber modern, smokeless shotgun shells—largely for the cowboy action shooting discipline—but with little commercial success. Recently however, three firearm companies have successfully produced viable models for the commercial firearms market:

ADI Limited of Australia, produced a small trial run of modern Model 1887/1901 shotguns, chambered for modern smokeless 12-gauge shotshells. This was ostensibly to exploit a loophole in newer tighter gun laws in Australia which prohibited semi-automatic rifles and pump action shotguns, amongst others, but still allowed bolt- and lever-action long arms. Commercial production on this firearm by ADI was anticipated for 2007, following several years of delays due to distribution issues, but this has not yet happened.

Chinese arms manufacturer Norinco currently produces the Model 1887 shotgun chambered for modern smokeless 12-gauge shells, a version of which (featuring a 20" barrel) is manufactured for the American firearms firm Interstate Arms Corporation (IAC) and exported for sale in the United States, Canada, and Australia. As the only legal repeating shotgun (besides Mossberg bolt-action shotguns) for non-Primary Producer firearms owners in Australia, it has proven very popular with hunters and sporting shooters alike. U.S. and Canadian sales, however, have been largely focused on cowboy action shooting participants, owing to the ready availability of affordable pump-action and semi-automatic shotguns in most parts of the U.S. and Canada.

The Italian firm Chiappa Firearms manufactures modern reproductions of the Winchester Model 1887 series shotguns. The shotguns appeared on the Australian and the European firearms markets in late 2008.

References

Madis, George (1977). The Winchester Book. Dallas: Taylor Publishing. OCLC 138931.

External links

John Browning

Semi-automatic pistols	FN M1900 · Colt M1900 · Colt M1902 · FN Model 1903 · M1903 Pocket Hammer · M1903 Pocket Hammerless · 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 · 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	Model 43 Model 47 Model 51 Model 52 Model 53 Model 54 Model 55 Model 56 Model 57 Model 58 Model 59 Model 60 Model 60A Model 61 Model 62 Model 62A Model 63 Model 64 Model 65 Model 67 Model 68 Model 69 Model 70 Model 71 Model 72 Model 74 Model 75 Model 77 Model 88 Model 100 Model 121 Model 131 Model 141 Model 150 Model 190 Model 250 Model 255 Model 270 Model 320 Model 325 Model 490 Model 670 Model 770 Model 1866 Model 1873 Model 1876 Model 1878 Hotchkiss Model 1885 Model 1886 Model 1887 Model 1890 Model 1892 Model 1893 Model 1894 Model 1895 Model 1895 Lee Model 1897 Model 1900 Model 1901 Model 1902 Model 1903 Model 1904 Model 1905 Model 1906 Model 1907 Model 1910 Model 1911 SL Model 1912 Model 9422

Shotguns	Model 20 Model 21 Model 24 Model 25 Model 36 Model 37 Model 37A Model 40 Model 41 Model 42 Model 50 Model 59 Model 96 Model 101 Model 1200 Model 1300 Model 1400 Model 1500 Model 9410 SX-1

Cartridges	.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 .256 Winchester .25-35 Winchester .25 Winchester Super Short Magnum .264 Winchester Magnum .270 Winchester .270 Winchester Short Magnum 7mm Winchester Short Magnum .30-30 Winchester .307 Winchester .308 Winchester .300 Winchester Short Magnum .300 Winchester Magnum .32 Winchester Special .325 Winchester Short Magnum .33 Winchester .338 Winchester Magnum .348 Winchester .375 Winchester .458 Winchester Magnum

Winchester Model 1887/1901

Contents

Overview

Reproduction

References

External links