Winchester Model 1887/1901

Winchester Model 1887 shotgun
A full-length Winchester Model 1887 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.

Overview

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.^[1]

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.^[1]

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.^[1]

Model 1901

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:

The shotgun was offered with only a 32" barrel.
A two piece finger lever with a trigger block to prevent accidental discharge.^[2]
The Winchester trademark stamp was moved to the upper tang, behind the hammer.^[2]
The choke type was stamped on the left side of the barrel near the receiver.^[2]

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. Between 1901 and 1920, an additional 13,500 Model 1901 shotguns were manufactured before the Model 1887/1901 product line was discontinued.^[3]^[2]

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:

In some countries, gun laws restrict ownership of pump shotguns but are more permissive of ownership of lever-action shotguns.

ADI Limited of Australia, produced a small trial run of modern Model 1887/1901 shotguns, chambered for modern smokeless 12-gauge shotshells. The Australian National Firearms Agreement regulates lever action shotguns as Category A guns, while pump shotguns fall under the more tightly regulated Category C. 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. In recent years, this particular firearm has become popular with regular American and Canadian firearm owners.^[4]
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. Chiappa’s replicas are offered with barrels ranging from 28 to 18.5 inches. They also offer a model with a rifled barrel and two models with pistol grips.^[4]

In popular culture

The Model 1887 was prominently used by the title character in the film Terminator 2: Judgment Day, portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger. One of the guns used in the film was modified with a pistol grip and an oversized loop on the trigger guard, allowing the character to fire and cycle the action by spinning the weapon backwards around the trigger hand.^[4] This in turn has popularised the gun's portrayal in various pop culture, mostly in shooter video games, which mimic the cycling and reloading actions from the movie.
- In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 where the gun is featured as a usable weapon in multiplayer, when equipped with the Akimbo/Dual Wield attachment the cycle and reload action closely mimics at of the movie.
- In Payday 2, the Model 1887 appears under the name Breaker 12G, with it's default appearance and reload animation being a reference to the movie.
- The Battlefield series has done this numerous time with other lever-action rifles and shotguns across the latter half of the series.
  - In Battlefield 4 this appears as 2 different Easter Eggs as two different reload actions - one that uses one hand, the other using both - for the Mare's Leg. This is achieved by killing three different infantry classes with headshots in one life and emptying the gun's magazine, after which the animation is triggered.
  - In Battlefield Hardline, when the player uses a Model 1887 with sawn-off features, the animation is reused for reloading.

References

1 2 3 Shideler, Dan (7 August 2011). "Winchester 1887". Gun Digest 2012. Iola, Wisconsin: Gun Digest Books. pp. 167–173. ISBN 1-4402-1447-6.
1 2 3 4 Adler, Dennis (10 November 2015). Winchester Shotguns. New York: Skyhorse Publishing. pp. 88–90. ISBN 978-1-5107-0924-9.
↑ Flayderman, Norm (17 December 2007). Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Firearms and Their Values. Iola, Wisconsin: F+W Media, Inc. pp. 321–322. ISBN 0-89689-455-X.
1 2 3 Sadowski, Robert A. (27 October 2015). Gun Trader's Guide to Shotguns: A Comprehensive, Fully Illustrated Reference for Modern Shotguns with Current Market Values. Skyhorse Publishing. pp. 47–48. ISBN 978-1-63450-965-7.

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 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
Family	Jonathan Browning (father) Val A. Browning (son)

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

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