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58-636: The ancestor of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company was the Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson partnership of Norwich, Connecticut (not to be confused with the famous Smith & Wesson Revolver Company founded later by the same men). Smith and Wesson acquired Lewis Jennings' improved version of inventor Walter Hunt 's 1848 "Volition Repeating Rifle" and its caseless " Rocket Ball " ammunition, which had been produced in small numbers by Robbins & Lawrence of Windsor, Vermont. Jennings' rifle

116-492: A carbine in the sense of a short version of a parent rifle) was designed at Winchester by an eight-man team including Edwin Pugsley, Bill Roemer, Marsh Williams , Fred Humiston, Cliff Warner, and Ralph Clarkson, although the popular press played up the role of ex-convict Williams. More M1 carbines were manufactured by Winchester and other firms than any other U.S. small arm of World War II. During World War II , Winchester produced

174-674: A bankruptcy auction by the Olin family's Western Cartridge Company on December 22 of that year. Oliver Winchester's firm would maintain a nominal existence until 1935 when Western Cartridge merged with its subsidiary to form the Winchester-Western Company. In 1944, the firearms and ammunition operations would be reorganized as the Winchester-Western Division of Olin Industries . Western's First Vice-President ( John M. Olin )

232-482: A larger version of the '73, which used the same toggle-link action and brass cartridge elevator used in the Henry. It was chambered for longer, more powerful cartridges such as .45-60 WCF , .45-75 WCF , and .50-95 WCF. The action was not long enough to allow Winchester to achieve their goal of producing a repeating rifle capable of handling the .45-70 Government cartridge; this would not happen until they began manufacture of

290-411: A new Winchester design group to advance the use of "modern" engineering design methods and manufacturing principles in gun design. The result was a new line of guns that replaced most of the older products in 1963–1964. The immediate reaction of the shooting press and public was overwhelmingly negative: the popular verdict was that Winchester had sacrificed quality to the "cheapness experts," and Winchester

348-599: A partner of Cranston & Smith. It is known that while in Norwich, he engaged in the manufacture of whaling guns and he is credited with the invention of the explosive bullet used to kill whales. Smith and Daniel B. Wesson formed a partnership in 1852 for the purpose of developing the magazine arms later to be manufactured under the Smith & Wesson name. They founded the Smith & Wesson Company, with Cortlandt Palmer, in Norwich, Connecticut in 1854 to develop magazine firearms and

406-457: A series of rifles and shotguns, most notably the Winchester Model 1885 Single Shot , Winchester Model 1887 lever-action shotgun, Model 1897 pump-action shotgun; and the lever-action Model 1886 , Model 1892 , Model 1894 and Model 1895 rifles. Several of these are still in production today through companies such as Browning , Rossi , Navy Arms, and others which have revived several of

464-686: A series of rifles and shotguns, most notably the lever action Winchester Model 1887 and the Model 1897 pump shotgun, the falling-block single-shot Model 1885 , and the lever-action Model 1886 , Model 1892 , Model 1894 , Model 1895 rifles. After falling out with Winchester, Browning designed the long recoil operated semi-automatic Remington Model 8 rifle. Many of the models are still in production today in some form; over six million Model 1894s had been produced as of 1983, more than any other sporting rifle in history. Winchester manufactured several popular small arms designed by John M. Browning. For decades in

522-465: A single fee payment. With this new product, Browning and his brother Matthew sought royalties based upon unit sales, rather than a single front-end fee payment. If the new shotgun became highly successful, the Browning company stood to make substantially more income. Winchester management, which had agreed to royalties for an earlier Browning shotgun design that was never manufactured, now refused to accede to

580-592: A strong tie to firearms and ammunition with exclusive guns, ammo, and target launching machines being produced. The flaw was to see it quickly profitable in a western city with too many competing outdoor activities. The second venture was trying to compete with Coleman Company in the camping and sporting goods market. "Trailblazer by Winchester" products included propane-fueled stoves and lanterns. They also produced tents and sleeping bags. These products struggled to compete with similar offerings from an established company founded in 1900. Labor costs continued to rise through

638-534: The .270 Winchester , the .308 Winchester , the .243 Winchester , the .22 WMR (.22 Magnum), the .300 Winchester Magnum and the .350 Legend . In North America the .30-30 is the best-selling hunting cartridge in history; and the .308 Winchester, the commercial version of the military 7.62×51mm NATO , is not far behind, and one of the most popular hunting cartridges in the world. Olin Corporation continues to manufacture Winchester ammunition (the cartridge business

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696-673: The British Government and the similar .30-06 M1917 Enfield rifle for the United States during World War I . Working at the Winchester plant during the war, Browning developed the final design of the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), of which it produced some 27,000. Browning and the Winchester engineers also developed the Browning .50 caliber machine gun during the war. The caliber .50 BMG (12.7 x 99 mm) ammunition for it

754-606: The Browning -designed Model 1886. Oliver Winchester died in December 1880; his son and successor, William Wirt Winchester , died of tuberculosis four months later. William Wirt Winchester's widow, Sarah Winchester , used her inheritance and income from the company to build what is now known as the Winchester Mystery House . From 1883, John Browning worked in partnership with the Winchester Repeating Arms Company and designed

812-593: The Browning Citori made in Asia, continue to be manufactured into the 21st century and come with varying grades of fine hand engraving and premium quality wood. Throughout his life, Browning designed a vast array of military and civilian small arms for his own company, as well as for Winchester , Colt , Remington , Savage , Stevens , and Fabrique Nationale de Herstal of Belgium. Browning firearms have been made, both licensed and unlicensed, by hundreds of factories around

870-607: The M1 Garand rifle and post-war was the first civilian manufacturer of the M14 rifle . By the 1960s, the rising cost of skilled labor was making it increasingly unprofitable to produce Winchester's classic designs, as they required considerable hand-work to finish. In particular, Winchester's flagship Model 12 pump shotgun and Model 70 bolt-action rifle with their machined forgings could no longer compete in price with Remington's cast-and-stamped 870 and 700 . Accordingly, S. K. Janson formed

928-532: The M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle , and the Browning Auto-5  – the first semi-automatic shotgun . Some of these arms are still manufactured, often with only minor changes in detail and cosmetics to those assembled by Browning or his licensees. The Browning-designed M1911 and Hi-Power are some of the most copied firearms in the world. Browning's father Jonathan —who was among

986-428: The Model 1911 to circumvent Browning's self-loading shotgun patents, prepared by the company's very own patent lawyers. One of Winchester's premier engineers, T.C. Johnson , was instrumental in the development of these self-loading firearms and went on to superintend the designs of Winchester's classic Model 1912 , Model 52 and Model 54 . The company was a major producer of the .303 Pattern 1914 Enfield rifle for

1044-530: The Simmons Hardware Company . The Winchester and Keen Kutter brands did business together during the 1920s, but in 1929, they agreed to separate and returned to their core businesses. The consumer goods strategy was a failure for Winchester, and the Great Depression put the final nail in the company's coffin. The Winchester Repeating Arms Company went into receivership in 1931 and was bought at

1102-485: The Volcanic Repeating Arms Company . Its largest stockholder was clothing manufacturer Oliver Winchester . The Volcanic rifle had only limited success. The company moved to New Haven (without Smith or Wesson) in 1856, but by the end of that year, it became insolvent. Oliver Winchester and his partner John M. Davies purchased the bankrupt firm's assets from the remaining stockholders and reorganized it as

1160-495: The 1960s and '70s, and a prolonged and bitter strike in 1979–1980 ultimately convinced Olin that firearms could no longer be produced profitably in New Haven. In December 1980, the New Haven plant was sold to its employees, incorporated as the U.S. Repeating Arms Company , and granted a license to make Winchester arms. Olin retained the Winchester ammunition business. U.S. Repeating Arms itself went bankrupt in 1989. After bankruptcy, it

1218-680: The Auto-5 ) and the new Model 1912 pump shotgun, which was based in small part upon design features of the earlier Browning-designed Winchester Model 1897 shotgun. This shift marked the end of an era of Winchester-Browning collaboration. John Browning was known as a dedicated and tireless innovator and experimenter who sought breakthrough consumer-oriented features and performance and reliability improvements in small arms designs. He did not retire in his later years but dedicated his entire adult life – literally to his last day – to these pursuits. On November 26, 1926, while working at

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1276-592: The Brownings' terms. Remington Arms also was approached but the president of the company died of a heart attack while the Brownings were waiting to offer him the gun. Remington would later produce a copy of the Auto-5 as the Model 11 which was used by the US Military and was also sold to the civilian market. Having recently successfully negotiated firearm licenses with Fabrique Nationale de Herstal of Belgium (FN), Browning took

1334-570: The New Haven Arms Company in April 1857. After Smith's departure, Benjamin Henry continued to work with a Smith development project, the self-contained metallic rimfire cartridge, and perfected the much larger, more powerful .44 Henry round. Henry also supervised a new rifle design based loosely on the Volcanic to use the new ammunition, retaining only the general form of the breech mechanism and

1392-475: The U.S.'s standard military side arm until 1986; a variant is still used by special operations units of the United States Marine Corps and the design remains very popular among civilian shooters and some police departments. The Browning Hi-Power has had a similarly lengthy period of military service outside the United States. The .50 caliber M2 Browning machine gun – the enduring "Ma Deuce" –

1450-418: The Volcanic rifle, the first repeating rifle . Smith developed a new Volcanic Cartridge , which he patented in 1854. The Smith & Wesson Company was renamed Volcanic Repeating Arms in 1855, and was financed largely by Oliver Winchester . In 1856, the partners left Volcanic Repeating Arms to begin a new company and to manufacture a newly designed revolver-and-cartridge combination. Volcanic Repeating Arms

1508-406: The action is being closed. Winchester's success was founded on a cartridge, the .44 Henry rimfire, and the Henry and 1866 rifles designed for it. Winchester was a leading designer of rifle ammunition throughout its existence and has been responsible for some of the most successful cartridges ever introduced, including the .44-40 WCF (Winchester Center Fire), the .30 WCF (.30-30), the .50 BMG ,

1566-437: The age of seven, where he was taught basic engineering and manufacturing principles, and encouraged to experiment with new concepts. He developed his first rifle, a single-shot falling block action design while he was still his father's apprentice, then, in 1878, in partnership with his younger brother, co-founded John Moses and Matthew Sandefur Browning Company, later renamed Browning Arms Company . The company began producing

1624-506: The autoloading of ammunition. He invented, or made significant improvements to, single-shot, lever-action , and pump-action rifles and shotguns. He developed the first reliable and compact autoloading pistols by inventing the telescoping bolt , then integrating the bolt and barrel shroud into what is known as the pistol slide . Browning's telescoping bolt design is now found on nearly every modern semi-automatic pistol , as well as several modern fully automatic weapons. He also developed

1682-524: The bench on a self-loading pistol design for Fabrique Nationale de Herstal (FN) in Liège , he died of heart failure in the design shop of his son Val A. Browning . Even the 9 mm semi-automatic pistol he was working on when he died had great design merit and was eventually completed in 1935 by Belgian designer Dieudonné Saive . Released as the Fabrique Nationale GP35, it was more popularly known as

1740-608: The brothers' designs and other non-military firearms. By 1882, the company employed John and Matthew's half-brothers Jonathan (1859–1939), Thomas (1860–1943), William (1862–1919), and George (1866–1948). Like his father, Browning was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and served a two-year mission in Georgia beginning on March 28, 1887. He married Rachel Theresa Child (September 14, 1860 – September 30, 1934) on April 10, 1879, in Ogden, Weber County, Utah Territory, and

1798-475: The chances that the fulminate in the hollow rim would ignite the 28 or so grains of black powder inside the case. Another extremely popular model was rolled out in 1873. The Model 1873 introduced the first Winchester center fire cartridge, the .44-40 WCF (Winchester Center Fire). These rifle families are commonly known as the "Gun That Won the West." The Model 1873 was followed by the Model 1876 (or "Centennial Model"),

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1856-470: The closed Winchester plant in New Haven. The production of Model 1885 falling block action , Model 1892 and Model 1886 lever-action rifles are produced under licensed agreement by Miroku Corp. of Japan and imported to the United States by Browning. In 2008, FN Herstal announced that it would produce Model 70 rifles at its plant in Columbia, South Carolina. In 2013, assembly was moved to Portugal. In

1914-403: The company to Wesson in 1874 at the age of 65 and retired. Smith was married three times: first, to Eliza Foster; second, to Eliza Hebbard Jepson, and third, to Mary Lucretia Hebbard. Smith died on January 15, 1893. His will apportioned amounts to relatives and institutions and stated that the balance should be used for public purposes at the discretion of his executors. The Horace Smith Fund

1972-547: The couple had 10 children, two of whom died in infancy. Production examples of the Browning Model 1878 Single Shot Rifle caught the attention of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company , who dispatched a representative to evaluate the competition. Winchester bought the design for $ 8,000 and moved production to their Connecticut factory. From 1883, Browning worked in partnership with Winchester and designed

2030-482: The discontinued models or produced reproductions. The early years of the twentieth century found the Winchester Repeating Arms Company competing with new John Browning designs, manufactured under license by other firearm companies. The race to produce the first commercial self-loading rifle brought forth the .22 rimfire Winchester Model 1903 and later centerfire Model 1905 , Model 1907 , and Model 1910 rifles. Winchester engineers, after ten years of work, designed

2088-560: The first gas-operated firearm, the Colt–Browning Model 1895 machine gun  – a system that surpassed mechanical recoil operation to become the standard for most high-power self-loading firearm designs worldwide. He also made significant contributions to automatic cannon development. Browning's most successful designs include the M1911 pistol , the water-cooled M1917 , the air-cooled M1919 , and heavy M2 machine guns,

2146-465: The first of which was eventually reorganized into the Winchester Repeating Arms Company and the latter of which became the modern Smith & Wesson . Born in Cheshire, Massachusetts , Smith was employed by the U. S. Armory service from 1824 to 1842, when he moved to Newtown, Connecticut . He was employed by various gun makers up to the 1840s, when he moved to Norwich, Connecticut . He is then listed as

2204-551: The future. There will be no change in Customer Service. This action is a realignment of resources to make Winchester Firearms a stronger, more viable organization. Winchester Firearms plans to continue the great Winchester legacy and is very excited about the future. On August 15, 2006, Olin Corporation, owner of the Winchester trademarks, announced that it had entered into a new license agreement with Browning Arms Company to make Winchester brand rifles and shotguns, though not at

2262-515: The late 19th century-early 20th century, Browning designs and Winchester firearms were synonymous and the collaboration was highly successful. This came to an end when Browning proposed a new long recoil operated semi-automatic shotgun design, a prototype finished in 1898, to Winchester management, which ultimately became the Browning Auto-5 shotgun. As was the custom of the time, Browning's earlier designs had been sold exclusively to Winchester for

2320-563: The manufacturing facility in New Haven, and the decision was made after exhausting all available options. Effective March 31, 2006, the New Haven manufacturing facility will stop manufacturing the Winchester Model 70, Model 94, and Model 1300. Winchester Firearms will continue to sell and grow its current line of Select Over & Under shotguns, the new Super X3 autoloading shotgun, the new Super X autoloading rifle, and Limited Edition rifles. The company also plans to introduce new models in

2378-478: The new shotgun design to FN; the offer was accepted and FN manufactured the new shotgun, honoring its inventor, as the Browning Auto-5. The Browning Auto-5 was continuously manufactured as a highly popular shotgun throughout the 20th century. In response, Winchester shifted reliance away from John Browning designs when it adopted a shotgun design of Thomas Crossley Johnson for the new Winchester Model 1911 SL, (Johnson had to work around Browning's patents of what became

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2436-487: The original Winchester rifle ), Model 70 rifle, and Model 1300 shotgun were discontinued. The official press release sent out by U.S. Repeating Arms concerning the closure was released on January 17, 2006. The text is included below: U.S. Repeating Arms Company To Close New Haven, CT Facility – U.S. Repeating Arms Company, maker of Winchester brand rifles and shotguns will close its New Haven, Connecticut manufacturing facility. Many efforts were made to improve profitability at

2494-406: The same .44 caliber rimfire cartridges as the Henry but had an improved magazine (with the addition of a loading gate on the right side of the receiver, invented by Winchester employee Nelson King) and, for the first time, a wooden forend. The Henry and the 1866 Winchester shared a unique double firing pin that struck the head of the rimfire cartridge in two places when the weapon was fired, increasing

2552-507: The successful Browning Hi-Power pistol, a favorite of sportsmen and gun collectors as well as many military and law enforcement agencies around the world. The premium-priced Browning Superposed shotgun, an over-under shotgun design, was his last completed firearm design. It was marketed originally with twin triggers; a single trigger modification was later completed by his son, Val Browning. Commercially introduced in 1931 by FN, Browning Superposed shotguns, and their more affordable cousins,

2610-487: The summer of 2010, FN Herstal resumed production of the Winchester model 1894 and the evolution of the Winchester 1300, now called the Winchester SXP. A number of gun cleaning kits, Chinese folding knives, tools, and other accessories are also now sold under the Winchester trademark. In April 2015, the company recalled several variants of its SXP-model 12-gauge shotguns that the company says may unintentionally fire while

2668-582: The thousands of pioneers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who made an exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois , to Utah —established a gunsmith shop in Ogden in 1852. As was common in the Latter-day Saint community at the time, Jonathan Browning was a polygamist , having taken three wives. He fathered 22 children, including John Moses, and raised two stepdaughters with his wife Elizabeth Caroline Clark. Browning worked in his father's Ogden shop from

2726-618: The tubular magazine. This became the Henry rifle of 1860, which was manufactured by the New Haven Arms Company and used in considerable numbers by certain Union army units during the American Civil War . The Henry rifle ensured New Haven Arms' success, and together with the Spencer rifle , established the lever-action repeater in the firearms market. In 1866, Benjamin Henry, angered over what he believed

2784-700: The world. Browning Arms Company was established in 1927, the year after Browning's death on November 26, 1926, in Liège, Belgium. In 1977, FN Herstal acquired the company. The M1895 Machine Gun saw action in the Spanish–American War with the United States Marine Corps. The Colt M1911 , Browning 1917/19 , and the BAR saw action with US forces in World War I , World War II , and the Korean War . The M1911 went on to serve as

2842-416: The world. He made his first firearm at age 13 in his father's gun shop and was awarded the first of his 128 firearm patents on October 7, 1879, at the age of 24. He is regarded as one of the most successful firearms designers of the 19th and 20th centuries and a pioneer of modern repeating , semi-automatic , and automatic firearms. Browning influenced nearly all categories of firearms design, especially

2900-459: Was a commercial failure, and Robbins & Lawrence ceased production in 1852. Smith designed a much-improved rifle based on Jennings' design, and the partners also hired away Robbins & Lawrence shop foreman Benjamin Tyler Henry . In 1855, the Smith and Wesson partnership, in order to manufacture what they called the "Volcanic" lever-action rifle and pistol, sought investors and incorporated as

2958-438: Was a sportsman and gun enthusiast, and he started at once to restore the Winchester brand to its former luster by concentrating on its classic models and updated versions thereof, with particular attention to quality and prestige. Olin personally pushed the deluxe Model 52 Sporter and the semi-custom Model 21 double-barreled shotgun. Winchester flourished, even during the later Depression. The U.S. M1 carbine (technically not

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3016-411: Was acquired by a French holding company, then sold to Belgian arms makers Herstal Group , which also owns gun makers FN Herstal and Browning Arms Company . On January 16, 2006, U.S. Repeating Arms announced it was closing its New Haven plant where Winchester rifles and shotguns had been produced for 140 years. Along with the closing of the plant, production of the Model 94 rifle (the descendant of

3074-510: Was designed by the Winchester ballistic engineers. The commercial rights to these new Browning guns were owned by Colt . During the war, Winchester had borrowed heavily to finance its massive expansion. With the return of peace, the company attempted to use its surplus production capacity and pay down its debt by trying to become a general manufacturer of consumer goods – everything from kitchen knives to roller skates to refrigerators, to be marketed through 'Winchester Stores'. They also merged with

3132-457: Was established in 1899 from his estate to fund scholarships for worthy graduates from secondary schools in Hampden County, Massachusetts. John Browning John Moses Browning (January 23, 1855 – November 26, 1926) was an American firearm designer who developed many varieties of military and civilian firearms, cartridges , and gun mechanisms, many of which are still in use around

3190-475: Was inadequate compensation, attempted to have the Connecticut legislature award ownership of New Haven Arms to him. Oliver Winchester , hastening back from Europe, forestalled the move and reorganized New Haven Arms yet again as the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Winchester had the basic design of the Henry rifle completely modified and improved to become the first Winchester rifle, the Model 1866, which fired

3248-583: Was no longer considered to be a prestige brand, causing a marked loss of market share. To this day, gun collectors consider "post-64" Winchesters to be both less desirable and less valuable than their predecessors. In the early 1970s, the Olin Winchester-Western Division tried to diversify with at least two unsuccessful attempts. The first was an experimental indoor shooting range called Wingo in San Diego, California. This short-lived attempt had

3306-622: Was not sold to U.S. Repeating Arms ) in several lines including Super-X, Supreme and Supreme Elite, AA and Super Target shotshells, and Winchester Cowboy Loads revolver cartridges. The company's factory collection is owned by the Cody Firearms Museum in Cody, Wyoming . Horace Smith (inventor) Horace Smith (October 28, 1808 – January 15, 1893) was an American gunsmith, inventor, and businessman. He and his business partner Daniel B. Wesson formed two companies named "Smith & Wesson",

3364-543: Was reorganized as the New Haven Arms Company and eventually as the Winchester Repeating Arms Company In 1857, Smith and Wesson formed another Smith & Wesson company, this time to produce a pistol with interchangeable parts, a repeating action, a revolving magazine, metallic cartridges, and an open cylinder. They developed more firearms using their own patents along with patents and licenses bought from other gunsmiths. Smith sold his interest in

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