The History of Winchester Firearms - Research Paper Example

History of Winchester Firearms 1. Introduction In the American civil war (1861-1865), the military used muzzle loading rifles as primary firearm for the infantry. Muzzle loading rifles left soldiers vulnerable at critical stage in a battle. The process involved loading charge and then the ball. The charge was carried in paper and therefore, its quantity loaded was not always standard. This presented issues with performance and reliability of those firearms. The war demonstrated the need for a modern breech loading firearm along with standard ammunition cartridge for better performance. This period saw the development of breech loading single shot firearms. These firearms started a revolution in the industry and laid basis for the development of modern firearms. Walter Hunt started the transition with his patent in 1849 for a breech loading, repeating rifle called Volition Repeater (Henshaw 1). The design improved over the years and work was done by different companies. Jennings repeating rifles were introduced in 1850 and 1851, but they failed to mass produce. Smith and Wesson were granted patents for a new design in 1854. This gun was of pistol size and was radically different from previous designs of Hunt and Jennings. The original company under the name of Smith & Wesson was short lived and in 1855 it was merged into a new company named Volcanic Repeating Arms. Oliver Winchester bought stock share in this company. 2. Foundation of Winchester Firearms The financial investments by Oliver Winchester lead him to presidency of Volcanic Firearms. The company introduced Volcanic rifle and pistol in 1858 and 1856, respectively. It faced financial difficulties and most of the property was bought by Oliver Winchester. The company moved to New Haven and was named New Haven Arms Company. To cater for the flaws of Volcanic rifles, Henry rifle was introduced in 1862. The rifle had larger caliber (.44 as compared to .38 of Volcanic rifle), improved rate of fire and striking power (Carman 118). In 1866 Winchester Repeating Arms Company was formed which took over patents of Henry rifle and assets of New Haven Company (Schwing 11). 3. Early Years The first rifle made by the company was Model 1866. It was an improved design of Henry rifle (Cornell and Goodwin 44). It utilized different feeding mechanism and a changed magazine. The rifle was introduced in rifle and carbine styles. The model gained traction and was wanted internationally by Turkish and French governments in 1970 (Henshaw 12). To cater for large number of orders, new production facilities were added. After the success of Model 1866, Model 1873 was introduced. It was great improvement over the original Model 1866. It carried the same basic design, but had improved mechanism for handling heavier center fire cartridges, covered ejection port, steel plating and most of all increased barrel length. The barrel provided improved accuracy and striking power. The rifle was originally introduced in .44 caliber, but .38 and .32 calibers were added in 1880 and 1882, respectively. Variants of Model 1873 were introduced in different barrel lengths and styles. Subsequently, Model 1876 was introduced in larger .45-70 caliber. New cartridges were developed for the model and it was mainly aimed to address competitors with larger caliber rifles. The company bought rights from Hotchkiss and consequently, Model 1883 carried tubular magazine located in butt stock and it was operated by pull back bolt action (Walter 181). 4. The Golden Era In 1879 John Browning patented his single shot rifle and in 1883 rights were purchased by Winchester Arms. Model 1885 was the single shot rifle. It was loaded by opening the breech and was cocked by closing action. An era of heavy hunting cartridges started with the single shot rifles. Model 1886 repeating rifle and Model 1887 repeating shotgun were capable of handling heavier cartridges of .45-70 caliber. The caliber was also adopted by US government as it offered longer range and power. Model 1887 was the first lever action shotgun made in the US. The company introduced Models 1890, 1892 and 1893, but its most successful rifle ever, came in the form of Model 1894 repeating rifle (Renneberg 14). This lever action, repeating rifle became famous throughout the world. The rifle represents the golden era for the company and was manufactured in various styles for seventy years. It was the first to feature nickel steel barrels as standard and was specially made for cartridges with smokeless powder. The rifle was made available in different calibers. The follow up Model 1895 was designed to accommodate box magazine to utilize recently introduced high power smokeless cartridges and pointed bullets. These models enabled Winchester Arms to reach its prime. A modified version of Model 1895 was also made for the Russian government in very large quantity to be used with 7.62mm Russian cartridge. Winchester took rights to manufacture Lee Straight Pull rifle for the US Navy. These were mainly used in the Spanish-American war. The rifle had improved safety feature. Increased orders demanded larger production facilities and the company undertook series of projects to revamp its production capabilities. 5. Start of Twentieth Century Twentieth century saw development of semi automatic rifles. These were self loading rifles. Winchester-Browning association collapsed and experimentation on different bolt assemblies was carried out to perfect a design for semi automatic rifles. These were complex designs and involved loading of round with gas operation. The major issue in functioning was to delay the gas recoil for increased accuracy. The issues were resolved in the Model 1903 and Winchester introduced first commercially produced semi automatic rifle. It was .22 caliber and became an immediate success (Houze 159). Model 1903 represented the new trend that revolutionized the industry. 6. World War I Winchester Model 1897 shotgun was the favored weapon for trench warfare due to its high striking power (Lewis 228). The Russians, however, moved to semi automatic weapons specifically for assault operations. The Winchester Model 1903 semi automatic rifle was followed by Model 1911 semi automatic shotgun. It was the first Winchester semi automatic shotgun. Model 1912 (later called Model 12) was the last of weapons introduced till the end of World War I. During war Winchester produced a modified version of British .303 caliber P14 rifle. It is known as US rifle Model 1917. 7. Post World War I Era After the war Winchester in 1919 produced Model 52, bolt action .22 caliber rifles. The rifle was the most accurate small bore weapon (Henshaw 79). It was preferred by hunters as a precision firearm. The company hoped for the US Army to induct the weapon for training purposes, but no contract was signed. Later, Model 54 and Model 21 were introduced in 1925 and 1930, respectively. The sales of these models were limited and the company had to face serious financial crisis. It could not maintain its normal operations and was bankrupt. In 1931 the company was bought by Olin Industries and merged with Western Cartridge Company (Houze 221). Firearm production started again and in 1932 Model 61 and Model 62 were introduced. Both these models were .22 calibers. These were followed by Model 63 semi automatic .22 caliber rifle in 1933. The company started production of its old bolt action, center fire rifles. Model 21 was reintroduced and Model 70 in 1936 was the first center fire, bolt action rifle specially designed for sporting use. Under the new management the company flourished and by 1937 sales amounted to almost $30 million (McIntosh 129). 8. World War II The company started production of M1 rifles during the war. It was semi automatic, air cooled weapon. The company took orders to fulfill requirement of the military and was the largest producer of M1 rifle and it was used as a standard weapon for the military. The rifle was very long and clip fed with eight rounds. There was a need for smaller rifle with detachable magazine. To address the issues M1 carbine was designed and developed in Winchester. The carbine had smaller length and 15 round detachable magazine. It was delivered to the military during the war in 1942 (Thompson 9). The firearm was liked for its light weight, small size and good firepower. It proved useful in close quarter operations and used .30 cartridges which had less penetration power, but good accuracy. 9. Post World War II Era The company took orders for M14 rifle after the war and introduced handful of its own designs in this era. In 1954, Model 50 and in 1959 Model 59 were introduced. Both these models were semi automatic shotguns. The company faced tough competition from low priced offerings by other companies. Winchester firearms were known for their premium handmade production quality, but the firearm industry moved to more advanced machine manufacturing methods. Competitors, therefore, offered products in cheaper prices. The company could no longer afford increased labor costs and was facing financial crisis. 10. Decline The company discontinued the old production methods and in 1964, started production of new designs using modern manufacturing methods. It started production of New Model 70, Original Model 1400 and Model 94 antique; however, sales for these models were not satisfactory (Walter 386). After 1966 the company produced its old models like Model 1866 and Model 1894 in limited numbers as commemorative products. Later, in 1970s modern designs like Model 9422, Super X Model 1 and Model 1300 were introduced, but they were not liked by the public and the company was criticized for low quality firearms. The era saw labor strikes and it was sold to company employees by Olin in 1981. Consequently, US Repeating Arms Company was formed (Houze 322). It started manufacturing variants of Model 70, Model 94 and Model 23. Production for limited edition original models started in 1984 but the company could not make enough profit to sustain production. In 1989 it was bankrupt again and in 1992 new management took over US Repeating Arms. A new modern facility was planned for production under license from Olin Corporation and manufacturing started again with variants of Model 70. In 1994 Pre-64, Model 70 was modified with claw extraction, controlled round feed and other features that made the original Winchester rifles so loved by hunters, collectors and target shooters. The originals were remade at New Haven till 2006 and the plant was closed; however, selected models are produced at Fabrique Nationale of Belgium (Lee 1370). 11. Conclusion Winchester represented western firearms internationally. They were premiere firearms and soon rose to international fame. Winchester started the revolution in firearm industry and they were rightly termed as “The gun that won the West” (Henshaw 196). The company led the innovation for center fire as well as rim fire rifles, carbines and shotguns. The most famous Winchester Model 1894 lead firearm industry with design far ahead in operation, supported by newly developed ammunition. Winchester laid foundation for semi automatic modern rifles by introducing first commercially produced .44 caliber Model 1903 semi automatic rifle. Winchester Model 1897 was the standard trench gun in World War I. The company was the prime supplier of M1 rifle and carbine in World War II. Winchester firearms are cherished and known for their premiere quality. The company shaped the industry and manufactured quality firearms for almost 140 years. Works Cited McIntosh, Michael. Best Guns. Maine: Countrysport Press, 1999. Print. Walter, John. Rifles of the World. 3rd ed. Wisconsin: Krause Publications, 2006. Print. Thompson, Leroy. The M1 Carbine. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2011. Print. Houze, Herbert. Winchester Repeating Arms Company: Its History & Development from 1865 to 1981. Wisconsin: Krause Publications, 2004. Print. Renneberg, Robert. Winchester Model 94: A Century of Craftmanship. 3rd ed. Wisconsin: Gun Digest Books, 2009. Print. Schwing, Ned. Winchester Pocket Guide: Identification & Pricing for 50 Collectible Rifles and Shotguns. Wisconsin: Kraus Publications, 2004. Print. Cornell, Joseph, and Paul Goodwin. Standard Catalog of Winchester Firearms. Wisconsin: Gun Digest Books, 2007. Print. Carman, William. A History of Firearms: From Earliest Times to 1914. London: Taylor & Francis Books, 1955. Print. Henshaw, Thomas. The History of Winchester Firearms 1866-1992. 6th ed. New Jersey: New Win Publishing, 1993. Print. Lee, Jerry. 2012 Standard Catalog of Firearms: The Collector’s Price & Reference Guide. 22nd ed. Wisconsin: Gun Digest Books, 2012. Print. Lewis, Jack. The Gun Digest of Assault Weapons. 6th ed. Wisconsin: Krause Publications, 2004. Print. Read More