Winchester Model 1866

History of the 1866 Winchester Model

While the Henry lever-action rifle of 1860 proved revolutionary in its own right, there were still some limitations to its overall design that today's Winchester firm is quick to try to overcome. The resulting product - the Model 1866 - became an excellent and powerful performer on the Western Frontier, offering reliability and ease of use along with accuracy and a 15-round magazine. The Winchester Model 1866 was the Winchester rifle that started it all and started the long and successful line of lever systems that would become synonymous with the Winchester brand name and the Wild West.

Some 720,000 Winchester rifles would eventually be produced during the boom in the leveraged market, earning the brand a special place in history and in the hearts of everyday users.

As lead investor, apparel entrepreneur Oliver Winchester acquired the bankruptcy assets of Volcanic Repeating Arms - a company founded in part by firearms makers Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson to make their limited success Volcanic lever action pistols and rifles . After full ownership, Winchester moved the manufacturing plant to New Haven, Connecticut and changed the operating name to New Haven Arms Company. The company continued to produce the Henry Model 1860 bolt-action rifle - named after its workshop foreman, Benjamin Tyler Henry. Smith & Wesson eventually left NHAC to start their own revolver manufacturing company. The Henry rifle was in service in the latter stages of the American Civil War and Indian War, with approximately 14,000 produced, and is widely regarded as an excellent rifle of its time.

Before reloading, Henry had Confederate soldiers lucky enough to get it (it didn't officially join the Confederate army).

After the Civil War, New Haven Arms became Winchester Repeat Arms. The first order was to rework and improve the Henry rifle. Although the Henry rifle employs a revolutionary repeated fire method, it is not without its limitations. A new rifle was conceived as the lever-action Winchester Model 1866, an improvement on the Henry rifle.

The Model 1866 introduced a wooden front end on the magazine tube, as well as an improved sealed magazine chamber and a stronger bronze frame. A recognizable Winchester-style loading door was added to the right side of the frame for easy weapon reloading. In fact, it was this loading door that differentiated the 1866 from the Henry.

The new yellow exterior frame earned the 1866 model the "yellow boy" nickname.

The Model 1866 proved to be a hit in Winchester, with around 170,000 produced. Additionally, the weapon appeared on the mass market in three different forms - carbine, rifle and musket. The carbine model is a shortened form, giving up some of the accuracy of the smaller size and improving its portability and use on horseback.

It was equipped with a 20-inch round barrel and was known as the "Saddle Ring Carbine". Carbines accounted for 127,000 production examples throughout the Model 1866 line and proved to be the most popular.

The base rifle is called the "Sporting Rifle" and comes with a 24.4" round or octagonal barrel depending on preference. About 28,000 examples of this type were produced.

Perhaps the lesser-known of the three became the Model 1866 musket - with a rounded barrel and a longer length of the three weapon systems.

Externally, the Model 1866 Sporting Rifle was very similar in design to the Henry rifles that preceded it, but later became the basic standard design for all Winchester rifles. The brass receiver makes up a small part of the overall design, but contains the most important internal structure. The loading door is on the right, just above and in front of the lever. The lever acts as both a trigger guard and a trigger handle, and has a large, elongated, open ring for precise gripping during movement. The lever handle was pulled down and forward, clearing the chamber of the spent cartridge, while a new cartridge was inserted and the hammer cocked, ready to fire the rifle.

The hammer is typical Winchester, protruding from the rear upper receiver and within easy reach of the trigger operator. The receiver tapers to a wooden stock with a brass plate and a forward-curved end that fits over the shoulder when aiming fire. The barrel is octagonal or round (depending on the model - carbine, rifle or musket), protrudes from the front of the receiver and contains on its top a rear stepped sight and a front post sight. The tubular magazine hangs below the barrel, giving the Winchester range of rifles their unique look.

Externally, the new front end almost covers the magazine barrel and serves to protect the operator from the hot barrel - a feature that the Henry rifle lacks.

The Winchester Model 1866 was originally designed to fire the .44 Henry, the edge-fired cartridge developed for the aptly named Henry rifle. Rimfire cartridges use a firing pin which, like centerfire cartridges, strikes the edge of the cartridge rather than its center.

Cartridges will be made from their own propellant powder and bullets. After firing, only empty "spent" cartridges remain. after . The 44 Henry cartridge is made of brass, not the earlier copper.

The tubular magazine holds 15 rounds and is fed back by a compression spring each time the lever is pulled.

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