More about Browning Civilian Rifles

1878-  Browning Single Shot Rifle, later the Winchester Model 1885 (Still in production today!)
This was Browning’s first design.  The top rifle is one of only about 600 made by John M. Browning in his Ogden shop before selling the design to Winchester. These have been made in dozens of different calibers. The lower rifle is the current production version of the Model 85 as made by Winchester today. It is virtually the same gun as made by John M. Browning in his shop by hand, except for use of a modern coil spring instead of a flat spring. How many other mechanical items are still in production after 130 years virtually unchanged?

Winchester Model 1886 and Model 71. (Still in production today!)
Designed in 1882- This lever action rifle for heavy cartridges was vastly superior to Winchester's earlier designs which could only handle weak cartridges. Initially offered in .45-70 caliber, and later .50-110 Express and .33 Winchester. This is another design that is still being made today by Winchester, virtually unchanged.

Winchester Model 1892 (Still in production today!)
Capitalizing on the success of his big bore Model 1886 design, Browning came up with a much smaller and lighter rifle in 1891. Intended for use with pistol type cartridges, this allowed a hunter or cowboy to use the same ammunition in both his rifle and revolver. Here we have an original Winchester made example circa 1900 and a current production example from Winchester.



Winchester Model 1894 rifle (Still in production today!)
Introduced in 1894, this lever action rifle for medium power smokeless powder cartridges like the .30-30 Winchester caliber was an instant success. It is the most popular sporting rifle ever with over 7 MILLION made (so far)!  The classic “deer rifle” and offered with many different calibers and barrel lengths. Here are an early example circa 1898 and one of the current production guns made by Winchester.



Winchester or Browning Model 1895 (Still in production today!)
Another invention from 1894, this lever action rifle uses a box magazine, suitable for powerful military rifle cartridges, either rimmed or rimless. In .405 caliber this was Teddy Roosevelt’s “Big Medicine” for African big game. If you missed out getting one a hundred years ago, no problem, Winchester is still making them!



Remington Model 8 semi auto sporting rifle
Invented in 1900, this semi-auto, recoil operated rifle was the first successful medium power semi-auto rifle.  It did not reach the commercial market right away due to Browning's refusal to do any more business with Winchester. It was made by FN in Belgium, and also Remington in the U.S. where it achieved moderate success, first as the Model 8, then as the Model 81.



From John M. Browning's earliest hand made examples to the present, there is much to be admired about these rifles, and their inventor.

John M. Browning Day was Sponsored by
Browning Morgan, UT	John M. Browning Firearms Museum Union Station Museum Ogden, UT	Fort Douglas Military Museum Salt Lake City, UT	Utah Gun Collectors Association Salt Lake City, UT	Utah National Guard Draper, UT	Utah Shooting Sports Council Salt Lake City, UT
And numerous private collectors and historians from around Utah