The Winchester 1866 Short Rifle: the Gun That Helped Tame the Frontier

By David LaPell

U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- The Winchester rifles were synonymous with winning the West, but to point out which of those rifles that actually achieved that has been open for debate. For years, most said it was the 1873, but more and more evidence that another Winchester rifle had a large hand in settling the frontier, and that’s the 1866 Yellow Boy, which didn’t suddenly quit being made when the 1873 Winchester was introduced but ended up being produced until 1899, thirty-three years into its run. In all that time it left its name on history not just here in the United States, but it found favor in the armies of the French and Turkey and saw conflict during the Franco-Prussian and Russo-Turkish Wars.

The 1866 Winchester really was a progression of the 1860 Henry Rifle designed by Benjamin Tyler Henry where a wooden forearm was added, and of course, the loading gate, patented by Nelson King meant you could quickly load the gun from the side instead of the front of the magazine. The 1866 was the first gun to bear the name Winchester after Oliver Winchester renamed the New Haven Arms Company the Winchester Repeating …Read the Rest

Source:: AmmoLand