This Day in History: Winchester is Founded

By Logan Metesh

USA – -(AmmoLand.com)- On May 22, 1866, one of the most iconic names in the arms industry was founded: Winchester Repeating Arms Company.

The company’s namesake, Oliver Winchester, first worked as a carpenter and then manager of a men’s clothing company. By 1848, he had his own men’s dress shirt manufacturing company.

In 1857, he scraped together some money and bought a controlling share of the struggling Volcanic Repeating Arms Company from Horace Smith and Daniel Baird Wesson. Eventually, the company was relocated and it became the New Haven Arms Company.

Employees Benjamin Tyler Henry and Nelson King would be key to Winchester’s success.

Building on Henry’s Model 1860 lever-action repeating rifle, Nelson King improved the design, adding a loading gate to the side and a forearm in front of the receiver, among other things. In less than a decade, the Winchester Repeating Arms Company was born and their first iconic rifle – the Model 1866 “Yellow Boy” – hit the market.

Their next offering was the Model 1873, which became known as “The Gun That Won the West” and has sold …Read the Rest

Source:: AmmoLand