Winchester Model 1887/1901

The Winchester Model 1887 and Winchester Model 1901 were lever-actionshotguns originally designed by famed American gun designer John Browning and produced by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 

Winchester Model 1887 shotgun
Type	Shotgun
Place of origin	United States
Service history
Used by	Various law enforcement agencies,stagecoach companies
Production history
Designer	John Browning
Designed	1887
Manufacturer	Winchester Repeating Arms Company
Produced	1887–present
Variants	M1901
Specifications
Weight	8 lbs. (3.6 kg)
Length	39¼ in. (997 mm)
Barrel length	20 in. (508 mm)
Caliber	12-gauge, 10-gauge
Action	Lever-action
Feed system	5 round tubular magazine
Sights	front bead

Overview

The Model 1887 was the first truly successful repeating shotgun. Its lever-action design was chosen at the behest of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, best known at the time as manufacturers of lever-action firearms such as the Winchester model 1873. Designer John Browning suggested that a pump-action would be much more appropriate for a repeating shotgun, but Winchester was a lever-action company and felt that their new shotgun must also be a lever-action for reasons ofbrand recognition. To Winchester's credit, however, they later introduced Browning's pump-action shotgun design as the Model 1893 (an early production version of the model 1897), after the introduction of smokeless powder.

Shotgun shells at the time used black powder as a propellant, and so the Model 1887 shotgun was designed and chambered for black powder 12-gauge shotshells, with a 10-gauge chambering being offered soon afterwards. It was soon realized that the action on the M1887 was not strong enough to handle early smokeless powdershotshells, and so a redesign resulted in the stronger Winchester Model 1901 10-gauge only. No 12-gauge chambering was offered, as Winchester did not want the Model 1901 to compete with their successful 12-gauge Model 1897 pump-action shotgun.

Although a technically sound gun design, the market for lever-action shotguns waned considerably after the introduction of the Winchester 1897 and other contemporary pump-action shotguns; Model 1887 production totaled 64,855 units between 1887 and 1901, with 79,455 Model 1901 shotguns being manufactured before it was discontinued in 1920.