House of Browning

This .22 caliber rolling block rifle appears in the Winchester collection attributed to John Browning. It is believed to have been made about 1889 during Winchester’s development program for an inexpensive .22 rimfire single shot rifle. The rifle is pictured in Herbert Houze’ book, Winchester .22 Caliber Single Shot Rifle, plates 18 and 19.

Shortly after acquiring a controlling interest in the Whitney Arms Company and Remington Arms Company, Winchester began a development program for an inexpensive .22 rimfire rifle. The program was likely the result of seeing how profitable the simple .22s of Whitney and Remington were, combined with lackluster sales of Winchester’s more expensive 1885 chambered in .22 rimfire.

Winchester’s .22 rifle program appears to have been headed by William Mason and William Wetmore. About 1888 they began developing rolling block actions similar to Witney and Remington. Development would branch off to include falling block and break action designs before being supplanted by Browning’s bolt action rifle in 1898.

This rifle is found in the Winchester collection currently housed in the Cody Firearms Museum. No drawings of the action appear to have survived and the design was never patented. Original notes from the collection attribute it to John Browning, but no other confirmation of provenance is known.