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US patent No. 436965 is a .22 caliber rimfire adaptation of a previous Browning design, patent No. 385328. This rimfire adaptation would be produced with almost no modification as the Winchester model 1890. The design would be one of Winchester’s most successful with nearly 2 million rifles produced as the model 1890, 1906, 06, 62, and 62A.
As with every other successful Browning design, folklore abounds regarding its inception and development by Winchester. Anecdotes about the design often confuse the centerfire and rimfire patents, and cannot be verified due to lack of documentation.
This design utilizes the same T-shaped breech-block as its predecessor, with the majority of changes involving the carrier. The carrier features a similar lower chamber that functions as the lifter. Here, however, the cartridge traveling from the magazine onto the lifter engages a cartridge stop. When engaged, the cartridge stop retains the rest of the cartridges within the magazine, regardless of the length of the cartridge in the lifter. The extractor is modified to push the cartridge out of the carrier and into the barrel chamber.
The cartridge stop incorporated into the carrier would be omitted in production of Model 1890 rifles, but would be used in later models. Winchester 1890 carriers were cut specific to the length of cartridge the barrel was chambered for. Rifles came in .22 Short, .22 Long, .22 Long Rifle, and .22 Winchester Rimfire.
Inventor: John Browning, Matthew Browning
Patent Attorney: Earle & Seymour
Assigned: Winchester, January 1890