Winchester International Website

May 22, 1866

Oliver Winchester establishes the Winchester Repeating Arms Company to build the finest guns and ammunition possible.

1869

The transcontinental railroad is completed, opening the American West to settlement. This westward expansion will fuel decades of demand for Winchester firearms.

1871

The National Rifle Association is founded in New York with U.S. Army General Ambrose Burnside as the organization’s first president.

1873

Smoothbore Model 1873. “Buffalo Bill” Cody’s favorite Winchester rifle for trick shots in his “Wild West Show.” The show launched in 1883 and would soon feature Annie Oakley.

1875

“for hunting, I pronounce your improved Winchester the boss.”
— — William F. « Buffalo Bill » Cody in the 1875 Winchester catalog

1876

“The Winchester…is by all odds the best weapon I ever had, and now I use it almost exclusively...”
— Theodore Roosevelt on the Centennial Model 1876 lever-action rifle

1878

Winchester receives a patent for a folded type primer anvil.

1880

Oliver F. Winchester dies at age 70 in New Haven, CT.

1893

Winchester begins loading sporting cartridges with the latest thing in ammunition
— smokeless powder.

1895

Combined with the Model 1894, this is the most famous hunting rifle and bullet combination never to have existed.

1897

Winchester introduces new RIVAL products.

Factory loaded shotshells.

1898

The United States goes to war with Spain. Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt becomes a national hero leading his “Rough Rider” volunteer unit at San Juan Heights. Roosevelt reportedly loans his personal Winchester Model 1895 rifle to another soldier during the attack.

1900-1904

Winchester introduces Repeater shotshells.

The first Grand American Trapshooting Championship marks the beginning of more than a century of Winchester support for the annual event.

Winchester shooters Ad and Plinky Topperwein dazzle visitors at the Worlds Fair in Saint Louis.

1905

Winchester begins using the famous W/P oval proof mark called the “Hallmark of Quality” and introduces Nublack brand shotshells.

1907

The Model 1907 semi-auto centerfire rifle is introduced along with the new .351 Winchester Self Loading smokeless cartridge.

1911

Winchester starts loading Lesmok powder in centerfire cartridges.

1919

Artist Phillip R. Goodwin creates an illustration that soon becomes the trademark for Winchester.

1921

Winchester introduces the legendary Super-X brand shotshell.

1927

Winchester introduces Lubaloy copper-plated bullets.

1932

Dr. Fred Olsen patents a method for making smokeless powder underwater in small spherical grains. The new Ball Powder creates an instant competitive advantage for Winchester’s ammunition operation.

1935

Western collaborates with Smith & Wesson to produce the 357 Magnum cartridge.

1950

The western movie “Winchester ‘73” is released, staring Jimmy Stewart. Winchester’s wizard Herb Parsons fills in for Stewart during the film’s trick shooting scenes.

1961

Launch of the Power-Point bullet, designed to expand more rapidly.

1956

The 458 Winchester Magnum cartridge is introduced.

1962

The Winchester Mark 5 shot collar is introduced, enclosing the shot column and greatly improving patterning performance.

1963

The 300 Winchester Magnum cartridge is introduced, filling an important performance niche between Winchester’s 264 and 338 Magnums.

1965

Winchester introduces the legendary AA shotshell. Its durable one-piece compression-formed hull is ideal for reloading and quickly becomes the “go-to” shell for millions of clay target shooters.

1965

While the “Horse & Rider” have been part of the Winchester brand since 1919, the trademark is officially registered.

1966

To mark the 100th Anniversary of Winchester Repeating Arms, a gold-tone plated Model 1894 named the Model 66 Centennial is introduced.

1969

John Wayne wins the Academy Award for his role in the Western ”True Grit”, in which he fires his Winchester Model 1892 lever-action rifle one-handed on horseback while chasing a gang of outlaws.

1975

The Buffalo Bill Historic Center in Cody, Wyoming begins negotiations to secure the Winchester Repeating Arms corporate gun collection. Thousands of Winchester guns become the cornerstone of the new Cody Firearms Museum.

24,000

1976

The new world’s one day record, set by a team of six trapshooters uses six Winchester Super X Model 1 shotguns, crushing the old mark by 9,000 targets.

1980

Winchester sets a new industry standard by introducing the one ounce rifled shotgun slug.

1993

Launch of the high-performance Super-X Drylok Super Steel Waterfowl watertight shell.

2001

The 300 WSM (Winchester Short Magnum) cartridge is introduced. The 300 WSM offers long action magnum performance in a short action rifle. Additional WSM calibers soon follow.

2005

Winchester Ammunition celebrates its new rimfire manufacturing operations in Oxford, Mississippi, also home to one of the most state-of-the-art facilities in the world for centerfire rifle and handgun ammunition manufacturing.

2009

Based on technology developed for the FBI, Winchester Ammunition introduces PDX1 Defender personal defense handgun ammunition.

2011

Winchester Blind Side Steel ammunition, with its ‘hex’ shape shot and diamond cut wad, is named ammo product of the year by Outdoor Life and NRA American Hunter.

2013

915 meters per second
The speed of the newly released 17 Winchester Super Magnum debuts, making it the fastest rimfire cartridge in the world.

2014

Long Beard XR redefines turkey hunting ammunition and sets two new world records at the NWTF still target competition. SHOT LOK technology uses a liquid resin that hardens, keeping the shot perfectly round.

2015

Launch of the Extreme Point: the first bullet specially designed by Winchester for deer hunting.

2016

The iconic Winchester brand celebrates 150 years of legendary excellence.

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