Original Item: Only One Available. This is a rare treat! A genuine M-1866 YELLOW BOY, the legendary Brass-framed first Winchester Repeating rifle! First introduced in 1866, having taken over the Henry Rifle Company, Oliver Winchester launched one of the iconic Firearm names in the history of THE OLD WEST. Many refer to the Winchester repeating rifle as the "GUN THAT WON THE WEST"! While the Model 1873 improved on many aspects of the Model 1866, it lacked the beautiful lines and lovely "gunmetal" frame that its predecessor had.

Both models were made concurrently for decades, however this example was made in 1870, before production o the 1873 started. Not only that, it is the rarest of all variants, the "Infantry Rifle", often called the "musket" by modern day collectors. This variant was intended for possible use by the military, and as such it has a full length stock, sling swivels, and a front sight designed to take a socket bayonet. Of the 160,000 or so Model 1866's made, only 15,000 were the Infantry Rifle, making it by far the scarcest when compared to the rifle and saddle ring carbine. The socket bayonet for the infantry rifle is probably even rarer than the infantry rifle itself, however this offering comes with one of those as well! This is a fantastic collector's opportunity!

This Yellow "Gunmetal"-Framed Beauty is still in original .44 Henry Rimfire chambering, with a 27" round barrel and full-length magazine tube. These were originally all made in .44 Henry Rimfire, however a few late production Winchester 1866 rifles were configured to fire .44 Henry Centerfire. There were also many period conversions to other centerfire cartridges. We checked the end of the breech block, and it definitely has the double sided rimfire striking system, with no evidence of a center fire conversion.

The rifle features the original round-based ladder sight, which is fully functional, and the front "barleycorn" style sight attached directly to the barrel. The serial number is 31797, denoting the year of manufacture as 1870, three years before the release of the Model of 1873. Model 1866 Winchesters with serial numbers between 25,000 and 149,000 are considered the "third model", with incremental design improvements over the first two models. The issues with the earlier models had been ironed out, making this a very robust design, and the third model was by far the most produced type of the 1866.

This example has seen a lot of use, however the original barrel address markings are still mostly legible in the light, something very rare to see on a model 1866!:-

The action has a beautiful patina on the "gunmetal" frame, which we have left intact. Barrel looks to have been cleaned and over the years, with areas of peppering and staining, which have made the markings hard to read. The left side of the frame has been personalized with what looks like the initials a. a..

Stocks are in good condition, showing wear but also a lovely color, having been refinished some time in the past. The fore stock has some dents and dings, but not any cracks or other major damage. The butt stock however has a crack on the left side running back from the receiver, as well as another next to the lovely "gunmetal butt plate. There is a working storage compartment in the butt, and it contains an EXTREMELY rare Winchester 4 piece cleaning rod! This still stows correctly inside of the butt trap. Additionally, the right side of the butt stock has CHARLESTON / S. C. written on it, which gives it some nice research potential.

The rifle is in overall very nice condition, with a fantastic look. The action cycles well, and does not have any issues that we can see, though we did not do any tests to see if it can still feed correctly. The bore on this example does show quite a bit of wear, as well as lack of cleaning after use. There are areas that still show rifling, but also a lot of areas of oxidation and fouling. Still, most example we have seen are like a stovepipe, so this is definitely one of the better ones we have seen.

The included socket bayonet is in very good condition, showing only light staining and oxidation on the bright steel blade. There are some scuffs from cleaning and some peppering on the socket, but overall it's a great example, and possibly even rarer than the gun!

A very nice example of the rarest variant of an iconic and historically significant gun. This is the only example of the "Yellow Boy" Infantry Rifle that that we have ever offered for sale! Complete with the rare socket bayonet and even rarer cleaning rod, this rifle is ready to display!

Specifications (Rifle):-
Year of Manufacture: 1870
Caliber: .44 Henry Rimfire
Cartridge Type: Rimfire Cartridge
Barrel Length: 27 Inches
Overall Length: 46 Inches
Action type: Lever Action Repeater
Feed System: 17-round tube magazine

Specifications (Bayonet):-
Blade Length: 18"
Socket Length: 3"
Blade Style: Triangular
Overall length: 21“

The first Winchester rifle – the Winchester Model 1866 – was originally chambered for the rimfire .44 Henry. Nicknamed the "Yellow Boy" because of its receiver of a bronze/brass alloy called gunmetal, it was famous for its rugged construction and lever-action "repeating rifle" mechanism that allowed the user to fire a number of shots before having to reload. Nelson King's improved patent remedied flaws in the Henry rifle by incorporating a loading gate on the side of the frame and integrating a round, sealed magazine which was partially covered by a forestock.

France purchased 6,000 Model 1866 rifles along with 4.5 million .44 Henry cartridges during the Franco-Prussian War. The Ottoman Empire purchased 45,000 Model 1866 rifles and 5,000 carbines in 1870 and 1871. These rifles were used in the 1877 Russo-Turkish War, causing much surprise when outnumbered Turks at the Siege of Plevna inflicted many times more casualties than their opponents armed with single-shot Krnka and Berdan rifles. The Model 1866 compelled Russians to develop a new rifle, the Mosin–Nagant, after the war.

The Swiss Army initially selected the Model 1866 to replace their existing single-shot Milbank-Amsler rifles. However, ensuing political pressure to adopt a domestic design resulted in the Vetterli Model 1867, a bolt-action design utilizing a copy of the Winchester's tubular magazine, being adopted instead.

Due to public demand, the Model 1866 continued to be manufactured and sold until 1899, mainly because they were less expensive than the later steel-framed centerfire models. Later models were chambered for the .44-40 Winchester cartridge.

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