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Winchester Model 1866 Grade I Short Rifle By Chuck Hawks and the G&S Online Staff  "The real original Winchester has arrived. Black walnut straight grip stock, polished brass receiver, blued steel, open top ejection port, folding ladder rear sight." So says the 2018 Winchester catalog at the top of the Model 1866 rifle page. For those not students of Winchester (www.winchesterguns.com) history, past and present, perhaps some clarification of this statement is due. The Winchester Model 1866 was the improved successor to the Henry rifle of 1860. (B. Tyler Henry was Oliver Winchester's plant manager until he was followed by Nelson King in late 1865 or early 1866.) Oliver Winchester changed the Company's name from New Haven Arms to Winchester Repeating Arms Company and the first product to bear the Winchester name was the Model 1866. Hence, it is the "original" Winchester. It was, in fact, the only Winchester until the similar iron/steel frame Model 1873 was introduced in centerfire caliber .44-40 Winchester. Prior to 1873, Winchesters bore no model number and the "Model 1866" designation was not adopted until after the introduction of the Model 1873. Oliver Winchester died at the end of 1880 and his son, William, died in 1881. Winchester ceased to be a family owned company. Ownership of the Winchester name and trademark has changed several times since. Today, Winchester 1866 rifles are not being made in Connecticut. In fact, they are not even made in the USA, being produced by Winchester's long time partner Miroku Corporation in Japan. However, they are legally "real" Winchester rifles, as the Winchester name is currently owned by Olin Industries and licensed to FN/Browning (owned by the Herstal Group of Belgium) and by extension Miroku, which produces various Browning shotguns and Winchester rifles. Miroku was founded in 1893, so they are very experienced arms makers and their products are deservedly well respected. In addition to the Model 1866, Miroku also produces the current Model 1873, Model 1885, Model 1886, Model 92 and Model 94 Winchester rifles. Miroku also produced the recent limited edition Winchester Model 71 and Model 95 rifles. I would suggest the current Winchester rifles made by Miroku are the best to wear the Winchester name since the Second World War. The Model 1866 uses the Henry toggle-link action. However, Winchester designer Nelson King devised some important improvements to the Henry rifle. He eliminated the Henry rifle's integral, front loading magazine design with its open bottom and external follower lever in favor of a separate, closed magazine tube mounted beneath the barrel. This was loaded through a spring-loaded gate in the right side of the receiver, allowing fresh cartridges to be inserted without taking the rifle out of action. Elimination of the Henry magazine with its external follower lever allowed a wood forearm to be fitted to the 1866. Consequently, the Model 1866 established the basic pattern for most subsequent lever action rifles, including the extremely popular Winchester Model 94 and Marlin Model 336, to this day. Nicknamed "Yellow Boy" on the frontier, due to its brass colored receiver, the Model 1866 remained in the Winchester line until 1898. After a 119 year gap, it was reintroduced in 2017. The Model 1866 quickly became a commercial success in the US and established Winchester RAC as a prominent rifle manufacturer. Winchester 1866 rifles were also sold overseas in large numbers. The French government purchased 6,000 rifles and the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) purchased 51,000 rifles and carbines. Mexico, Chile and Peru also purchased Model 1866s. A total of over 170,000 Model 1866 rifles of all types have been produced. Four minor variations of original Model 1866 rifles are recognized by collectors. (Presumably, current production will be referred to as the "fifth model" by future collectors.) The first three models were chambered for the .44 Henry Flat rimfire cartridge, which has long been obsolete and unavailable. The fourth model of the 1866 was offered in .44 WCF. Like all black powder cartridges, the .44 rimfire and .44 centerfire were low pressure numbers, so the 1866's "brass" receiver (actually "gunmetal," a bronze alloy) and toggle link action was more than sufficiently strong for its purpose. Current Grade I Model 1866 rifles are offered in .38 Special (MAP = 17,000-20,000 psi), .44-40 Winchester (MAP = 13,000 CUP) and .45 Colt (MAP = 14,000 psi). I ordered the rifle reviewed here in .38 Special. Unlike the very similar Model 1873 action, which is built on a steel receiver designed for higher pressure cartridges, the brass framed Model 1866 is not offered in .357 Magnum (MAP = 35,000 psi). Do not attempt to shoot magnum pressure loads in any Model 1866 rifle. Despite its moderate working pressure, the Model 1866 has its redeeming features. Its Henry action is exceptionally smooth in operation and can be cycled quickly. Its machined, vertically operating shell carrier fitted to the specific cartridge makes this a controlled feed action; it functions perfectly with the rifle held in any orientation, including upside down. No separate ejector is required in the 1866. The rising cartridge carrier block just pushes the fired and extracted case out the open top of the receiver as it raises a new cartridge into alignment with the chamber, no matter how slowly or rapidly the finger lever is operated. It is interesting to watch. The Henry action is designed for short cartridges, so the full length tubular magazine holds a lot of rounds, 10 in .38 Special. It uses a traditional half-cock hammer position safety, so there is no "lawyer" manual safety to forget or fumble. In addition, I have always thought it to be the prettiest of all Winchester lever actions. Model 1866 Grade I features
Specifications
Upon receipt of the test rifle, I wiped the preservative from its external metal surfaces with an oily rag. Per the Instruction manual, I put a couple drops of gun oil on the sides of the hammer, surface of the striker assembly and on the lever pivot. I also pulled a Bore Snake through the bore. The brass forearm cap, receiver and crescent (rifle) buttplate are given what Winchester describes as a "brushed polish" finish, as are the blued steel barrel and magazine tube. This polish is smooth and nicely done, what I would consider a traditional standard metal polish. It is far superior to the dull, unpolished, matte metal finish so common on many modern rifles. The lever, lever lock, trigger, hammer, loading gate and screws are given a high luster blued (high gloss) finish. The test rifle's Grade I black walnut stock and forearm have an attractive, straight grain pattern with a smooth oil finish. No sling swivel studs are provided. I gave the wood six applications of Johnson's paste wax for additional protection and to bring out the grain, something I do almost automatically to most new rifles before taking them to the range for the first time. The new Model 1866 Short Rifle is, beyond doubt, an attractive rifle. The Guns and Shooting Online staff members were duly impressed when they saw it. The slender forearm and straight hand stock give the Short Rifle a sleek appearance totally unlike the cobby silhouette of so many modern rifles, especially carbines chambered for pistol cartridges. The receiver side plates fit perfectly and the wood to metal fit is excellent. Obvious care was taken in the manufacturing, assembly and finish of this rifle and it shows. Winchester states that considerable hand work goes into every rifle. The Yellow Boy balances between the hands and is fast to shoulder. Its thin, flat receiver makes it a delight to carry in one hand. The trigger pull measured five pounds out of the box on my RCBS pull gauge. The trigger pull feels lighter than this, due to its absence of creep and minimal over travel. The trigger blade is smooth, fairly wide and given a high polish blue finish. Although overly heavy, it is a comfortable trigger. The hammer sits high in the receiver, blocking the sights until cocked. It has a tall, comfortably shaped spur, making the hammer exceptionally easy to thumb cock. There is very fine checkering on the hammer spur for an improved grip. Cycling the finger lever automatically cocks the hammer as it loads the chamber. After cycling the action, just squeeze the trigger to fire the rifle. If you do not want to fire the rifle immediately, lower the hammer to the half-cock (safety) position. In addition to the hammer half cock safety, there is an inertia striker and a lever lock. The latter is a screw with a flat, key-type head directly behind the loop of the finger lever. Turn it 90-degrees to engage the small extension at the rear of the lever to prevent cycling the lever. (You can see the lever lock, disengaged, in the photo at top of page.) To silently thumb cock the hammer, hold the trigger rearward while manually cocking the hammer. Release the trigger when the hammer is all the way back (against the frame). Then, ease the hammer forward until it catches on the full cock hammer notch. This technique is useful when hunting, in order to cock the rifle without spooking an alert game animal. No safety on a bolt action or autoloading rifle is as quiet. The new '66 .38 Special is considerably heavier than advertised. The heavy sporter contour barrel contributes substantially to the Short Rifle's empty weight of 7 pounds 14 ounces per my digital scale. With 10 rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber, ready to shoot, it scaled 8 pounds 3 ounces. Incidentally, I discovered the magazine would accept 11 cartridges, but the last round would jam the shell elevator when the finger lever was operated. To clear this jam it is necessary to remove the small screw at the front end of the magazine tube that retains the magazine cap, then carefully slide out the magazine cap, magazine spring and magazine follower. Use one hand to press against the front of the magazine tube to prevent the magazine spring from jumping from the magazine tube, potentially losing the magazine cap (at the front of the spring) and magazine follower (at the rear of the spring, neither of which is positively attached to the ends of the spring. Be warned, the spring tension is not excessive, but the long spring behaves like a Slinky toy. Dump out the cartridges in the magazine. Cycle the action to eject the cartridge in the shell carrier. Make sure the rifle is empty and reinstall the magazine parts. This is not a big deal, but next time remember not to load more than 10 cartridges in the magazine tube! Shooting the Yellow Boy As always with a classic Winchester rifle, the staff and I were eager to get it to the range. Surprisingly, a rare late winter sunny day arrived just a few days after I received the test rifle. The temperature was 54 degrees and the wind a negligible 5 MPH. On this fine day, Gunsmithing Editor Rocky Hays, Chief Technical Advisor Jim Fleck, Technical Assistant Bob Fleck and I met at the Izaak Walton gun range south of Eugene, Oregon. This outdoor facility offers covered shooting benches with target stands at 25, 50, 100 and 200 yards. We used a Caldwell Lead Sled DFT rest to stabilize the rifle. One of the reasons I had requested the '66 in .38 Special was that I had an adequate supply of ammunition on hand. For this review, we used Winchester USA 125 grain JSP, Remington/UMC 130 grain FMJ, Blazer +P 125 grain JHP and Remington/UMC +P 125 grain SJHP factory loads. These are all round nose bullets with flat or hollow points. To prevent a possible chain-fire in the magazine, do not use pointed (spitzer) bullets in any rifle with a tubular magazine. The rear ladder sight on the '66 is superior to the semi-buckhorn rear sights supplied on most modern lever action rifles. The instruction manual supplied with the rifle states that the rear ladder sight, in its folded position, is approximately zeroed at 50 yards. Adjust the sight for longer distances by lifting up the ladder and sliding the elevator upward. (There are fine calibration lines on the ladder.) Windage adjustments are made by tapping the rear sight in its mounting dovetail in the direction you wish to move the point of impact. Use a hardwood dowel, or something similar, to avoid marring the rear sight base. At the range, I found the 125 grain +P loads hit about 2" high at 50 yards and the standard velocity loads impacted about 3" high at 50 yards, with the rear sight folded. Nothing could be done about this at the range. The solution would be a taller front sight. Initially, the bullets also impacted about 2" to the right. However, a couple of taps with a small hammer on a plastic rod moved the rear sight to the left enough to correct this. As usual with iron sights, we did all of our shooting at 50 yards, in deference to our aging eyes that lack the accommodation to focus on the rear sight, front sight and target. (To approximate 100 yard results, multiply the group size by two.) We fired five shot groups at Redfield Precision Sight-In Targets. Shooting Results at 50 Yards
This time out, Rocky and Bob shot the smallest groups (a tie). However, none of us have eyesight adequate to get the best from open iron sights. Even though, as open iron sights go, the 1866 sights are better than average. I am certain we could have achieved smaller groups with a tang mounted peep sight. Lack of eyeball accommodation was our biggest problem. Jim and I, in particular, could choose glasses that allowed us to see the target, but sights so fuzzy they could only be approximately aligned; or sharp sights, but a target so fuzzy it literally disappeared into haze. Not good! Rocky and Bob also had vision problems, but to a lesser extent. Under the circumstances, the mean average group sizes were much better than I had expected. I have ordered a Marble Arms tang peep sight for this rifle and I will add an addendum to this review after some more range time. (Tang sights make aiming much easier, especially for us senior citizens.) As with other Henry toggle action rifles we have had the pleasure of shooting, the lever action of the new Model 1866 is very smooth. A reasonably experienced lever action shooter can crank out aimed shots from the 10 round magazine at a startling rate. We also love the completely controlled feeding. Operate the lever quickly to eject a fired case well clear of the rifle; operate the lever slowly to drop the fired brass on the shooting bench next to the rifle. It is a fascinating action to watch operate. Worth noting is that all the brass cased ammunition could be ejected as slowly as the shooter desired, or as quickly. The comparatively rough Blazer aluminum cases had to be ejected rapidly, or they would tend not to eject cleanly. Here at Guns and Shooting Online we have accumulated a reasonable amount of experience shooting and reviewing Henry toggle action rifles (Original Henrys, 1866s and 1873s) and this is the only ammunition to which B. Tyler Henry's amazing action has ever been even slightly sensitive. Crank the lever briskly, as you would with a normal lever action, and even the Blazer ammo ejected cleanly. We did most of our range shooting by loading five cartridges at a time into the magazine. However, the open top receiver makes loading a single cartridge directly into the chamber easy, if desired. The recoil in this almost eight pound, .38 Special rifle is negligible and there is little muzzle blast. It is a lot of fun to shoot. Jim commented that he liked the trigger pull. As mentioned above, the large, smooth trigger feels good against the finger and the release is unusually clean. It is too heavy, but subjectively it doesn't feel particularly heavy. However, I believe I could have shot better (assuming I could have seen the sights and the target better) with a lighter trigger pull. When we arrived at the range there was already a whole firing line of shooters taking advantage of this unusually sunny winter day, including a small group of tactical police officers (SUV and all). In fact, we got the last available shooting bench. Everyone was shooting AR or M4 type rifles and carbines chambered for cartridges from .223 Rem to .308 Win. at 25 yard targets. As far as I could see, they all had optical sights of various sorts. Our Winchester 1866 Yellow Boy was the only walnut stocked rifle at the range and it had only an obsolete, ladder type, open rear sight. Not to mention that we were the oldest shooters, by far. They probably considered us, and our antique rifle, quaint. While checking our 50 yard targets, we walked past theirs at 25 yards. We were amazed to see our 50 yard groups were consistently smaller, better than the cops and other AR guys managed at 25 yards. Since we were shooting half blind, this is a tribute to the quality and timeless design of the 1866 Winchester, not our feeble efforts. (Obviously, the incompetence of the plastic rifle crowd was the major factor.) However, the world's most popular repeater, circa 1866, more than held its own against the most popular repeaters of 2018. Conclusion For my purposes, this Winchester '66 is primarily a fun plinker and a neat rifle to shoot at the range. It should also appeal to cowboy action shooters. Of course, with JHP ammunition, the modern Yellow Boy could be used for hunting small game and predators. Unfortunately, the receiver is not drilled and tapped for scope mounts, or a receiver sight. However, the top tang is drilled and tapped for a tang mounted peep sight, the fastest and most accurate iron sighting system. Auxiliary sights and sling swivels are not required for a home defense rifle and with JHP full power loads the handy Short Rifle should be more than adequate in this role. After all, '66 Winchesters were used to save countless lives on a lawless frontier. From a 20" carbine barrel, we chronographed the Remington .38 Special +P 125 grain SJHP load at 1340 fps (10' from the muzzle), providing excellent stopping power and a relatively flat trajectory with almost no recoil and greatly reduced muzzle blast, compared to a .357 Magnum revolver. If desired, a laser sight could be custom mounted below the magazine tube. At a typical 2018 discount retail price around $1100, the Model 1866 Short Rifle cannot be considered inexpensive. However, this genuine Winchester is actually less expensive that some reproductions and its overall high quality justifies its price. It is, therefore, a good value and with proper care it should last several lifetimes, becoming a family heirloom. In order to improve the sighting situation, Rocky ordered a Marble Arms tang (peep) sight from Brownell's for the Winchester '66, which arrived the month after this review was published. The Marble's peep sight is a precision rear sight. It is screw adjustable for both windage and elevation and it comes with with three screw-in aperture discs of different sizes. Since the rifle is drilled and tapped for tang sights, mounting was straight forward. It is necessary to remove the open rear sight to clear the view through the tang peep sight. Rocky fabricated a filler for the open sight's empty barrel dovetail. That accomplished, we were eager to return to the rifle range for some informal shooting with the new rear sight in place. Using one of the supplied aperture discs, a peep sight dramatically sharpens the shooter's view of the front sight and target. This optical miracle occurs, because the aperture acts like stopping down a camera lens. As anyone who understands how to operate a manual camera knows, stopping down a lens dramatically increases the depth of field (zone of sharpness). The same principle applies to the human eye, with the screw-in aperture disc effectively "stopping down" the pupil of the shooting eye, so the front sight and target both appear in reasonably sharp focus. We chose to use the disc with the smallest aperture, which provides maximum depth of field and is the best choice for target shooting. With our old eyes, the improvement in aiming at 50 yards was pronounced. Rocky, Jim and Bob, shooting from a bench rest from the shoulder, without using the Lead Sled, produced groups slightly better than they had previously shot for record using the Lead Sled and the factory open rear sight. I, alone of our shooters, chose to use the Lead Sled and the Remington/UMC 125 grain SJHP +P factory load that this rifle favors for a more accurate comparison. With the tang peep sight my smallest group measured only 3/4" and my largest group just 1". This represented about a 20% reduction in my average group size. The most noticeable difference was in the ease of aiming. All four of our shooters agreed that the tang sight was a big improvement and a very worthwhile accessory for any vintage Winchester. RIFLE REVIEW SUMMARY
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