<P> After the war, Oliver Winchester renamed New Haven Arms the Winchester Repeating Arms Company . The company modified and improved the basic design of the Henry rifle, creating the first Winchester rifle: the Model 1866 . It retained the . 44 Henry cartridge, was likewise built on a bronze - alloy frame, and had an improved magazine and a wooden forearm . In 1873 Winchester introduced the steel - framed Model 1873 chambering the more potent . 44 - 40 centerfire cartridge . In 1876, in a bid to compete with the powerful single - shot rifles of the time, Winchester brought out the Model 1876 (Centennial Model). While it chambered more powerful cartridges than the 1866 and 1873 models, the toggle link action was not strong enough for the popular high - powered rounds used in Sharps or Remington single - shot rifles . </P> <P> From 1883, John Moses Browning worked in partnership with Winchester, designing a series of rifles and shotguns, most notably the lever - action Winchester Model 1886, Model 1892, Model 1894, and Model 1895 rifles, along with the lever - action Model 1887 / 1901 shotgun, the pump - action Model 1890 rifle, and the pump - action Model 1893 / 1897 shotgun . </P> <P> 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 . </P> <P> 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 . </P>

When was the first winchester repeating rifle made