These dates are when a single shot target rifle came out.

Sharps 1874, Remington 1873, Ballard/Marlin 1876, Marlin 1881, Maynard 1873, Peabody/Martini 1875, Whitney 1871, Phoenix/Eli Whitney 1874, Frank Wesson 1870, Bullard 1883/84, Stevens 1886.

A fine piece as I'm in agreement with the others, like Steve said, it goes well with you're collection, as the missing link.

Bill is also correct as s short story of the hunt, and the picture of the rifle deserves to be in the Collector. 

Tony

steve004 said

Anthony said
Thanks for making us aware Steve!
One has to think and imagine that J.M.B. got most of his design and thinking, in the late 1870's, from his mastermind head, from the Sharps rifle's of the day along with it's falling block action, that we are now familiar with in the Winchester M-1885. 
Looks like another book for the library.
Tony
  

Tony -
As much respect and admiration I have for JMB, he wasn't the only genius firearms inventor and designer to come along.  And surely as you suggest, there would have been influence from others that came before him as well as operating when he was.  
  

Steve,

You're absolutely correct in you're statement. IMO! You've more than demonstrated that in a very good way here and on site's we have shared. Without naming them, there's more than one, it's just that to me and a few others, J.M.B. is one of the more well known and publicized that we're familiar with as you're well aware of. Being that he had the most influence with the History of Winchester, in the early days of well known inventions etc.......He's so known for the M-1885 S.S. rifle, as it was his first patent, without naming the rest. Also as you're aware of, before Oliver Winchester passed in 1880, he made it a well known practice to the ones around him to try to buy out the competition, as he was also successful in doing.

It's just that J.M.B.'s designs in several patents after his first one of the 128 patents, sure helped the development along as far as the Black powder transition to the smokeless powder was concerned. The well known companies of Marlin and Savage sure did their part in contributing to name a couple. Don't know if Winchester ever made them any offers to be bought out and consumed. 

Tony

Unlike my small gun collection,  my library always has room to grow. A good collector volume - well researched, written by an expert with a scholarly hand but with a flair for entertaining the reader and maintaining his interest while teaching him -- will never cost less than the original publication price.  Want a nice copy of Herb's To the Dreams of Youth? You should have bought it when it came out. How about Schwing's two-volume work on the Winchester slide actions?  

Before any beginning collector starts throwing money at the gun show wolf packs, let him gird himself by studying what he proposes to buy. Law and Medicine both teach that preparation is even more important than learned skills.  Thorough and exhaustive preparation makes the dull practitioner smart, the smart practitioner brilliant, and the brilliant practitioner steady.  The collector should adopt this philosophy.  Knowing the questions is more important than knowing the answers. 

Having spent half my life in libraries,  I hold that a good collection of works on  particular Winchesters is vital but should be supplemented by books on Winchester's competitors and antecedents, and books on American history, for a complete understanding of WRA and its products. No manufacturer does business in a vacuum.

After mud wrestling a Winchester 1907, if I were not at least a student of John Moses Browning, I would have cursed the memory of the much put-upon Thomas C. Johnson, thinking he was an idiot for concocting such a Rube Goldberg contraption.  But even a cursory review of the many patents granted Browning that protected his automatic shotgun -- the Auto-Five bristled with them like a porcupine-- is illuminating. Poor Johnson helped draft the claims and he was very good at it. And thorough. That he was later at all able to design any sort of automatic gun that wouldn't violate a Browning patent, is a tribute to his high design skills and ingenuity.  The Johnson blowback automatics are weird because they had to be. They do work. The little 03/63 is a jewel albeit ruinously costly to make. 

Studying the Auto-Five patents lets you see T. C. Johnson "in the round."

Anthony said
Thanks for making us aware Steve!
One has to think and imagine that J.M.B. got most of his design and thinking, in the late 1870's, from his mastermind head, from the Sharps rifle's of the day along with it's falling block action, that we are now familiar with in the Winchester M-1885. 
Looks like another book for the library.
Tony
  

Tony -

As much respect and admiration I have for JMB, he wasn't the only genius firearms inventor and designer to come along.  And surely as you suggest, there would have been influence from others that came before him as well as operating when he was.  

It is a story hard core collectors can relate to and beginners can learn from. It would really be a service to the membership. 

And you have to get that carbine blooded this Fall. The article needs a cover shot of you, your Downeast hunting garb, a fat spike buck for the table, and the carbine. Your fans expect nothing less. 

One has to think and imagine that J.M.B. got most of his design and thinking, in the late 1870's, from his mastermind head, from the Sharps rifle's of the day along with it's falling block action, that we are now familiar with in the Winchester M-1885. 

Looks like another book for the library.

Tony

steve004 said
I know there's Sharps fans around here. 
This may be of interest:
https://www.blackpowdercartridge.com/product-reviews-35
  

Yes, they've made some of the shows this year. Great collaboration of some well-respected experts on the Sharps rifles. I prefer the more refined JMB example but can confirm there's another single shot around here somewhere. 

Mike

This may be of interest:

https://www.blackpowdercartridge.com/product-reviews-35

steve004 said

oldcrankyyankee said
Ian, you have my number today! 86 SRC 1907 in 45-90. It is kind of like the missing link to my collection. You can keep the big 50's. I have actually seen more src in 50 cal than 45-90
  

I knew it!
Congratulations Tom and Happy Birthday.
That carbine definitely has a place in your collection.  It really was the missing link.
  

Thanks Steve. You are right, I have spent a lot of time looking for this configuration to fill in the puzzle. Passed on a restored one and a clunker and glad I did. Has the character I look for in my guns. A little bit of wear with a generous amount of good upkeep and one that makes you wish it could tell the stories it has. I will have to try get the whole family together for a group photo soon.

oldcrankyyankee said
Ian, you have my number today! 86 SRC 1907 in 45-90. It is kind of like the missing link to my collection. You can keep the big 50's. I have actually seen more src in 50 cal than 45-90
  

I knew it!

Congratulations Tom and Happy Birthday.

That carbine definitely has a place in your collection.  It really was the missing link.

oldcrankyyankee said
I would add a src in 38-56 would not get kicked out of this house.
  

.38-56 is the most underrated Model 1886 caliber, fun to shoot, accurate, and easily formed from .40-65 brass as long as you don’t pursue the next step and turn it into .33 Winchester.