steve004 said

I was thinking about what rifle came in the most chamberings - ever?  I suspect it was the Winchester Single-Shot with the Ruger No. 1 coming in second.
  

Your suspicion is correct.  The Winchester Single Shot was (by a very wide margin) factory chambered for the largest number of different cartridges.  For a detailed list, read my article - Winter 2021 (winchestercollector.org)

Bert

Bill Ruger was a man of considerable taste and discrimination, in addition to being a brilliant and innovative mechanical designer. His #1 and 77 rifles shocked the industry because they were celebrated and successful - not because they were all that accurate; they weren't, particularly the single shot. They were very handsome compared to the competition, because WBR did something outrageous. He hired a custom gunmaker to design the stocks. Nobody else did that!  And not just any custom stockmaker!  Moreover, Len Brownell trained a group of New England women to hand checker the stocks. Hand checkering was then considered impossible to do at reasonable cost. Wrong again. 

The Ruger 77 was not cheap. The initial list was $149 when the Winchester Model 70 was about $130. A Browning High Power was about $175. Ruger could not build them fast enough.

What does this have to do with Winchester?  A lot because it began to employ outside designers and engineers to consult. Some of you may not care for the new Featherweight but it was and still is a popular and stylish rifle. Ruger kicked Buddha's gong and shocked Winchester and Remington into doing some things differently. 

In my opinion, the 9422 would not have happened if Bill Ruger hadn't succeeded.earlier. Nor would Browning have shown how to make and sell the Model 12 at a profit. 

It is extremely difficult for a subsidiary corporation whose officers answer to a parent board of directors, to allow its product creators the latitude to innovate. While John M. Olin made mistakes and 1964 would not have occurred without his consent, he was also a positive influence and wanted Winchester to make the best -- and best looking -- rifles and shotguns in the World, immediate profits be damned. As long as he had the power to isolate Winchester's gunmaking operation from Wall Street,  he used it. 

Bill Ruger ran his company with an iron hand and Sturm Ruger never borrowed money. WBR and family owned an overwhelming controlling interest in SR and he answered to nobody. As Jim Carmichael reported, the reason Ruger guns were made a  certain way was because "that's the way Bill wants it." 

The positive influence Bill Ruger has had on Winchester products is unmistakable and significant. 

Bo Rich said
Next thing you know.  Somebody will bring up a Ruger!  Oh the humanity!😜
  

Now that you mention it, I have a (JMB-designed!) 1911 built by Ruger but I'll resist participating in the off-topic wanderings. Got a busy morning waiting on me! Y'all have fun!

Mike

I can concede one must be wary of the, "slipper slope."  Ruger followed by Mossberg?

These posts trigger memories for me.  I've not been much of a Ruger guy but in the late 70's I had a M77 in .250-3000 and one in .257 Roberts.  I didn't have one in .30-06, .270, .308 etc.  It was the chamberings that attracted me.  I recall years ago buying a Winchester M54 in .257 Roberts.  The rifle was in very high original condition with exception that the barrel had been cut to 20 inches!  I wouldn't have looked twice at it had it been in 30-06, etc. but the chambering pulled me in - combined that it was in a Winchester M54.

I do have an appreciation for Ruger rifles.  The rifles themselves, but also the very wide array of chamberings in the M77's and No.1's and No. 3's.  Chamberings such as .38-55, .405,.35 Whelan, .348 Winchester, .22 Hornet, .218 Bee... Ruger had us covered.  I appreciate how Ruger was able to carry the past forward. -

I was thinking about what rifle came in the most chamberings - ever?  I suspect it was the Winchester Single-Shot with the Ruger No. 1 coming in second.

Bo Rich said
Next thing you know.  Somebody will bring up a Ruger!  Oh the humanity!😜
  

In the dark days of 1967, the Ruger #1 was a badly needed breath of fresh air. 1968 was a second breath.

mrcvs said

Bert H. said

mrcvs said

Bert H. said

Bo Rich said
I prefer the Winchester!  Enough is enough on these second rate rifles!  🤪
  

I Concur!!
  

Okay, I won’t post these anymore.  My previous thread was such a hit I thought I might post this one since I really like the configuration and it really reminds me of a Model 1894 rifle.
In time, I’ll find another Winchester rifle to add to the forum.  I have one in the works now.
  

Ian,
I believe that Bo & I were both posting "tongue in cheek" to your recent post.  While the focus of this website and forums is "Winchester", the occasional divergence to the "lesser off brand" firearms is not strictly verboten, especially those that are chambered for a Winchester cartridge.
Bert
  

👍👍👍
I posted them, especially this one, as it so very much reminds me of its competition (e.g., a Winchester 1894) and I think that a Winchester lever rifle collector is likely to make room for one of these over other competing brands if they collect this pre WWI era stuff.
  

In all seriousness, I have yet to meet a Winchester enthusiast who doesn't own or aspire to own each of several historically significant arms that undoubtedly cost Winchester sales and did inspire or should have inspired WRA management to develop guns to compete. The Browning Auto-5, of course, and Browning's Trombone rimfire and Superposed O/U,  the Savage 95/99, the Mannlicher-Schoenauer, and the Parker. At the risk of ex-communication, history commands me to mention the Marlin 39 family, which WRA ultimately trumped (!) with the 9422, but I have never understood why they gave that market to Marlin for so many years. Production cost, probably. Even Marlin had to quit. Complicated little suckers, all of them. 

steve004 said
Here's one with a sight often seen on a Winchester but almost never on a Savage:

View post on imgur.com

Very impressive!

Bert H. said

mrcvs said

Bert H. said

Bo Rich said
I prefer the Winchester!  Enough is enough on these second rate rifles!  🤪
  

I Concur!!
  

Okay, I won’t post these anymore.  My previous thread was such a hit I thought I might post this one since I really like the configuration and it really reminds me of a Model 1894 rifle.
In time, I’ll find another Winchester rifle to add to the forum.  I have one in the works now.
  

Ian,
I believe that Bo & I were both posting "tongue in cheek" to your recent post.  While the focus of this website and forums is "Winchester", the occasional divergence to the "lesser off brand" firearms is not strictly verboten, especially those that are chambered for a Winchester cartridge.
Bert
  

👍👍👍

I posted them, especially this one, as it so very much reminds me of its competition (e.g., a Winchester 1894) and I think that a Winchester lever rifle collector is likely to make room for one of these over other competing brands if they collect this pre WWI era stuff.

Mike

View post on imgur.com