1866 production notes

[Blair]

Notes taken from George Madis, "The Winchester Book".

1866 production starts with SS# 12,476. #'s made that year, 2337. It is important to note that SS# from the Henry production overlap with the early 1866's.

35,656 1866's were produced in the year of 1871. This is the greatest # of '66's produced within a single year.
None were made in the years of 1895 & 1896. With only 3 arms being made in the years of 1892, '93, and '97.
In 1898, 1087 arms were made. The production officially ends in 1899.

Total produced is 170,100, with an additional 4,000 SS#'s being assigned to the repair department.
My best,
Blair

[Fox Creek Kid]

Notes taken from George Madis, "The Winchester Book".

1866 production starts with SS# 12,476. #'s made that year, 2337. It is important to note that SS# from the Henry production overlap with the early 1866's...

http://www.rarewinchesters.com/articles/art_first_winchester_collector.shtml

[Blair]

FCK,

Thank you for your reply/report.

Many Historians/Collectors consider the Madis book a bit dated. But I have found it to be rather accurate. And should be read specifically related to the model type to get the most out of the text.
My "notes" may seem a bit bland for most people. This is because I only wanted to post the actual numbers. Leaving my own opinions out of the equation along with all the other speculations that seem to come with this type of additional research.
I believe opinions and speculation only adds to the confusion of such subjects.
My best,
Blair

[Fox Creek Kid]

Buy this:

https://www.amazon.com/Winchester-Repeating-Arms-Company-Development/dp/0873412850

[Galloway]

Were the ones sold to other countries included in the 170,100 serial range or did they have their own?

[Blair]

Galloway,

It is my understanding that the 170,100 number is the TOTAL number produced during the production time frame.
There may have been some assembled after production had been discontinued?
My best,
Blair

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Here is one article on Winchesters in service in the Turkish army, with a reference to Russia's 1895s;

http://weaponsman.com/?p=1823

This is an excellent article from Man at Arms magazine;

http://www.militaryrifles.com/Turkey/Plevna/ThePlevnaDelay.html

An image of a Turkish 1866;  

https://www.google.ca/search?q=winchester+1866+turkey&client=firefox-b&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwixju-j98_NAhUM02MKHTVqA-wQsAQIKQ&biw=1692&bih=989#imgrc=y-ru0cRb6pEK8M%3A

[Mike]

I read in Evolution of the Winchester by McDowell that a number of 66's were converted to centre fire. There are are picture of the bolts with this convertion.

I would be interested to know how available the centre fire Henry ammunition was against the rimfire vertion. Availability of ammo would govern what guns would be popular and as the further away from the source of surply you are, the smaller the choice.
If a good gun smith is around you get your gun converted?

[Blair]

Mike,

Again this is just my understanding, but Winchester used several systems to convert the 1866's from rim to center fire.
There are also known several Gun smith alteration.
George Madis shows several of these variations in his book.
I have know idea as to the time period, without going back a reading the specifics on the subject.
However, I will go back to my copy and look up the pages where this subject is discussed and report back here if there is enough interest.
My best,
Blair

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

The .44 Henry cf and the .44 American were near-twins as the S&W was initially chambered for the rf Henry round until the US Army demanded a center fire for the trial lot they purchesed.

[Mike]

The other thought i had was how many 66 have been coverted back to rim fire to increase there collectors value?