The Model 1885 Single Shot was the first John M. Browning design (and the first single shot) to be built by Winchester. With nearly 140,000 being manufactured from 1885 to 1920, the Single Shot was offered in just about any barrel length and chambering available.
Offered in both “High Wall” and “Low Wall” frames, these terms refer to the sides of the receiver and their position in relation to the hammer. With the High Wall version, built for the more powerful cartridges, just the tip of the hammer is visible when viewed from the side; the Low Wall, chambered for such pleasant shooting rounds such as the .22 Rimfire and 25 WCF, exposes the entire side of the hammer.
About 60 cartridges found their way into the 1885's chamber. Everything from the .22 Rimfire through six-gun cartridges such as the .38-40 and 44-40; "modern" smokeless rounds of .30-30, .303 British, .33 WCF and .35 WCF; buffalo hunting rounds such as .45-90, .45-120, .50-110; the ever popular .45-70; and such all time powerful loads as .405 Winchester (Teddy Roosevelt's Big Medicine cartridge), and .577 English.
The 1885, as with most Winchesters of the time, was offered with many options including rifle, musket, carbine, and 20 gauge shotgun; barrel length; round, octagon barrels or a combination thereof; set triggers, fancy wood, special sights; Schuetzen rifle configuration complete with palm rest, double set triggers, special cheekpiece stock, and long range target stocks.
Original Winchester factory records are available for this model from the Cody Firearms Museum in Cody , Wyoming , from serial number 1 thru 10999, except 74459 thru 75556.
