Quote:
Originally Posted by Doubs
Winchester was not the inventor of the toggle mechanism used in the 1873 rifle. The inventor was Benjamin Tyler Henry whose 1860 Henry rifle was manufactured by the New Haven Arms Company from 1860 until 1866. The New Haven Arms Company was then renamed the Winchester Arms Company and they released an improved Model 1866 rifle.
Until John Browning designed the mechanism that became the 1886 Winchester, the Winchester lever action rifles were unable to handle cartridges more powerful than pistol calibers.
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Doubs,
The facts you quote seem true and complete enough to me!
Browning's 1886 design perfected the locking-system of another engineer's prototype he reworked with his Winchester 1885 Single-Shot Rifle lock-up system. This made the 1886 Winchester capable of shooting full-power black powder cartridges, such as the U.S. Government 45-70. Meanwhile, I believe Marlin had already meet that particular challenge in 1881.
None of the aforementioned, however, addressed the full-automatic fire of high-power rifle cartridges.
Again, Maxim seems to me to be the inventor to credit for developing the toggle-system capable of full-automatic, high-power rifle fire.
Depending how far back in time you want to travel, actually, the toggle-system was designed from the human knee's ability to withstand very heavy loads without buckling under the pressure.
Respectfully,
Sieger