welcome to today photo of the Day! Here we have Winchester doing the last thing you’d expect him to do. This is the Winchester-Hotchkiss 1879 First Model, a bolt-action rifle from the company that owned the lever-action world. The Army wanted single-shot and Winchester’s lever guns were never warmed up for service, so Winchester chose Benjamin Hotchkiss’s bolt design in hopes of eventually securing a military contract.
This worked to some extent. The .45-70 Hotchkiss became the first centerfire bolt-action repeater adopted by any major army; The Navy took it up as the M1879 (Winchester-Hotchkiss 1879), followed by the Army and some state militias. The strangest feature is where it hides its ammo: five rounds are held in a tube running through the buttstock, Spencer-style, rather than under the barrel or in a box.
However, this first model had one real flaw. The magazine cutoff lever sat above the trigger guard, and cutting so much wood from the wrist risked cracking the stock, a problem that later led to two new designs. The cutoff itself was an ammo-conserving gadget that the brass loved; This idea continued to dominate British SMLEs until the First World War. As the Chief of Ordnance at the time said, there was a prejudice against the bolt and its “awkward handle” which could be overcome with time. Little did he know how right he would prove to be.
Most of our POTDs use images of our friends Rock Island Auction CompanyMajor firearms auction in the United States. Take some time to browse them current auction – Who knows, maybe you’ll find a piece of history to take home!
“Winchester-Hotchkiss First Model 1879 Bolt Action Saddle Ring Carbine.” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/detail/5032/934/winchesterhotchkiss-first-model-1879-bolt-action-carbine. Accessed 25 June 2026.
