Winchester Model 1885 Low Wall Gallery Rifle

About the Winchester Model 1885 Low Wall Gallery Rifle

The Winchester Model 1885 Low Wall Gallery Rifle is a single-shot falling-block rifle chambered in .22 Short, built on John Browning's Model 1885 action with the lower receiver wall that leaves the exposed hammer visible for the low-pressure rimfire and pistol cartridges the Low Wall was intended to fire. Chambered in the small, quiet, and inexpensive .22 Short, gallery-configured examples were used in shooting galleries and by amusement concessions where rapid single-round loading and cheap ammunition suited high-volume plinking, and the same .22 rimfire single shots served the U.S. Army as low-cost marksmanship trainers informally known as Winder Muskets.

Designed by a young John Moses Browning, the Model 1885 single shot was the first firearm Winchester bought from Browning, launching a partnership that would define American gun design. Its inexpensive .22 Short gallery guns became fixtures of carnival midways and indoor shooting galleries around the turn of the century.

Winchester Model 1885 Low Wall Gallery Rifle specifications

Gallery guns were typically chambered in .22 Short for its low report and cost. The Low Wall receiver was paired with lighter, lower-pressure chamberings, distinguishing it from the beefier High Wall used for full-power centerfire loads.