Browning High Wall (.45-70 Govt)
Kim du Toit
January 25, 2003
12:00 AM CDT
January 23 was the birthday of the peerless gun designer John Moses Browning, and 2003 is the 125th anniversary of Browning’s first design, the Browning High Wall rifle.
Many others, better-qualified than I, have written about JMB’s prolific contributions to gun engineering—the wonderful 1908/1911 semi-auto pistol, the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), the Hi-Power 9mm, the M2 machine gun and dozens of other wonderful designs encompassing shotguns, machine guns, pistols and rifles. Even designs known by other names (eg. Winchester Model 1894 lever action) are in fact Browning designs, snapped up by the canny Winchester Repeating Arms Company to prevent their being used by other manufacturers.
I’m not going to go into that—it’s a huge job, and can be scratched at here.
What I want to do is shine a little light onto one corner of JMB’s work: the Browning Model 1878 Standard Rifle (which later became the Winchester 1885 ), and which, in 1973, was re-released by the Browning Company as the Model 1885 High Wall.
Regardless of what it’s called, the High Wall design has remained essentially unchanged since 1878, and here it is:
Simply put, the High Wall is a single-shot rifle, with an action which opens the breech with a lever, ejecting the expended cartridge (or making it available to be pulled by hand), an action known as “falling block”. The Ruger #1 uses a similar action, only with a hidden hammer (the Browning/Winchester keeps the hammer out in the open).
As it has a strong, dependable action, the High Wall comes in a multitude of calibers, but the caliber which suits it best is the manly .45-70 Govt., although I wouldn’t mind one of the older ones such as 38-55 or even a revolver caliber like .45 Long Colt.
Moreover, the High Wall is extraordinarily accurate, and when fitted with various types of sights (such as Vernier tang-type as seen in the picture), it becomes more accurate still.
Now, as for cost, you’re going to be hosed on this one. Quality doesn’t come cheap. Even the copies like Uberti and Cimarron will run for over $1,000 (and they’re still good rifles). Here’s the Cimarron 1885 High Wall:
As much of a Cheap Bastard as I am, this rifle still gets my heart fluttering. Yes, it’s old-fashioned, and yes, it’s too expensive, and yes blah blah blah.
I want one.
Update: I got one, thanks to the unbelievable generosity of my friends.
Gratuitous Gun Pics
