Winchester Model 1903

This week for Firearm Friday we are bringing you the Winchester Model 1903 Semi Auto Rifle!

The Winchester Model 1903 was the first commercially available semi-automatic firearm made by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.

The Winchester Model 1903 was designed by T.C. Johnson, who had joined Winchester in 1885 and had become nationally known as an inventor of successful rifles. It was first chambered for the .22 Winchester Automatic cartridge. This cartridge is now obsolete and hard to find.

In 1919, the Model 1903 moniker was shortened to Model 03, and following a partial redesign in the 1930s, was renamed the Model 63. In addition to other changes, the model fired the .22 Long Rifle cartridge. This cartridge was more popular than the .22 Winchester Automatic cartridge, and was demanded by customers.

The Model 63 was first available for purchase in 1933 and remained in production until 1958. Production totaled approximately 126,000 Model 1903 rifles and approximately 175,000 Model 63 rifles.

The Model 1903 was a simple blowback firearm with a balanced breech bolt, as was with all the Winchester self-loading rifles of the time. Ammunition was fed into the weapon via an internal tubular magazine; rounds are fed through a hole in the stock. The weapon's charging handle is a plunger located under the barrel that resembles a cleaning rod; this was intentional as the weapon was to have completely flat sides so nothing poking off the side would catch onto things.

The first 5000 rifles were produced without a safety mechanism. After this, a cross-bolt safety was added. The Model 63, introduced in 1933, was chambered for the popular and widely available .22 Long Rifle cartridge. It was initially made with a 20" barrel, then with a 23" barrel from 1936 until the end of production in 1958. About 175,000 Model 63 rifles were manufactured, with the last 10,000 having grooved receiver tops for scope mounting

Elizabeth "Plinky" Toepperwein was one half of the famous Toepperwein exhibition shooting team. In 1902 she was an employee at the Winchester factory in New Haven, Her accomplishments included the world endurance trapshooting record of 1,952 of 2,000 targets in five hours and twenty minutes. Famed shootist Annie Oakley described her as the "greatest shot" she'd ever seen. She used a Winchester Model 1903 for most of her shooting.