Winchester Hotchkiss 45-70 Model 1879 US Navy Rifle

[oldfoneguy]

I saw one of these in person once many years ago. An older guy had it at the range with a couple of other similar type rifles. He referred to them as prototypes. He said they were all designes that were submitted to but never accepted by the US military. All were black powder 45-70 rounds.

He named them but this is the only name that really stuck prehaps because of Hotchkiss. All 3 were bolt actions with tube magazines. I remember one had an external hammer and he was having problems extracting spent rounds from it. When I asked him why he would shoot such rare and valuable rifles he told me "that's what they were made for". With an answer like that all I could do was shake my head yes in agreement, say nice rifles and go back to my bench.

[Dick Hosmer]

I saw one of these in person once many years ago. An older guy had it at the range with a couple of other similar type rifles. He referred to them as prototypes. He said they were all designes that were submitted to but never accepted by the US military. All were black powder 45-70 rounds.

He named them but this is the only name that really stuck prehaps because of Hotchkiss. All 3 were bolt actions with tube magazines. I remember one had an external hammer and he was having problems extracting spent rounds from it. When I asked him why he would shoot such rare and valuable rifles he told me "that's what they were made for". With an answer like that all I could do was shake my head yes in agreement, say nice rifles and go back to my bench.

The one with the hammer must have been a Remington-Keene, and the third a Chaffee-Reece. The R-K has a tubular magazine under the barrel, while the C-R has a tube in the buttstock like the Hotchkiss but it loads through the buttplate whereas the Hotchkiss loads through the action. I have a fine Chaffee-Reece, and four of the Hotchkiss models - used to have the super-rare Army rifle but was forced to sell it a couple of years ago.