Winchester Hotchkiss

The Winchester Hotchkiss was a bolt-action repeating rifle patented by Benjamin B. Hotchkiss in 1876 and produced by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company and Springfield Arsenal from 1878. The Hotchkiss like most early bolt-actions had a single rear locking lug integral with the bolt handle, but was unique in feeding multiple rounds from a tubular buttstock magazine similar to the Spencer rifle.

The .45-70 Hotchkiss was acquired in limited numbers by the US Navy as the M1879, and (in a slightly modified version) by the US Army and several state militias as the M1883, making it the first bolt-action repeater to be adopted by any major military. The Chinese Empire purchased 15,000 Winchester-Hotchkiss rifles in 1881. However, the result of the US Army's 1883 field trials was the rejection of the Hotchkiss and Remington-Lee bolt-actions for general issue, and the retention of the single-shot "trapdoor" Springfield Model 1873 as its primary longarm for another decade.

Winchester also produced a civilian sporting version of the Hotchkiss, likewise in caliber .45-70 Government, until 1899.