The earlier Winchester lever-actions (the Models 1866, 1873 and 1876) shared the Henry rifle’s toggle bolt system but offered Nelson King’s patented loading gate on the receiver’s right.

Up until then, all Winchesters used a toggle-link action. This means that when the lever is pushed forward, this breaks the toggle and slides the breech block out of battery, extracting the spent ...

After more improvements it became the Model 1873. All share the same toggle-link breechbolt locking system and, while not as sturdy as lever-action designs introduced from 1886 on, it was plenty ...