The Winchester Model 50 was an American 12 gauge semi-automatic shotgun designed by David Marshall Williams based on patents by Jonathan E. Browning in 1950 and produced by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company from 1954 to 1962. A high-quality shotgun, the Model 50 was Winchester's attempt to re-enter the semi-automatic shotgun market.
History[]
By the 1950s, various companies such as Remington and Savage Arms had produced semi-automatic shotguns which had become extremely popular. Winchester wanted to capitalize on the market and set out to produce a shotgun that would be instantly competitive with its competitors' offerings; of note is that Winchester had actually tried to enter said market in the past with no success.[1]
A team of designers, including famed designer David Marshall Williams, was tasked to create a shotgun that could instantly be competitive in this market. Using a patent owned by Jonathan E. Browning (one of John Browning's sons) as a base, Williams added his floating breech element to the newly-designed gun, except that it was scaled up to fit the new shotgun. This shotgun would become the Model 50.[1]
The Model 50 was introduced in 1954 and achieved moderate commercial success at first. Despite it being a high-quality and reliable weapon, the introduction of gas-operated shotguns in the 1960s caused sales of the Model 50 to slow, with most companies switching to gas operation for their semi-automatic shotguns; the Model 50's lack of interchangeable chokes hurt sales even further.[1]
Due to these factors, the Model 50 was discontinued in 1962; before it was discontinued, the short-lived Model 59 was introduced in 1959, which was an improved version of the Model 50 using modern materials and interchangeable chokes.[1]
Design Details[]
The Model 50 was a semi-automatic shotgun using a short recoil action. Unlike most other short recoil designs, the barrel on the Model 50 is completely static. Instead, the weapon uses a floating breech system consisting of a chamber and forcing cone patented by David Marshall Williams; when the weapon fires, this breech moves back about 0.1 inches (0.25 centimetres), causing the bolt to move backwards. A return spring pushes the bolt back forwards.[2][3]
The weapon was made almost entirely of milled steel components. The weapon's ejector protrudes at a ninety-degree angle from the top of the bolt when the action opens.[3]