Winchester Model 1903
- Category
- Rifle
- Barrel
- 508 mm
- Weight, empty
- 2.50 kg
- Introduced
- 1903
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Winchester Model 1903 is a blowback-operated, self-loading (semi-automatic) rimfire rifle and the first commercially successful semi-automatic firearm produced by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Designed by Thomas Crossley Johnson and introduced in 1903, it was chambered exclusively for the proprietary .22 Winchester Automatic cartridge, a smokeless-powder rimfire round created specifically for the rifle. It fed from a ten-round tubular magazine housed in the buttstock and used a takedown design. The Model 1903 was later redesigned to fire the .22 Long Rifle cartridge and reintroduced as the Winchester Model 63.
The Model 1903 was Winchester's answer to the emerging self-loading market and was engineered by John Browning's protege Thomas Crossley Johnson. Its dedicated .22 Winchester Automatic cartridge was deliberately incompatible with ordinary .22 rimfire rounds, ensuring only clean smokeless ammunition was used in the delicate blowback action.
The first roughly 5,000 rifles were made without a manual safety; a cross-bolt safety was added thereafter. The .22 Winchester Automatic cartridge was proprietary and would not chamber standard .22 Long Rifle ammunition, which prevented the smokeless-only action from being damaged by early corrosive or black-powder .22 loads.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Winchester Repeating Arms Company
- Category
- Rifle
- Country
- United States
- Status
- Discontinued
- Produced
- 1903 to 1932
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 508 mm
- Overall length
- 940 mm
- Weight, empty
- 2.50 kg
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Blowback
- Firing mechanism
- Hammer fired
- Trigger
- Single action
- Capacity
- 10
- Magazine
- Tubular
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Walnut
- Finish
- Blued
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 314 m/s
- Muzzle energy
- 144 J
- Effective range
- 75 m
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
No load solved for this record yetThe flight path is computed from a cartridge and a bullet. This record has no ammunition filed against its chambering, so there is nothing to solve.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
Takedown
Buttstock tubular magazine
Crescent buttplate
Self loading action
Standing
How it compares
Each figure against the firearms of the same type and cartridge that record it, or of the same type where that cartridge has too few. Positions are read to the nearest tenth.
| Measurement | This firearm | Median | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empty weightAmong 1,612 rifles | 2.50 kg | 3.50 kg | Lighter than about 90% |
| Overall lengthAmong 1,557 rifles | 940 mm | 1080 mm | Shorter than about 80% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 1,659 rifles | 508 mm | 584 mm | Shorter than about 70% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 1,611 rifles | 10 | 5 | Holds more rounds than about 70% |
Answers
Questions about the Winchester Model 1903
How much does the Winchester Model 1903 weigh?
The Winchester Model 1903 weighs 2.50 kg (5.51 lb) empty.
What caliber is the Winchester Model 1903?
The Winchester Model 1903 is chambered in .22 Winchester Automatic.
How many rounds does the Winchester Model 1903 hold?
The Winchester Model 1903 holds 10 rounds, fed from a tubular magazine.
How long is the Winchester Model 1903?
The Winchester Model 1903 is 940 mm (37.0 in) long overall, with a 508 mm (20.0 in) barrel.
Who makes the Winchester Model 1903?
The Winchester Model 1903 is made by Winchester Repeating Arms Company (United States). It was designed by Thomas Crossley Johnson.
When was the Winchester Model 1903 introduced?
The Winchester Model 1903 was introduced in 1903 and discontinued in 1932.
How does the Winchester Model 1903 operate?
The Winchester Model 1903 uses a blowback action, and its firing mechanism is hammer fired.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
In service
- Civilian sport shooters
- 1903
Provenance
Confidence in this record
80%
Stockists
Where to buy
Offers link straight to the shop. GunSpec never takes the order.
No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
List a firearmMCP
Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/winchester-model-1903' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "winchester-model-1903", "name": "Winchester Model 1903", "manufacturer": { "id": "winchester", "name": "Winchester Repeating Arms Company", "countryCode": "US", "foundedYear": 1866, "website": "https://www.winchesterguns.com", "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-02-11 23:44:38", "updatedAt": "2026-02-18 03:40:45", "version": "032f75658544de9d931ca09f772b9ab92b282bf53db67851bf4eb3f8c0612520" }, "category": { "id": "rifle", "name": "Rifle", "description": "Long-barreled firearms designed for accurate shooting" }, "country_of_origin": "US", "year_introduced": 1903, "barrel_length_mm": 508, "weight_empty_g": 2500, "action_type": "blowback"}