Ive often wondered if there are as many post-Winchester sporting 1885s out there as there were originals made? (I think you would have to count the "Winder Muskets" as part of the original production, since so many of them were converted into sporting rifles). The continued popularity of the 1885 design continues to amaze me!
Among the "latter-day" 'Walls I think you should include:
C. Sharps, Cumberland Arms, "Winchester" (Miroku), "Browning" (Miroku), Ballard Arms, Uberti, and a couple of other American makers I can't remember (one is in Idaho and makes very close copies, but I can't remember his name; I have one of his catalogs "someplace").
I realize that purists wouldn't consider some of these rifles "real" 'Walls, because they have various modifications, but I think they count because they handle the same as some of various Winchester versions of the 1885. And Winchester certainly didn't stick with just one design--they made innovations, too.
Can anybody remember the American manufacturers I can't remember? Any foreign makers I missed?
Do YOU consider all of these "real" 1885s, or just the true clones whose parts interchange? Or are you just plain uninterested in any latter-day "knock-off?
