Original Rubber Film Prop: Only One Available. This is a full scale rubber replica non-firing Winchester Model 1866 "Yellow Boy" Saddle Ring Carbine prop gun, as used in various Hollywood films and televisions shows. This was acquired from the Ellis Props and Graphics liquidation auction. Ellis was the oldest and the largest Prop Houses in the World until it went out of business in the early 2000s.

This would have been a "background" used prop gun and not a close up camera version. These were made from molds cast off of original items, which often even were able to reproduce markings. Being made of rubber also meant that it could be dropped, thrown, or otherwise mis-handled without risking major damage. This example is 39 inches long, and is in very good condition, with most of the original paint still retained. The only real issue is that the barrel is just a bit bent, but that would not have affected how well it functioned as a background prop.

We unfortunately do not know which prop house produced this gun, or what productions it might have been used in. Ready to research and display!

The first Winchester rifle – the Winchester Model 1866 – was originally chambered for the rimfire .44 Henry. Nicknamed the "Yellow Boy" because of its receiver of a bronze/brass alloy called gunmetal, it was famous for its rugged construction and lever-action "repeating rifle" mechanism that allowed the user to fire a number of shots before having to reload. Nelson King's improved patent remedied flaws in the Henry rifle by incorporating a loading gate on the side of the frame and integrating a round, sealed magazine which was partially covered by a forestock.

France purchased 6,000 Model 1866 rifles along with 4.5 million .44 Henry cartridges during the Franco-Prussian War. The Ottoman Empire purchased 45,000 Model 1866 rifles and 5,000 carbines in 1870 and 1871. These rifles were used in the 1877 Russo-Turkish War, causing much surprise when outnumbered Turks at the Siege of Plevna inflicted many times more casualties than their opponents armed with single-shot Krnka and Berdan rifles. The Model 1866 compelled Russians to develop a new rifle, the Mosin–Nagant, after the war.

The Swiss Army initially selected the Model 1866 to replace their existing single-shot Milbank-Amsler rifles. However, ensuing political pressure to adopt a domestic design resulted in the Vetterli Model 1867, a bolt-action design utilizing a copy of the Winchester's tubular magazine, being adopted instead.

Due to public demand, the Model 1866 continued to be manufactured and sold until 1899, mainly because they were less expensive than the later steel-framed centerfire models. Later models were chambered for the .44-40 Winchester cartridge.