Rumor has it that it all started with the 1874 Sharps falling block, side hammer single shot. Young Mr. Browning was inspecting one in his father's gunsmithing shop and said something like "what a POS. I could do better than that". So, his father said "show me".
Thus was born the Browning 1878, also a falling block single shot, but with a central hammer, and of much trimmer design. This rifle caught the eye of the folks at Winchester, who sent a representative out to meet Mr. Browning. Winchester wound up buying the design and hiring Mr. Browning. With a little bit of redesign, the rifle began to be sold as the Winchester Model 1885, also known as the "High Wall" some years later, when a somewhat trimmer version was introduced, but kept the same "1885" model designation.
Here is my original, first year production example. It's chambered in a Sharps cartridge, the .40-70 Sharps Straight. It's wonderfully accurate with a 400 grain bullet from a Buffalo Arms mold, seated over 70 grains of Swiss 1.5 Fg black powder. Shown with a .30-'06 round for comparison:
