Garate Anitua Tigre

Garate, Anitua y Cia · Rifle · Discontinued · 1915

Also known as: El Tigre, Tigre Model 1892, .44 Tigre

Overview

The Garate Anitua Tigre (widely known as 'El Tigre') is a Spanish lever-action rifle produced by Garate, Anitua y Cia of Eibar, a close copy of the Winchester Model 1892 chambered in .44-40 Winchester. Fed from a 12-round tubular magazine and fitted with a tangent leaf rear sight graduated to 1000 metres and a walnut stock with a crescent metal buttplate, it was carried extensively by the Spanish Guardia Civil, forest and prison guards, and police and private security forces throughout Spain and Latin America between 1915 and 1937.

Specifications

Weight (empty)2900 g (102.3 oz)
Overall Length995 mm (39.17")
Barrel Length559 mm (22.01")
Action TypeLever Action
Firing MechanismHammer Fired
Trigger TypeSingle Stage
Magazine Capacity12 rounds
Magazine TypeTube
Effective Range100 m (109 yd)
Maximum Range1000 m (1094 yd)
Barrel RiflingRight Hand
Frame MaterialSteel
Barrel MaterialSteel
Stock MaterialWood
FinishBlued

Calibers

Features

Service history

Operators

Conflicts

Production

Estimated total produced: 1,034,687 · Production years: 1915-1937

Records indicate 1,034,687 rifles built; extremely popular across Latin America

Origin

Country of origin: Spain

Designer: John Moses Browning

Discontinued: 1937

Notes

Chambered in the relatively low-pressure .44-40 cartridge, which allowed the Spanish makers to build a slimmer, lighter action than the original Winchester. The crescent buttplate incorporates a trapdoor storing a jointed cleaning rod.

Background

So ubiquitous across Latin America that its name became shorthand for the lever-action carbine itself, the 'El Tigre' armed everyone from the Spanish Guardia Civil to Mexican revolutionaries, with over a million produced before the Spanish Civil War halted manufacture.