The Free Fire new patch being released on October 29th, 2025, brought forth new characters, weapons, and their attachments. There are Winchester flamers, Team boosters, AR buffs to light up the meta, high-end drops, and helm/vest grounds. A new character named Nero has also been released, which lights up the meta even more.
This update is called OB51, but it's more popularly known as the Winchester update due to the new weapon released, titled “Winchester”. This weapon has quickly become very popular and is mainly used with the character – Nero, which can be unlocked by using your diamonds (in-game currency), and if you do not have the required diamonds, well, better get a Free Fire top up from LootBar because Nero is a character you shouldn’t skip.
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Winchester: Overview
The M1873 or Winchester is a sidearm high-damage shotgun that has a mid-range. It is categorized as a marksman rifle (MR) and has a 2x built-in scope. As of now, it has no skins available, and its attachments are also quite limited. Winchester relied more on precision than raw damage. It is accurate, stable, and simple, just like a mini-sniper rifle.
Its general statistics are as follows:
- Base Damage – 94
- Rate of Fire – 35 (Medium)
- Range – 8
- Ammunition Capacity – 2 rounds per clip
- Accuracy – High
- Magazine – 15
- Movement speed - 75 (Good)
- Attachment excluded: Foregrip & Silencer
When looking for where to find the Winchester gun, it is to be noted that the Winchester is a ground loot only. It is commonly found in Bermuda, Refinery (Kalahari), Council Hall (Alpine), Clock Tower, and Peak. Its damage is also termed as High/burst fire damage, which means that it hits harder than the basic rifles but less than the premium ones.
Weapon Attachments
Most players skip these attachments as they prefer to use their weapons as they are. A better scope gives you a longer range, and that’s why sniper rifle attachments are the most lethal. If you have theright attachments on your weapon, then even the simplest of weapons can become quite deadly.There are 5 kinds of attachments in Free Fire:
- Silencer – Lessens the sound, hiding the firing indicators such as the sound of gunfire
- Muzzle – helps in increasing the bullet’s damage for long ranges
- Magazine – useful in increasing the clip’s size
- Scope – Provides better aiming at long distances
- Foregrip – Increases accuracy and reduces the spray of bullets
Now, with the Winchester, the foregrip and silencer are excluded, which means that your accuracy might dwindle, but that’s fine because Winchester’s accuracy is its best quality. For the silencer part, there is nothing you can do. That leaves us with Muzzle, Magazine, and Scope.
Magazine
Since Winchester is a rifle, it can do well with more magazines, as that means you get even more ammo. More bullets just mean more enemies for you to shoot down at a time. It's also to be kept in mind that reloading the M1873 takes time, so it's just better to have more bullets than to be reloading at the wrong time. As the saying goes, “better be safe than sorry.” Previously, the clip size was 5, but then it was reduced to 2 because the gun was too powerful.
Scope
The M1873 is an Assault rifle, not a sniper rifle, but you can make it one easily. It comes with a built-in 2x scope, and further attachments mean that you can get even more targets in the longer range. Long range isn’t exactly the Winchester’s best quality, but that’s what Free Fire is all about. Hone the perfections and improve the shortcomings.
Muzzle
Accuracy isn’t really a problem for Winchester, but still adding a muzzle brake or compensator can reduce recoil by a lot. Not only this, but the Muzzle brake also provides grip for stability and helps in shooting down targets at long range. What is better than shooting someone from far away while they are guessing where it even came from? And what’s worse than being a target of such a thing?
Character & Pet Combinations
These characters and pet combinations go hand in hand with the weapons. If the character has good synergy with the gun and has skills that complement its damage stats, then even a simple pistol can turn dangerous. You can unlock these characters and pets by doing Free Fire top up diamonds.
Nero (Character)
His skills allow weakening of enemies, and once weakened, they become vulnerable targets, ready to get a headshot.
Dasha (Character)
Her abilities reduce the recoil and its buildup even further and allow smoother shots. It's also a more balanced combination and boosts the gameplay.
Falco (Pet)
An eagle that helps in faster landing, so you get guns faster, early on in the game.
Rockie (pet)
A raccoon-like pet that helps in skill cooldown reduction. This will be optimal with using Nero.
Tips and Tricks
The Winchester is one of those guns that are just good enough as they are. So even if you do not add in all the attachments, the gun is already strong enough, except for the magazine part, because 2 clips are not enough unless you are very certain of your aim.
The reloading in Winchester is slower than the other guns, so it is recommended to reload after every fight. It has serious damage in close range, so it's best used in the narrow corridors, hallways, but can also be used from rooftops or hills with a scope.
This weapon demands more accuracy than power. So it's better to shoot precisely instead of spamming.
Conclusion
The Winchester is a simple yet powerful Marksman rifle that is tailor-made for players who value accuracy over power. Even though it does not have any proper skins, attachments, or upgrades like the other guns, it already offers high precision, stable shorts, and strong performance in mid-to-close range. And due to this, the Winchester gun is considered a goated gun.
