Henry Repeater
The Winchester owes its roots to two earlier long guns, the Volcanic Repeater and the Henry repeating rifle. The former fell into obscurity, due to its unreliability and substandard ammunition, while the latter went on to become one of the premier long arms of the West. The Henry rifle was the brainchild of Benjamin Tyler Henry, a gunsmith that previously worked with Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson. The three men collectively failed to market an improved version of the Volcanic Repeater. Smith and Wesson moved on to produce revolvers, while Benjamin Henry remained in the long gun industry. He obtained a patent for his own rifle design in 1860.
A distinguishing feature of the Henry, later inherited by the Winchester, was the placement of a tubular magazine directly underneath the barrel of the weapon. This was a vast improvement over single-shot rifles or repeaters with stock magazines. Critics frequently cited that the Henry lacked the durability of contemporary repeaters, such as the Spencer, due to its intricate magazine and reliance upon black powder cartridges.
What the Henry may have lacked in punch and reliability, however, was made up for in its fantastic capacity and rate of fire. A skilled shooter could hold respectable groups while emptying the Henry’s sixteen-round magazine in about half a minute.
Another feature Henry shared with the Winchester was its somewhat dubious reputation in the eyes of the American public. Settlers, cowboys, and mail carriers routinely used the rifle to defend themselves across the American Interior, but large numbers of the weapons also fell into the hands of the Plains Indians. The Sioux and Cheyenne decimated George Armstrong Custer with Henry at the Battle of Little Bighorn. Despite this ominous legacy, the Henry repeater set the stage for the Winchester and was an influential weapon in its own right. Over 14,000 units were produced in its seven-year run and were some of the most desired weapons on the frontier.
Also Read: George Armstrong Custer Myth.