Henry Rifle

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 July 2009 16:57 Written by Administrator Thursday, 02 July 2009 16:03

The Henry rifle was a .44 calibre rimfire repeater capable of holding 15 cartridges. It was loaded by using a lever located near the trigger and fed from a tube magazine. It was designed by Benjamin Tyler Henry in the 1850s based on the earlier Volcanic Repeating rifle. Approximately, 14,000 rifles were manufactured in total.

The Henry rifle was never officially adopted by the United States Army. However, many soldiers purchased it with their own funds. During that time, owning a Henry rifle was a matter of pride and prestige.

The Henry rifle was capable of firing 28 rounds per minute. It was commonly employed by scouts and skirmishers and rarely used by the regular infantry. The Confederate Army succeeded in capturing a few of these guns. However, it was not successful in using it against the Union Forces because of the special ammunition the gun was designed to fire.

The Henry rifle was manufactured by the New Haven Arms Company. In the later years, the design of the rifle was the basis of the Winchester Model 1866. The New Haven Arms Company was later renamed as the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.

Today, copies of the Henry rifle still continue to be manufactured. Most notably, A. Uberti Firearms manufactures an exact copy of the rifle. However, the replica is chambered for the .44-40 Winchester and not for the original .44 Henry. Original copies of the Henry rifle are also sought by many gun-collectors and enthusiasts. An original can fetch as much as $14,000 in the gun-collectors’ market.

---

Share this on