Henry Winchester Rifle

The Henry Rifle, named after its designer, B. Tyler Henry, is one of the scarcest and most sought after Winchester rifles of any period. About 14,000 of these Civil War era rifles were produced between 1860 and 1866. Serial numbers began at #1 and most often found at top of the breach end of the barrel, marked “Henry’s Patent. Oct 16, 1860/Manufact’d by the New Haven Arms Co., New Haven, Ct.” The Henry rifle was designed to use the new rimfire cartridge also designed by Henry. This cartridge replaced with a metallic casing bullet the undependable combination of powder, ball and primer then in use. A number of union army units, particularly from Kentucky and the mid-west states, used personal funds to equip themselves with Henry rifles. The federal government purchased about 1,700 Henry’s for various cavalry units and these are found mostly in the 3,000 to 4,200 serial number range.