Who invented the henry rifle

Indeed, such a psychological effect was produced that no one else dared to try to take the fort. In , Henry began his split from Winchester. He was unhappy about his compensation and even petitioned the Connecticut State Legislature to give him ownership over the company.

Winchester, for his part, beat a quick path back from Europe and outfoxed Henry by once again reforming New Haven Arms as the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, the name by which it was known for decades. Winchester modified the original Henry repeating rifle to make it into the Winchester Model Compensation was not the only source of his unhappiness.

Henry was also unsatisfied with his work. More than anything, he wanted to be a designer rather than a foreman, leading the daily work of production.

He was always looking for ways to improve and perfect his creation. Henry continued his work as a lone gunsmith until his passing in It was Mr. Henry who conceived the first practical, lever action repeating rifle patented in The Henry gave a single man the firepower of a dozen marksmen armed with muzzle-loading muskets. Unfortunately poor sales and mechanical failures caused Horace Smith and Dan Wesson to opt out of the business. Volcanic Arms went bankrupt and Winchester bought the inventory along with the Smith and Wesson patents on the cartridge design.

A year later he hired a mechanical genius named B. Tyler Henry as superintendent. His first task was to devise a metallic cartridge. He was able to improve on the Smith and Wesson design and in he patented both the self-contained. The rifle closely resembled Model lever-action Winchesters.

It was the first self-cocking lever-action rifle. The brass framed rifles could fire at a rate of 28 rounds per minute when used correctly, so soldiers who saved their pay to buy one often believed it would help them survive. They were frequently used by scouts, skirmishers, flank guards, and raiding parties, rather than in regular infantry formations.

To the amazed muzzleloader-armed Confederates who had to face this deadly "sixteen shooter", it was called "that damned Yankee rifle that they load on Sunday and shoot all week! The rifle was, however, known to have been used at least in part by some fifteen different Confederate units. These units included cavalry units in Louisiana, Texas, and Virginia, as well as the personal bodyguards of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

While never issued on a large scale, [ citation needed ] the Henry rifle demonstrated its advantages of rapid fire at close range several times in the Civil War and later during the wars against the Plains Indians. Examples include the successes of two Henry-armed Union regiments at the Battle of Franklin against large Confederate attacks, as well as the Henry-armed Sioux and Cheyenne's destruction of the 7th Cavalry at Little Big Horn.

The Henry rifle used a. The lever action, on the down-stroke, ejected the spent cartridge from the chamber and cocked the hammer. A spring in the magazine forced the next round into the chamber; locking the lever back into position sealed the rifle back up into firing position. As it was designed, the rifle was not a very safe weapon.