Posted June 18, 2018 11:00 am by Comments

By Kristin Alberts

Some guns blaze through history and forever change the face of firearms design.  The 1860 Henry Patent Rifle, though short lived, did just that. It’s now recognized as one of America’s greatest contributions to firearms design.  With originals rare and expensive—think $25,000 to $100,000—reproductions are the closest most of us will ever get to appreciating the model.  Two companies offer quality reworks, and Guns.com takes those from Uberti and the unrelated Henry Repeating Arms, to learn which lead slinging repeater comes out on top.
A Brief History of the 1860 Henry Rifle
Benjamin Tyler Henry worked his way from a gunsmith apprentice to shop foreman to ultimately designing the first successful repeating rifle. (Photo:  Henry Repeating Arms)
Benjamin Tyler Henry was a young man with a passion for firearms.  After working his way from apprentice gunsmith to foreman at New Haven Arms, he spent his off hours toiling away on his own design, and in 1860, he received the patent on his Henry Repeating Rifle, chambered in .44 caliber.  While he worked from previous designs like the Volcanic pistols, it was Henry’s rifle that came to be the first successful repeater on the market.
To fully appreciate the ingenuity of the Henry rifle of

Source: Guns.com

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