It was perhaps the most important firearm of its era. Tested an proved in the fiery crucible of the Civil War, the Henry Rifle became the forerunner of the famous line of Winchester Repeating Rifles that "Won the West". To the amazed muzzleloader-armed Confederates who had to face this deadly "sixteen shooter," it was "that damned Yankee rifle that was loaded on Sunday and fired all week." As a key technological innovation firing modern metallic cartridges, the Henry Rifle helped dramatically change the nature of combat. Yet, although a rifle of the future, it was beset with a bewildering series of difficulties that impeded its widespread use. Here is the fascinating story from the frustrations of early sales efforts aimed at the government to the inspired purchase of the the Henry Rifle by veteran soldiers who wanted the the best weapons - no matter how high the cost.

Soft cover 7 x 10", 104 pages, 8 pages full color.

The Table of Contents includes the following:

• Part I The Henry Rifle's Inception and Sales
• Part II The U.S. Martial Henry Rifle
• Part III The Henry Rifles of Birge's Western Sharpshooters (66th Illinois Infantry)
• Appendix A Estimated Henry Production by Serial Numbers
• Appendix B U.S. Government Purchases of the Henry Rifle 1862-1865
• Appendix C Serial Numbers of Henry Rifles Reported by the 3rd Regiment U.S. Veteran Volunteers in 1865 for Companies B, C, I, H and K
• Appendix D Partial List of Historically Identified Henry Rifles
• Appendix E Comments Regarding the Iron-Framed Henry Rifle - List of Iron-Framed Henry Rifles
• Appendix F Basic Production Configurations of the Henry Rifle
• Documents U.S. Government Trials 1864
• Endnotes
• Bibliography
• Index

ISBN: 0-931464-01-4