When repeater rifles came into their own in the mid- 1800s, warfare changed forever. Single-shot rifles had long been predominant; the repeater, however, had a magazine holding several rounds of ammunition, so continual reloading was not necessary. Repeater models had been around since the seventeenth century, but they required separated-out ammunition elements rather than all-in-one metallic cartridges.
In 1860, New Hampshire-born gunsmith Benjamin Tyier Henry (1821-1898) patented a repeater that used a lever action to load its .44 caliber rimfire metallic cartridges—often seen as the first truly self- contained cartridges. It produced continuous fire that was much faster than that of the prevailing muzzle-loading musket, giving one man the firing power of several. The "Henry" had its shortcomings but was very popular with soldiers during the American Civil War, as was Christopher Spencer's slightly different repeater, which appeared at the same time as Henry's.
By the time Henry produced his rifle, he was working for shrewd American businessman Oliver F. Winchester, who built on Henry's model to develop the first classic Winchester repeater (1866). This eclipsed the Henry and incorporated a more sophisticated loading system, still used today. Henrys, and more especially Winchesters, were the guns of the often wild American West, while various repeaters were central to World War I. The Winchester remained a classic through many new incarnations, and Henry and Winchester repeaters are still made today.
