There's an 1860 Henry Rifle on tonight's Curator's Corner

There's an 1860 Henry Rifle on tonight's Curator's Corner

via NRAblog by GOblog.nospam@nospam.nrahq.org (LDalseide) on 2/23/12

Lever-action Henry provided 15 shots in a 1 shot world

An 1860 Model Henry Rifle from the American West Exhibit at the National Firearms Museum.

When NRANews headed out West to catch Curator's Corner in action, they did so with gumption and gusto. Bumming a ride with the National Firearms Museum Director Jim Supica to the famed Tulsa Arms Show, they set up shop on the second floor of the Quiktrip Center and waited for the guns to come. No doubt they were happy to wait for the firearm appearing in this week's episode.

That would be the .44 caliber 1860 Model Henry Lever-Action Rifle. Brought to the show by Wes Dillon of James D. Julia Inc. Auction Company, the Henry was a huge step forward in the evolution of firearms. A veteran of the American Civil War and the Wars the won the West, the biggest advantage this rifle brought to bear was it's fifteen round capacity. That was a pretty big jump from the standard one shot capacity of the day.

If you remember the 1989 Denzel Washington movie Glory, there was a scene where the commanding officer explained how a good solider could load and fire three rounds in a minute. With the 1860 Henry, a good solider could load and fire 28. Needless to say, those extra 25 rounds a minute would be awful handy in a sticky situation.

As Jim tells it, there only 14,000 Henry rifles were produced by the time the 1866 Winchester hit the market. For the rest of the story, tune in tonight at 10:40 p.m. eastern time as Supica and Dillon talk Henry on NRANews.com or Sirius/XM Patriot Satellite Radio.

The 1860 Henry Lever-Action rifle.