One regiment that ended up with Henry rifles, but through private purchase was the 66th Illinois Infantry otherwise known as Birge's Western Sharpshooters. They were originally outfitted with rifles like Dimick plains rifles and Hawken rifles, but by the summer of 1863 with those guns more or less worn out, the men started buying Henry rifles. Over 250 men spent $40 of their own money buying Henry rifles. The cartridges at least were provided by the US Government.

Fun Fact: It was not until the 150th of the Civil War that it was learned of the Henry's earliest use; when shells were found on Perryville Battlefield in Kentucky, it showed that it was used early as 1862.

Excellent episode. This would have been my weapon of choice were I to have been an American Civil War soldier.

I believe it was Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard who called it, "That damn Yankee rifle you load on Sunday and fire all week." I really enjoy this channel, it's always good..!

I think the closest real life comparison of the theoretical of the US Army adopting the Henry or one of its gate loading descendants is probably the Swiss adoption of the Vetterli rifle, with it being gate loaded, tube magazine, a vertical elevator, and a bolt action instead of a lever. I really do wonder the ballistic difference between .44 Henry Rimfire and .41 Swiss.

There's a lot of history around those guns. The simple joy of throwing a refined rock at a steel plate 300 yards out. To see things distant, and still be able to reach out and touch them.

The last target shoot with you laughing and catching brass made me almost as happy as you !

Astute observation regarding ammunition resupply.

Love the passion in the point near the end there lol like "This! 100 yr old henry shooting 300 meters"

Great video. The Henry was a very advanced design but the Spencer would still be my choice in that time period. The action is definitely clunkier than the Henry but its a more "military ready" rifle and having a wooden handguard and more powerful cartridge were big advantages. Eventually the Henry would prove to be the better action as it was developed into the Winchester line but it wasnt quite up to the Spencer at this point IMO.

Great episode

2 interesting things I didn’t hear you cover. One of the things that held back Henry adoption was low production rate and insistence on making the ammunition in house. In a time when factory fires were common possibly having no more factory ammo for months scared the government. While Spencer worked with multiple other companies to make ammunition for them plus had a larger more efficient factory. While these things helped the Spencer in the war they both helped drive them bankrupt and helped Winchester survive. Smaller factory could survive with lower sales volume and ammunition sales brought in money during the post war new arms sale drought, while Spencer’s factory couldn’t survive without volume and shoddy third party cartridges sabotaged some prospective post war sales to foreign governments. Another is that while the self contained cartridge arms used far more ammunition in battle it is noted in records how they used far less ammunition the rest of the time. The armies went through millions of paper cartridges on a regular basis even without engaging anyone as they are delicate and wear out jostling against each other when marching in a cartridge box or even worse bouncing around in a supply wagon and that’s before even accounting other issues that break them down like humidity.

Outstanding, looked like a lot of fun.

Great video thank you

Illinois supplied over 150 regiments in the Civil War. Over 250,000 men from Illinois served.

Thank you for your truly fine second Henry rifle video, for the history, the shooting of several longer distances, and with regards to the individual cartridge reloading. I do much as you do, yet I also learn from your content, and yes, I use Swiss powder here in America as you do at home. Like myself, I am so thrilled to see how you operate your Henry and hope this rifle will make a comeback to SASS-CAS as it is a fast, smooth, and accurate rifle in calibers; .44 WCF, .45 Colt, and in .45 S&W Schofield (inside a .45 Colt caliber Henry). I shoot all three cartridges via two separate Henry-chambered rifles. A bit of practice is necessary to gain speed and accuracy, yet that is oft true with every lever rifle platform in many cases. Again, much obliged! - Colonel Montana Kid Hammer SASS 6476-P in Wild-AK USA

Love your videos, I got a hawken rifle for a song years ago and found your channel afterwards lol. The blackpowder events in hungary look very fun hoping to visit some day, enjoyed that earlier video about the competitive event :D

Very interesting video as always 🎉

Thanks for the interesting content! I love old lever action rifles.. I have many.

Another great videos as always keep up the awesome work! such a lovely rifle would love to have one. Maybe one day.

Catching the Brass Was Like Watching a John Wick Movie!! Thank You for all the information on this Beautiful Rifle

Copper vs. brass cartridges. Popped up again during the early Trapdoor engagements.

Beautiful thank you for a video wery interesting!

Fantastic!

I don't have many info but it seems a number of henry rifles were sent to Mexico by the union as part of the help against the french, so in theory they could have competed with the chassepot breechloader which is hard to know but a very interesting posible scenario

The big issues with the Henry were cost and ammunition. Both sides were desperately short of arms, and cost was in proportion to machining time. So it wasn’t one Springfield musket for one Henry, it was five Springfields for two Henrys. Plus the tremendous burden of providing special ammunition. That being said, the N-SSA’s team repeater matches are something to watch.

Mr. Capandball, what crazy surprise this was for me! The photo that you chose for the thumbnail of this video includes a number Union soldiers. I have seen this photo many times. One of the soldiers in this photo is my great, great, grandfather.

LOVE THESE! GOLDEN! ❤

Great vid,just got back from beautiful Budapest, managed to get some pistol shooting done but no holy black Powder,aha a pleasant surprise,we have a club shoot on Sunday morning, I shall give my Enfield musketoon an airing ,all the best from sunny (but cold)Troon Scotland 😊

I have at least one ancestor that I know of who fought in the Civil War (51st Michigan Cavalry). I wonder now if anybody in his unit had these, or if he had one himself. Interesting thought!

Thanks!

Quite a good video. I was hoping you might show how well it hit at 500 to 1000 meters. When the Infantry or Calvary was charging across open land, they were certainly good targets for whoever could fire that far.

Thats incredible 100 yard group with those sights

Great Video. Would it be possible to show how you clean your Henry after shooting it with BP. Thank You

Do your shooting glasses provide any magnification? I've never seen something like this. You're an excellent shot regardless and love your documentary style videos! Cheers friend

I see this type of rifle being used very effectively among Dragoon style Troops, which os probably why the DC Calvary wanted them. Being able to rush into a gap or show up on a flank and provide overwhelming firepower would be a great use. You could probably have them Ride behind enemy lines, take a strategic position and hold it for a while.

There's one hanging in the museum of the cape fear,looks brand new,taken off a yankee at the battle of moroes cross roads in hoke co. NC

I have reproductions of both the 1860 Henry and 1860 Spencer repeaters. I have to say, not only is the Henry a stunningly beautiful rifle (in my eyes) it carries more ammo (both of mine are in .45 Long Colt) and feeds far better than the Spencer. IF I had been a Soldier in the Civil War, I would have spent the 4 months pay it would have taken for a Henry, they're that superior to any alternatives available at the time. IMHO, 4 months pay is a small price when it gets you back home alive. SSG. U.S. Army (Medically Retired) Infantry / Sniper / SOF Intel (SOT-A), multiple

👏👏👏👏excellent

In August, Romanian troops led by General Alexandru Cernat crossed the Danube and entered the battle with 43,414 men.[9] On 11 September the Russians and Romanians mounted a large-scale assault on Plevna. The Ottoman forces were dug in and equipped with German Krupp-manufactured steel breech-loading artillery and American-manufactured Winchester repeaters[10] and Peabody-Martini rifles. For three hours they pushed back the waves of advancing Russians with superior firepower.

The Henry is nice but I prefer the 1866 model with the side loading gate. Basically the same action and barrel. Mine is chambered in 38-40. A historian friend told me once that an army unit received a shipment of Henrys and didn't know what to do with them so they gave them to an outlandish cavalry officer named Custer. He put them to good use. Haven't been able to verify that story yet.

Excellent video. Small clarification: Illinois sent 6 regiments to the Mexican War. In deference to these, Illinois started numbering its regiments from 7 on upwards during the Civil War. The 7th was the first formed and first to reenlist as veterans. I didn't know about the $400 bounty.

when are you going to make a video on the swedish fabian wrede's rifle m1860? from the voluntary shooting movement. Feedback

Great 👍 ❤

The Spencer was superior to the Henry during the ACW, later the Henry system proved to be superior but it wasn't ready at the time. The Spencer was a more rugged arm, the Henry's loading system tended to be too fragile in battle conditions. The lack of a forearm for the Henry was also a detriment a problem the Spencer did not have. The Spencer system of loading with tube through the but was a far more useful system. Lastly the Spencer was less complicated to build and could be produced in greater numbers, always an advantage in a major war. The best weapons for an army are not always the most technologically advanced.

You have to be very careful during loading. Ian, Gun Jesus, had a shell blow up in the feed tube. He still has a chunk of metal in this body. No doubt it ruined his day and a few days afterwards.

The originals were chambered for .44 rimfire which is long defunct. What was your gun chambered for?

I like the Henry a lot. It is a blast to shoot. But I do love the Spencer more. It's nowhere near as pretty, it's a bit more kludgey, what with having to work the hammer with each shot. There's just something about that whole "looks like a musket, but it's not" that I find appealing. It's also nice that it doesn't turn your finger to ash when you're shooting outside in the hot sun all day at a match, lol.

I Have A Winchester and Marlin old rifles Both always thought the Henry was the best looking

I like ur Videos u Got support Of me (From serbia)

This video makes me ask the question “where was my 1862 production Henry shortly after it was made”? I don’t recall any military cartouche’s on it. The last person that might have had a clue died in 1975.

How do you clean a black powder repeater like this Henry?

I don't have an 1860 Henry reproduction but I do have an Uberti 1873 Winchester. Similar action to the Henry and very nice shooting. I also have a reproduction Spencer. It is made by Chiappa Firearms and Chiappa is the only company that I know that is making Spencer replicas. They are both in 45 Colt. The instructions for the Spencer say to operate the lever smartly. If that is done feeding problems with my Spencer go away and it works well. All the comparisons of the two I have seen compare an Uberti Henry to a Chiappa Spencer and I don't think that's fair to the original 1860 Spencer. The original 44 Henry Cartridge was less powerful that the 44-40 or the 45 Colt and the Spencer cartridge was more powerful than the 44-40 or the 45 Colt. Really these were two great repeaters in the Civil War and the soldiers who had either were very fortunate. Thanks for the great videos! It would be interesting to see a video on the Gallager Carbine.

Any chance we might see some pump action or lever action shotguns on this channel?

Comment on Custer having Henry’s not true the other side did have Henry’s great close quarter gun. The cavalry of course hade Springfield trapdoor carbines

The henry was a little delicate and had no wood to hold the barrel plus if you give a soldier 1000 rd gun he will shoot 1000rds in the first sounds of bullets might have been better off with 6 shot or 5 and a srock also they were very expensive !

That bloody Yankee rifle that you load on monday and can shoot all week!!

I don't want to sit here and yell "ooo pick me pick me!" But you should very seriously consider looking into a swivel breech rifle. They look very interesting but I don't quite know what kind of person could have used these and when. I figured you were the best source.

80 dollars in the 1860’s was equivalent to around 3k dollars, today..

Do we need to resize. I have been reloading fireformed unresize then crimp, would I do better resizeing.?

A company should make a wood handguard for this rifle. It would look nice.

Whitworth is Barrett of the civil war

I have read that the Native Americans learn how to reload the 44 rimfire round.

Will there be a movie about gibbs?

What is that eye piece?

Why thay come in 45long colt

Captured Henrys were used by most of Jefferson Davis bodyguards.

A true Henry is 44 rimfire,ammunition is unubtanium.

Uh, the word, "ordinance", refers to a rule right between"law' and 'regulation" , to which a violation is called an "infraction", and is usually on the order of a "city ordinance".. I believe the word you wanted was"ordnance"-a collective term for military shells, ammunition, etc.

is this that damn yankee rifle you load on sunday and shoot all week

Just a little too new, fragile, complicated and expensive. Cartridge technology was brand new and not really up to the task of warfare. Muzzleloaders were at their apex and were a trusted, cheap and reliable system. I think if the civil war happened just 10-20 years later, we would have seen mass issue of lever action rifles, as well as cartridge revolvers. But in the 1860s, the technology and economy of scale just wasnt quite ready.