In the late 1850s, metallic cartridges were the coming wave of firearms technology, and besides the difficulties inherent to developing reliable and effective self-contained rounds the new ammunition demanded equally new gun designs capable of taking full advantage of what the quick-loading cartridge offered. Cartridges that revolutionized a field of slow-loading, slow-firing, and slow-reloading powder & ball single-shots freed designers to create a rifle that could keep up, and the very talented Benjamin Tyler Henry quickly stepped to the front in both areas. The result was the legendary repeating rifle that became known as the 1860 Henry, in .44 Henry Rimfire.

A pioneering design in a reliable and practical lever action repeater, and adopted in limited numbers by Northern forces during the Civil War, the Henry was the 16-shot rifle enviously (and angrily) referred to by Southern soldiers as “That damned Yankee rifle that loads on Sunday and shoots all week long!”

In the days when the average soldier was expected to be able to fire up to three rounds per minute through his muzzle-loading Springfield rifle, a small unit armed with Henry rifles could provide the firepower of an entire company. That ground-breaking lever action rifle design was the foundation for a uniquely American class of long guns that’s still with us today, over 155 years later.

With great effort, and more than a little pride in a job well done, Henry has brought back the Original Henry Rifle, made entirely on US soil, just as B. T. Henry’s rifles were. True to Henry’s 1860 patterns and patents, and virtually identical aside from concessions necessary to adapt to the .44-40 centerfire rounds that replaced the long-obsolete rimfires, the H011R features a shorter 20.5″ barrel, and comes fitted with a one-piece octagonal barrel and magazine, fancy grade American Walnut stock, a classic folding ladder rear sight and blade front, traditional half-cock safety hammer notch, and no modernized manual safeties. The H011R Rare Carbine version uses a 20.5″ barrel and 10 round capacity.