Lever-action repeating rifle (Henry and Spencer)
Fusil de repetición de palanca (Henry y Spencer)
- Date
- 1860 · confidence high
- Place
- New Haven, Connecticut, United States
- Credited to
- Benjamin Tyler Henry and Christopher Spencer
- Field
- Conflict
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Rifles with a tubular magazine (Henry, .44 rimfire cartridge, 16 shots) or stock magazine (Spencer, 7 shots), reloaded with the trigger-guard lever, which multiplied a soldier's rate of fire. They were used in the American Civil War and gave rise to the Winchester.
There were earlier repeaters (Girandoni air rifle, 1779; Volcanic, 1848) and the Spencer was made in Boston; priority depends on what counts as a practical repeating rifle.
What it led to
- the Winchester Model 1866 and 1873 and the American West
- the military repeating rifle
- infantry fire doctrines