Winchester Yellowboy History
The Gun That Won The West
The Henry Improved, later known as the Model 1866, was the first lever-action made by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.
The Henry Improved was the first rifle to be called a Winchester, but its story started years before.
From Shirts To Shooting
Mr. Oliver Winchester was an excellent dress shirt maker and an even better investor. He didn’t have much formal schooling, but he made up for it with uncommon business sense.
In the years leading up to the Civil War, the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company developed a unique lever-action rifle. A fresh cartridge was fed from a magazine into the chamber. Winchester knew in a world of single-shot rifles, a reliable repeating rifle was a golden opportunity. Winchester invested heavily, securing the majority of stock. While the rifle design had promise, the self-contained ammunition lacked performance. When the company ran into financial trouble, Winchester took over and renamed it New Haven Repeating Arms.
The plant foreman, B. Tyler Henry, had been heavily involved in the gun’s development, and he continued to make improvements. In 1860, the company received a patent on a radically improved repeating rifle known as the Henry. It was chambered in the .44 Henry, a rimfire cartridge packed with 28 grains of black powder, propelling a 200-grain bullet at 1,125 fps. The testing reported the Henry rifle could drive the slug through seven 1″ thick pine boards. While standard military rifles were single-shot, the Henry could carry an impressive 15 rounds.
The Henry had many promoters and some haters. Southerners called it “The damned Yankee rifle — loaded on Sunday and shot all week.” No account was more spectacular than one of a Union sympathizer attacked in his Kentucky home by seven Confederate ruffians. The man pleaded with his attackers to take the bloodshed outside and away from his family. As the men stepped out, the homeowner snatched up his Henry rifle and started dispatching his attackers. When the smoke cleared, all seven attackers lay dead around him!
Despite repeatedly proving itself in battle, the military refused to give the rifle a serious look and went with the inferior, but more available, Spencer rifle. A Winchester catalog stated while 10,000 Henry rifles were produced during the war, less than 2,000 were part of a military contract. But the firepower of the Henry spread like wildfire and orders came in for over 100,000!
Family Tree — The evolution of the Winchester rifle is easy to see.
From left to right, a replica Henry rifle by Henry Repeating Arms;
the Henry Improved or Model 1866; a replica Winchester
Model 1873 by Uberti.
Change Of Scenery
After the Civil War, and with years of feeling under-compensated for his designs stuck in his craw, Henry filed a lawsuit for ownership of the company. He won but Winchester owned the patents, so Winchester walked away, leaving Henry with nothing.
Winchester immediately did two things — formed the Winchester Repeating Arms Company and hired Nelson King to redesign the Henry to overcome some of its shortcomings.
The Henry’s open tubular magazine collected dirt and debris in heavy use and was the first to go. King replaced it with a closed tube magazine. Second, loading the Henry was cumbersome. The follower had to be shoved home so the end of the barrel could be turned, exposing the magazine. During loading, the shooter was vulnerable to attack. King changed this, adding a side-loading gate allowing rounds to be loaded at the receiver. Lastly, a wooden forearm was added to shield the user from the heat generated during the heavy firing of black-powder rounds. They called the modified rifle the Henry Improved.
The Henry Improved was a hit, and orders from around the world rushed in. While the U.S. Military wasn’t interested, other countries saw the value in repeating rifles. Turkish contracts amounted to 46,000 muskets and 5,000 carbines. The French government ordered 3,000 muskets and 3,000 carbines. Chile and Peru ordered approximately 4,000 rifles. The records in some years are missing or unclear, but in 1877, 12,000 rifles shipped overseas and evidence shows countless Henry Improved rifles went to Mexico to fill state or national arsenals.
While most associate the Winchester rifle with the American West, in reality, a large portion went to troops around the world. A story was told by Rear Admiral Jasper Selwyn, “I saw personally … the Circassian Cavalry all armed with the Winchester-Henry carbine.” His friend, Reouf Pasha, commander-in-chief of the Turkish Army of Ranglia told him of an incident during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877 when a Russo regiment of 600 Cossacks suddenly encircled him and his personal guard of 30 men. Pasha had his men dismount and use their horses as a breastwork. The Winchester-armed Turkish Cavalry laid down a field of fire so fierce the Cossacks fled as many were killed. The Turks were untouched.
The folding rear sight was graduated out to a very optimistic 900 yards.
What’s In A Name?
Here in America, the rifle became known as the “Yellow Boy” because of the brass receiver, but it’s a misnomer. The receiver was made from gunmetal, an alloy of copper and tin — brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. The firepower and superior corrosion-resistant qualities made it popular with frontiersmen and Native Americans alike. Warriors prized the good-looking rifle and often added brass tacks to the stock to compliment the receiver.
There has always been speculation the Sioux and Cheyenne carried many Winchesters during the battle of the Little Big Horn. Some are well-documented, including a Henry Improved used by Sitting Bull. Private Charles Windolph of Company H, 7th Cavalry, estimated roughly a quarter of the warriors carried repeating rifles. Archaeological studies did find Henry rimfire cases scattered around the battlefield. The troopers had .45 Colt revolvers and .45-70 Springfield Trapdoor rifles so it is safe to assume the Henry cases were from Indian rifles.
The success of the Henry Improved firmly embedded the association of repeating rifles and Winchester. To many, any repeater was a Winchester, regardless of who made it.
In 1873 Winchester came out with an upgraded repeating rifle, the Model 1873. While it used the same toggle-link system, the frame was steel and the predominate chambering was .44-40 centerfire. The .44-40 packed 12 more grains of powder and the reliability of a centerfire primer system. Until the ’73 came out, Winchester didn’t attach a model year to the Henry Improved. It was just known as the Henry or Winchester Repeating Rifle. Catalogs show it was about 1875 before Winchester started calling the Henry Improved the “Model 1866” to differentiate it from the new Model 1873.
Historians argue cartridge rifles were shunned by some frontiersmen because of the lack of ammunition in vast areas of the American West. Not one to miss an opportunity, Winchester overcame this prejudice by inventing an adapter, which converted the Henry Improved into a muzzle-loader and allowed the use of a percussion cap for ignition.
To increase the reliability of the rimfire rifle, the
Henry Improved had two firing pins at 3 and 9 o’clock.
A cleaning kit could be kept in the buttstock.
Most factory rifles did not have slings, which makes one
wonder where our test rifle served! It also didn’t have any
apparent saddle wear so it probably didn’t spend any time
in the Western U.S. O
Most factory rifles did not have slings, which makes one wonder where our test rifle (left) served! It also didn’t have any apparent saddle wear so it probably didn’t spend any time in the Western U.S. Operating the lever caused the elevator (right) to raise and lower, feeding a fresh cartridge into place.
Changes
During the production run, many small changes were made to the frame and collectors considered there to be four distinct models of Henry. The rifle pictured in this story has a serial number of 20343 and was made in 1869, making it a Second Model. At this point, the drop in front of the hammer had been softened to a graceful arc and the frame flared to meet the forearm.
The first thing to note: Our test rifle is still in the original .44 Henry rimfire configuration. To improve the reliability of the rimfire cartridge, the Winchester has two firing pins 180-degrees apart. Later on, many rifles had the bolt and firing pin reconfigured to allow the use of centerfire cartridges.
Since the Henry Improved wasn’t a new design, Winchester didn’t restart the serial number. In fact, both the Henry and Henry Improved were made concurrently for a period and it’s evident from examining frames both could have come from the same casting mold.
While we all like to romanticize the lever-action as a cowboy rifle, this particular rifle most likely didn’t see any time on a horse. The sling mount on the forearm cap would have chewed up any leather scabbard and there is no evidence of pommel wear on the forearm. It was common for explorers in dangerous country to ride with the rifle across the saddle and ready for action. Rifles with heavy saddle use often have the wood worn down to the magazine from abrasion by the saddle leather.
The rifle does not have the Winchester name anywhere. However, the work of Henry and King was honored by the barrel markings: HENRY’S – PATENT – OCT. 16, 1860 and KING’S – PATENT – MARCH 29. 1866. The octagonal 24″ barrel wears a sporting leaf rear sight graduated from 100 to 900 yards. With the leaf down, the sight was useful for close and fast shots.
Original examples command a premium when they come on the market, and original ammunition can run thousands per box but those wanting to experience a small part of the Old West can take heart. Companies like Cimarron Firearms, Taylor’s and Company, and even Winchester offer a modern version in standard pistol calibers such as .38 Special and .45 Colt.
It doesn’t matter if we call it the Henry Improved, the Model ’66, or Yellow Boy, Winchester’s first lever-action rifle will always hold a place as an icon of the American West.
