What was the effective range and ammo capacity for lever-action rifles of the American "Wild West" (1850ish)

Question

Doing research for a story I'm writing. Thank you very much!

Answer 1

The Henry(1861) was the first effective lever action rifle
.44 caliber rimfire
Southern soldiers called the Henry "That damn Yankee rifle that they load on Sunday and shoot all week" >Don't hold me to this but it seems like it holds 16 rounds

Then you had the 1866 Winchester(Yellow Boy)
.44 caliber rimfire

the 1873 Winchester is a very popular model
.44-40 WCF(Winchester Center Fire)

1876 Winchester -

Research those

Remember most "Cowboys" of the day carried a rifle in the same caliber as their revolver, for practical reasons.

Later: Yes, the Civil War Henry(1861-1865) had a 16 round, tubular magazine. Like others have said, these rifles had an effective range of 150-200yds - Not until the 1876 Winchester came along with it's much stronger action were true rifle cartridges used and longer ranges achieved.

Answer 2

OK, having studied American History I need to point out that the days of the "Wild West" did not start in earnest until after the Civil War.

Oh, there were a few cattlemen using the Santa Fe Trail, Mormons in Utah, 49er miners in California, but for the most part the wagon trains and railroads and Wild West towns did not come until 1865 through the 90s.

Where is your story set? Location will determine time period.

Oh, most lever action rifles pre-1890 will go 150 yards accurately from a supported shooting position. Standing up shooting (off hand) 100 yards.

From horseback, 25 to 30 yards, if the horse stands still. I have tried shooting from horseback and trust me, if you need to make a shot, you get off the horse first.

I know a good deal of old west history, particularly Southwest. Write me if I can help.

Answer 3

In the 1850's not very far.

In fact, the only lever-action rifles on the market in the 1850's were Jennings, and Volcanic.

Neither used very powerful ammunition. If you want to see a Jennings Rifle and read a very brief write up, check out the article at LeverGuns.Com - http://www.leverguns.com/leverguns/jennings_rifle.htm

The Volcanic was the immediate fore-runner of the Henry Rifle. They made both handguns and rifles, I've handled one of the handguns and it was clumsy in the hand. Most of the Volcanic designs used a sort of "Rocket Ball" ammunition. It was a hollow-based bullet with gunpowder in the base, and a foil covering with priming compound to ignite it. Check here for a brief description of the Volcanic Pistols and Carbines: http://www.leverguns.com/leverguns/volcanic.htm

Right at the end of the 1850's Oliver Winchester took over New Haven Arms, the manufacturer of the Volcanic rifles and pistols. With the invention of the .44 Rimfire by B. Tyler Henry, and a few improvements, the Henry Repeating Rifle was born. IIRC, it was patented in 1859 or '60, and marketed as the M-1860 Henry Rifle. The next generation of improved leverguns took the name of Winchester, and was called the Model 1866. It was also chambered for the .44 Henry Flat.

While a great improvement on the Volcanic "Rocket Balls" and the Jennings ammo, the .44 Henry RF, aka .44 henry Flat, was no great shakes as a rifle cartridge. Standard load was a 200 grain bullet propelled by 26-28 grains of FFg blackpowder. It was much less powerful than a Springfield Rifle-Musket, or a M-1849 Sharps. By contrast, the .56-56 Spencer, introduced in 1862 use a .55 caliber 350 grain bullet propelled with 42-45 grains of FFg powder.

If you want to talk about the ability to hit a man-sized target, no one will get too huffy if you claim 200 yards. If you talk about killing game, keep the range under 100 yards, the closer the better. BTW that scene in Dances With Wolves where Costner, using a .44 Henry RF, drops a charging buffalo at 300 yards or more is total BS, and impossibility. That cartridge does not have enough power to reliably kill a buffalo if it is too far away to scorch his hide when the shot goes off.

Doc Hudson

Answer 4

Price wise... 30-30 is a purty good value. I still find it for $15/20 in many parts of the country. Not that bad a deal --- cheap enough to tune up with and potent enough to take any game in North America (and it has over the years) 38 special in a good lead load pushes $25/50... and the FMJ 130 grain is close to $35/100 for a cartridge suitable for training or plinking. 357 magnum extends out higher than 30WCF in most cases. I have a little 357 Marlin lever action... all being said I like it. I'd like it more if I'd reload the 800 empty 38 special cases I've got......

Answer 5

Original Henry rifles, the very first Winchester rifle, could hold up to 18 shots depending on caliber and length of barrel/magazine tube. 13-15 shots was about average.

The Henry is really the only western lever action that falls within your time frame. It was patented in 1860 but was based on the "Volcanic Rifle" of approx 1855 (never was a success).

Range-wise, they weren't much to write home about. Cartridges of the time weren't anything close to what we have today. If you could drop a deer at 150-200 yards with one, you were lucky. The rifle frame was weak in design and that kept powerful rifle cartridges from being used for another 30 years.

Answer 6

Magazine repeaters came out in the 1700s but lever action rifles did not hit the scene until the 1870s. Then they had an effective range of about 200 yards. The bullets would travel much farther, but their accurate range was about 200 yards.
They held 5-7 rounds depending on the ammo type

Answer 7

Volcanic Rifle

Answer 8

I have an 1876 44-40 Winchester rifle and the black powder shells I have travel @ 1800 feet per second. I don't know everything about the gun, but I do know that the shells were innerchangeable with the 44 caliber handguns of that time. The one I have was the last that used black powder shells and this one can also fire the gunpowder shells as well. It kicks like a mule too.

Answer 9

I think they hold 5 in the tube and 1 in the chamber and a good effective range for that style of rifle is about 150 - 200 yards

Answer 10

1850ish rifles were almost all single-shots, though there may have been a British visitor with a double hiding out there someplace. The seven-shot Spencer came out in 1860, and was pretty uncommon during the War Between the States.