The Henry 1860 rifle is a lever action, breech loading rifle. The first 400 of the 14,000 rifles made were produced with an iron frame instead of the commonly seen brass frame. Brass was added in late 1862 as production picked up. Henry rifles were far too expensive ($45 to $65 each) to be issued in large numbers during the Civil War (in comparison, a common Enfield Rifle cost $14). The copper rounds used 28 grains of black powder and cost 1.6 cents each (about four times the price of muzzle loading ammo); most were purchased by individual soldiers with their own money. Twelve thousand were produced from 1862 to 1865 and sales slowed when the war ended. A total of 110,000 1866 ("Yellow Boy"--side loading gate) Henry Rifles were made up to the introduction of the famous Winchester 1873 model. The "Yellow Boy" Henry is the one used in the film Silverado.
