One of the earliest known examples of Henry Rifle serial number 345, will be offered on sale at Heritage Auctions‘ Arms & Armor Signature Auction on June 8, 2014. In October 1862 Oliver Winchester wrote to one of his investors that, “…we have had them on the market for about three months.” Thus the birth of the Henry rifle can be dated to the spring of 1862. The Henry, the first practical, lever action, repeating rifle, was the immediate forerunner of the famous Winchester rifles. About 14,000 were made between 1862 and 1866 by the New Haven Arms Company.
Henry number 345 is dated to July of 1862. Very few of this vintage have survived, so a three-digit serial numbered Henry rifle in the hands of a resolute collector will be a rare prize indeed. The rifle was found in Atlanta; perhaps one of General Sherman’s boys lost it there?
Description: “Serial no. 345, .44 rimfire caliber, 24-inch octagonal barrel. Barrel address reads: HENRY’S PATENT OCT 16, 1860 / [not legible] NEW HAVEN ARMS Co. NEW HAVEN CT. Blued finish with brass receiver .Barrel with standard adjustable sporting rear sight. Frame dovetail vacant. (According to Madis, “sporting adjustable leaf rear sights were standard; fixed sights would be supplied if ordered.” No lever catch as is correct for this model. Varnished walnut stock. Curved brass buttplate with storage compartment. Likely manufactured July, 1862, the fourth month of production. It pre-dates the U.S. military contract guns.”
