Winchester rifles

After the American Civil War ended in 1865, the nation turned to settlement of the West. when settlers headed west they wanted a multiple firing rifle capable of firing several time instead of single shot muskets and breech loaders. The answer was the Henry lever action rifle, it could fire 12 times without reloading, but it had a few problems, the rifle had a cumbersome loading method and the lack of a wooden forehand which caused the shooter's hand to burn when firing. So Oliver Winchester, improved the Henry rifle, and in 1866 he launched a new lever action rifle, with a loading gate and a wooden forehand, which made to gun practical and easy to use.

The model 1866 soon evolved into the 1873, then a whole line of famous repeating rifles hit the market. The Winchester rifle is known as the gun that won the west.