Henry or Sharps

Pick

  • Henry lever action 44 cal

    Votes: 39 51.3%

  • Sharps

    Votes: 37 48.7%
  • Total voters
    76
T

TGC

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It is time to finish off the poll on the best repeater of the American Civil War,The Hernry lever action of the Sharps . True the Sharos is really not a repeater; but it was fast loading. I voted sharps as i like that feeling of reaching out and touching someone.


For those of you who ask, the spencer did not make it to the poll as it lost out in votes in the two polls leading up to this final one, b8ut it did beat out the Colt revoling rifle
 
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What no Spencer? I'd have voted for it; it's kinda between the two. Less capacity than the Henry but more knockdown; less range of power than the Sharps but it's a repeater
 
Tuff call I'd have to give the edge to the Henry" Load on Sunday and shoot all week" rifle. In the time of true C.Q.B. :nest:with Monster Bayonets,i would perfer the high cap tube mag of the Henry.:ar15:
 
TGC said:
It is time to finish off the poll on the best repeater of the American Civil War,The Hernry lever action of the Sharps . True the Sharos is really not a repeater; but it was fast loading. I voted sharps as i like that feeling of reaching out and touching someone.
Click to expand...

Spencer! There were even speed loading tubes for it! Egad, what will they think of next?
 
For volume of fire...Henry.
For reliability...Sharps.
For power...Sharps.
For ease of reloading...50/50 split Sharps/Henry
For accuracy...Sharps.
For weight and general handling...Henry.
For overall strength of the gun...Sharps.
For availability, firearms on the line...Sharps.
For availability of ammunition...Sharps.
Based on this criteria...the Sharps is #1.
Cheers
 
I would have to go with the Sharps , the Spencer should have been in the running not the Henry,but even these had major problems.
The muzzle loading 58 Caliber U.S. Springfield using the hollow based mini ball
was able to do the following
The typical soldier loading and firing on his own could get about three shots off per minute. With the standard issue of forty paper cartridges, which is about a dozen minutes of sustained shooting.Then they would have to round up more ammo which was fairly plentifull
The Spencer fired a metallic cartridge. Including both carbines and rifles, approximately 150,000 of both makes were made during the Civil War.
In every major battle, the few regiments armed with a repeater ran out of ammunition at the first encounter. There weren't enough horses, mules, and wagons at the time to carry the additional ammunition consumed by the breechloaders. Battles were fought with each soldier carrying his own ammunition into the fray. Forty shots was the standard issue for about a dozen minutes of sustained fast and furious firing.


The Henry was underpowered for military use--about 14,000 were made during the Civil War. The Henry was modified after the War to become the first Winchester. A few single shot carbines fired the Henry 44 rimfire cartridge.
I think I would have stuck with a Springfield at least you would have amunition for the nest encounter if you made it through the present battle
.Graham
 
griaguns said:
I would have to go with the Sharps , the Spencer should have been in the running not the Henry,but even these had major problems.
The muzzle loading 58 Caliber U.S. Springfield using the hollow based mini ball
was able to do the following
The typical soldier loading and firing on his own could get about three shots off per minute. With the standard issue of forty paper cartridges, which is about a dozen minutes of sustained shooting.Then they would have to round up more ammo which was fairly plentifull
The Spencer fired a metallic cartridge. Including both carbines and rifles, approximately 150,000 of both makes were made during the Civil War.
In every major battle, the few regiments armed with a repeater ran out of ammunition at the first encounter. There weren't enough horses, mules, and wagons at the time to carry the additional ammunition consumed by the breechloaders. Battles were fought with each soldier carrying his own ammunition into the fray. Forty shots was the standard issue for about a dozen minutes of sustained fast and furious firing.


The Henry was underpowered for military use--about 14,000 were made during the Civil War. The Henry was modified after the War to become the first Winchester. A few single shot carbines fired the Henry 44 rimfire cartridge.
I think I would have stuck with a Springfield at least you would have amunition for the nest encounter if you made it through the present battle
.Graham
Click to expand...



Well put Sir! A repeater is great when the supply lines are moving easily and ammo isnt a issue....

But your out of luck when the ammo is gone,

your 61 springfield can use the same rifle-musket ammo the enemy is issued.


Though If I have to choose I would take a spencer, the henry is just too finiky and underpowered compared to what else is available at the time.
 
Reproductions are available for Spencer, Sharps and Henry rifles. The Spencer and Henry repros are centerfire for obvious reasons, although there was a run of Henry repros made in the original rimfire.
How many people have fired a combustible cartridge Sharps? They leak gas and a musket cap going off a few inches in front of one's nose is a bit of a distraction. Not quite like firing a Sharps cartridge rifle. A Starr is a better design. Gas tight.
 
tiriaq said:
Reproductions are available for Spencer, Sharps and Henry rifles. The Spencer and Henry repros are centerfire for obvious reasons, although there was a run of Henry repros made in the original rimfire.
How many people have fired a combustible cartridge Sharps? They leak gas and a musket cap going off a few inches in front of one's nose is a bit of a distraction. Not quite like firing a Sharps cartridge rifle. A Starr is a better design. Gas tight.
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Shot the percussion Shiloh Sharps repro years ago...no gas leakage, and really no different then shooting any other percussion rifle in regards to the musket cap being close to the face. With rock-locks it is a different story...the brown bess was surprising in the amount of flash close to your nose.
Cheers
 
Experience and opinions based on ....?

How many of you 'armchair tacticians and ballisticians' have any first hand experience with any of the rifles in the poll or were ever soldiers?

The only one I don't own or have experience with is the Spencer. Anyone who thinks the Henry has "major problems", is weak or deficient in any way has never fired one. I have an "Improved Henry" as well, the '66, the first rifle to bear the Winchester name, and prefer the Henry for it's weight and accuracy.

Most infantry and cavalry fighting are 'up close and personal' affairs. Firepower outweighs all other factors. If heavy hitting calibres were all that important, our troops would still be armed with the FAL FN C-1 7.62mm and not the 5.56mm 'poodle shooter'.
We aren't dropping horses any more, but we do have to contend with body armour.
Then and now, a wounded soldier is more of a liability than a dead one. He requires many people to tend his wounds, transport him, feed him, etc. That strains resources. A dead man is simply buried.

Again, I refer you to Peter Schiffer's book on shooting all the guns mentioned here and more. He also researched the contemporary official impressions of these arms and their battle records.
 
Don't fight kids, its just a fun poll, but the main thing, the moden stuff is better made, as compared to the orginals i gather, so don't compare the two ok. Its just personal preference if you had the choice back than.
 
TGC said:
Don't fight kids, its just a fun poll, but the main thing, the moden stuff is better made, as compared to the orginals i gather, so don't compare the two ok. Its just personal preference if you had the choice back than.
Click to expand...

Exactly, some guys need to lighten up..."Always with the negative waves, Moriarty...that really hurts me".
An exchange of experiences and knowledge from fellow collectors/shooters may be viewed, by some, as being inappropriate. Not so.
I really appreciate and enjoy these polls, especially the variety of opinions, and information shared.
Keep up the good work!!!!
 
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