It was Mr. Henry who conceived the first practical, lever action repeating rifle patented in 1860. The Henry gave a single man the firepower of a dozen marksmen armed with muzzle-loading muskets.

When were repeating rifles used in the Civil War?

between 1860 and 1869. The Spencer repeating rifle was adopted by the Union Army, especially by the cavalry, during the American Civil War but did not replace the standard issue muzzle-loading rifled muskets in use at the time. Among the early users was George Armstrong Custer.

Who made the first lever-action repeating rifle?

The original Henry rifle was a sixteen-shot . 44 caliber rimfire breech-loading lever-action rifle, patented by Benjamin Tyler Henry in 1860 after three years of design work.