This is one of the finest Henry rifle anywhere. This rifle would have been made early in 1863. This is an early first style Henry rifle without a lever latch and has a round top butt plate. The first style butt plate has a trapdoor and contains a 4 piece Hickory wiping rod that is in great condition. Can anyone tell me the manufacture date of a standard Henry.22 rifle with number 616701H? When did Henry stop making metal barrel bands? Soccernut, Aug 16, 2015. To showcase this historic milestone, each Henry Big Boy rifle is etched with the Eagle Scout® Award Medal and selectively nickel plated on the right side of the receiver with an American style scroll pattern bracketing the medal and the banner with the words “THIS I PLEDGE MY SACRED HONOR”. These words are the closing line of the pledge that is recited to every Eagle Scout at his Eagle. Serial numbers start at numbers above 10,000 and fit with in the number sequence used by WR for sporting rifles. Francotte provided the action, and stamped their serial number on the action face and vertically on the action subassembly with the Crown over A.F. Trademark for Francotte. Don't miss the opportunity to bid on the Henry Lever action Trump serial number rifle set! This set includes 3 rifles!-Trump Henry H001 Lever Action.22LR. Serial Number: 2020TRUMP0085 (#85 of 5000)-Trump Henry H004 Golden Boy.22LR. Serial Number: 2020TRUMP085 (#85 of 1000)-Trump Henry H006 Big Boy 45LC. Serial Number: 2020TRUMP85 (#85 of 100).

• Henry Rifle Serial Number Dates
• How To Read Henry Rifle Serial Numbers Online
• Rifle Identification By Serial Number
• Modern Henry Rifle Serial Numbers

The Henry rifle needs no introduction to Civil War, western, or pretty much any arms collector or student of the American West. Oliver Winchester encouraged one potential dealer, “There will be no stopping the Henry when it is demonstrated. The Henry will become the Arm of the Century,” and he was not wrong by far, if at all. The rifle could hold fifteen .44 caliber rimfire cartridges in its magazine (loaded by compressing the spring and turning the top of the barrel assembly to drop them in the magazine tube,) and a sixteenth cartridge in the chamber. This gave the bearer a stupendous amount of firepower. Veteran anecdotes and company sales pamphlets were full of stories of individuals and small units defeating many time their number of enemy troops. It was remarked that Henry-armed troops had no need for bayonets since an enemy could not approach within forty rods.

This nice example is numbered 9220, giving it an 1865 date of manufacture according to both Madis and Sword. By Sword’s accounting it was likely in a group of 475 manufactured in May 1865, qualifying it as wartime, and by Madis’s estimated production totals it might even be a bit earlier. (Sword estimated production at the end of 1864 had reached 7,425; Madis put it higher, at 8096.) This rifle is just three numbers off from one owned and inscribed by a member of Hancock’s 3^rd US Veteran Volunteers and 173 serial numbers under a Henry presented to captain of the 7^th Illinois by his men, who mustered out on 7/25/65. This rifle was also made in plenty of time for civilians and soldiers heading west, for whom it was a sought-after and favored weapon for hunting and defense against wild animals and hostile humans. When Fetterman’s column headed out from Fort Phil Kearney two civilians grabbed their Henrys to join him. Ten years after that, there were enough Henrys facing Custer that their empty cartridge cases gave one section of the Little Big Horn battlefield the nicknamed “Henryville.”

This rifle preserves better than 98 percent of its original blue on the barrel and magazine assembly, which rates excellent. The only areas of gray are the expected slim ones on along the ridges of the octagon barrel that are most subject to wear, and a little just at the muzzle. The barrel address is the standard Henry marking used throughout production and is crisp, reading: “HENRY’S PATENT OCT. 16, 1860 / MANUFACT’D BY THE NEW HAVEN ARMS CO. NEW HAVEN, CT.” It is also in the correct slightly longer format and with slightly larger letters used after number 3000 or so. Both sights are in place. The front sight shows the correct, later, squared back. The rear sight shows lots of blue, vibrant on the slide, with some slight graying on the edges from grasping it to raise it. The receiver is smooth, with no dings or scratches and is an even mustard color showing some slight rubbing on the flats at the midpoint between the lever and carrier. The screw heads show nice blue, though the forward upper tang screw shows a dull silver. The hammer, lever and turn-button show good color with just some lighter color at the edges from handling. The wood is very good, with no dings or scratches, but shows an old refinish with a hair-width gap around the tang with some of the color along its edge. There is no Henry “bump” on the buttstock, but this does not show up on all Henry stocks, particularly among lower and higher numbered rifles. (Quick thinks it occasionally shows up from blistering of a pressure dent from clamping the stock to bore the cleaning rod hole.)

The stock is fitted with a sling swivel at left and the forward loop is secured by two screws, which Wiley Sword noted on a number of higher numbered Henrys, rivets not proving satisfactory as a method of attachment. The buttplate is the correct late, crescent form with smooth metal and color matching the receiver. It has a functioning trap for the cleaning rod and bears a serial number matching the barrel. The bore is good and the mechanics are fine. The lower receiver tang shows the “H” inspection mark of B. Tyler Henry himself, who acted as an inside contractor in the company until Winchester took over the position. Many rifles had only been partially completed or assembled before the change took place and Henry’s initial as inspector appears on both low and high numbered rifles. Quick illustrates the mark on rifle number 9030, just 190 numbers from this one.

This is a beautiful Henry rifle that would enhance any western or American arms collection. [sr]

DISCLAIMER: All firearms are sold as collector's items only - we do not accept responsibility as to the shooting safety or reliability of any antique firearm. All firearms are described as accurately as possible, given the restraints of a catalog listing length. We want satisfied customers & often 'under' describe the weapons. Any city or state regulations regarding owning antique firearms are the responsibility of the purchaser. All firearms are 'mechanically perfect' unless noted, but again, are NOT warranted as safe to fire!

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Henry Rifle Serial Number Dates

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How To Read Henry Rifle Serial Numbers Online

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Below is the download link for a special resource for dating Winchester firearms. These pages were scanned from documents compiled over the years by the customer service department of Winchester Repeating Arms. None of the page scans are of original documents but are simply transcribed information typed into a word processing program. In general, this information is the same that you would get if you called our customer service department and asked them for the information. They use these documents as a reference and the documents should be limited to that use.

Click the image below to download the PDF document containing the serial number date-range information on many Winchester firearms. You will need the Adobe Reader program to open this file. Adobe Reader is available free from Adobe.

THE HISTORY OF WINCHESTER HISTORIC SERIAL NUMBER RECORDS.
There are many “legends” about why the historic serial number records for Winchester rifles and shotguns are not complete or why they are not always verifiable. A few reasons cited are:

1. A fire at the factory
2. Inadvertent destruction (during office cleaning)
3. Records simply lost in filing
4. Records misplaced between ownership transitions
5. Documents borrowed but not returned

There is probably some kernel of truth to all of them. But the fact remains; there is no original, single, totally accurate database of serial numbers from 1866 forward that we are aware of. But perhaps these pages can help you somewhat in your research.

Please keep the following points in mind as you explore these pages:

• Many of the Winchester brand firearms produced over the years are included, but not all. If your firearm is not listed, we probably do not have any additional information.
• Before the 1990s the Winchester Repeating Arms firearms brand transferred ownership several times. Any information before the 1990s is always difficult to verify.
• In general, only serial number ranges with an approximate year are provided in this document. There is no other detail beyond this that we can provide.
• Since this information was provided through old documents (both official and otherwise), no representation is made that all serial number and year combinations are totally accurate.
• In some exceptional cases, a more detailed, accurate determination can be made by calling the Winchester Repeating Arms Historian at the Morgan, Utah office. 800-333-3288. Ask for the Winchester Repeating Arms Historian.
• For any other questions: 800.333.3288 or 801.876.2711. For Parts and Service call: 800.322.4626
• For questions related to Ammunition don’t call us. Contact Winchester Ammunition directly.
• No attempt has been made to determine the value of any guns listed.
• The Cody Firearms Museum has more information on Winchesters produced before 1900.
• This late historian George Madis compiled extensive histories on Winchester firearms. www.georgemadis.com

Rifle Identification By Serial Number

There are other outside resources – including the Cody Firearm Museum -- which can be excellent for determining date of manufacture and value: Click here to go to our gun values resource links.

Modern Henry Rifle Serial Numbers

Click below to download a PDF overview of Cody Museum serial number resources.

(Please remember that this information is a compilation over time -- collected from secondhand information. No confidentail records were used. We reserve the right to make changes at any time and make no claims as to accuracy. No attempt has been made to determine the value of any Winchester products.)

© Winchester Repeating Arms, 2012, 2015, R. Stitt