The legendary Model 1873 Winchester, has been called the favorite "Fighting rifle of the Old Civilian West." The granddaddy of Model 1873 and all the models that followed was the Model 1860 Henry Rifle.
The story of the Henry Rifle begins not with Winchester but with two men named Smith and Wesson who would also find fame and fortune in the industry with handguns. They’d designed a self-contained cartridge in the early 1850s and with the help of others established the Volcanic Arms Compan

True West May/June 2025
In This Issue:
Features
- Historic Hotels of the American West
- A Journey Through Wyoming’s Outlaw History
- A Journey Through Washington’s Wild Frontier
- Blazing The Oregon Trail
- Journey Through Time
- Did Brigham Young Order a Massacre?
- Mountain Meadows Scapegoat John D. Lee VS. A Firing Squad
- Mormons in the Movies
- An Indigenous Consultant Ensures Accuracy
- The Battle Axe And A Raw Deal
- Showdown: Bridger VS. Brigham
- The Mountain Man and the Mormon Moses
- The Ghosts of Mountain Meadows
- The War Before the War
- Mountain Meadows