In the late 1850s, metallic cartridges were the coming wave of firearms technology, and besides the difficulties inherent to developing reliable and effective self-contained rounds the new ammunition demanded equally new gun designs capable of taking full advantage of what the quick-loading cartridge offered. Cartridges that revolutionized a field of slow-loading, slow-firing, and slow-reloading powder & ball single-shots freed designers to create a rifle that could keep up, and the very talented Benjamin Tyler Henry quickly stepped to the front in both areas. The result was the legendary repeating rifle that became known as the 1860 Henry, in .44 Henry Rimfire.