No. 9—Dreyse Model 1841 “Needle Gun”
Invented by Johann Nikolaus Von Dreyse in an era when many nations still relied on muzzleloading smoothbores, the “needle rifle” made several technological leaps at once when it was adopted by Prussia as the Zundnadel Infantrie Gewehr Modell 1841. It was the first widely adopted rifled, breechloading, military turn-bolt long arm chambered for a self-contained cartridge. The bullet, with its priming compound and blackpowder charge behind it, was encased in a paper cylinder called a Treibspeigel. The rifle had a .608-inch bullet, and the Treibspeigel measured .638 inches and acted as a paper patch over the .535-inch conical bullet. When the trigger was pulled, the firing “needle”—a long thin pin or striker—pieced the back of the paper and drove through the powder charge to set off the priming compound. Before the bolt could be opened, its thumb piece had to be moved rearward. The bolt was then rotated up and drawn to the rear, the cartridge inserted and the bolt closed. The needle still needed to be manually cocked by pressing the thumb piece forward before the rifle could fire. Like all early breechloaders, there were issues with gas leakage.

The Dreyse gave the Prussians a decided technological and tactical superiority during the Second Schleswig War against Denmark in 1864 and the Seven Weeks War against Austria, and it played a crucial battlefield role in German unification. The Dreyse—although by then inferior to the French Chassepot Modele 1866—was used during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. —Mark A. Keefe, IV

No. 10—The Henry Rifle
The lever-action Henry rifle, by all measures, was a commercial failure. During its seven-year production run only 14,000 were made, and the U.S. Government purchased only 1,700 Henrys during the Civil War. This is hardly a ringing endorsement when tens of thousands of other rifles saw far greater service in the hands of the infantry. Yet it is on this list and for good reason.

This 9-pound repeating rifle changed history in many ways during its short but storied lifespan. It was the invention of Benjamin Tyler Henry and patented in October 1860 and was the first “successful” breechloading, repeating rifle that fired a self-contained metallic cartridge. Most importantly—and a reason it is on this list—is that it is considered the first Winchester and it is responsible for all those that followed bearing that venerable name to this very day.

This 16-round “horizontal shot tower” was also known as the rifle “you can load on Sunday and shoot all week.” It introduced the self-contained metallic .44 rimfire cartridge to the world and provided the owner of the New Haven Repeating Arms Company, Oliver Winchester, with a basis to build his manufacturing empire. Of all the guns in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., (more than 7,000) only one has had the honor of receiving a solid gold National Treasure medal from the NRA’s Gun Collectors Committee, and that is Henry Repeating rifle serial number 6, a presentation piece to President Abraham Lincoln.

Of the rifles examined here, each possesses numerous qualities that earned it a spot on this list. It is not enough for a rifle to have graceful lines and a positive locking lug system, each of these rifles was not only found to be superior at the time it was made, but also served to inspire innovation and further development in the field of technology. —Philip Schreier