Henry Trapper Model

[Frenchie]

Was the Trapper (16" barrel) a factory model? If not, would it have been (relatively) easy to modify a rifle in a well-equipped gunsmith's workshop? I'm looking at a nice one for a good price, but don't want to buy something that wasn't likely to have existed. Thanks,

[sharps54]

Was the Trapper (16" barrel) a factory model? If not, would it have been (relatively) easy to modify a rifle in a well-equipped gunsmith's workshop? I'm looking at a nice one for a good price, but don't want to buy something that wasn't likely to have existed. Thanks,

Here is an interesting quote from here: http://www.rarewinchesters.com/articles/art_hen_06.shtml

"The "Modern" Henry of Navy Arms is currently offered in a carbine version. These are offered with a 21 or 16 inch barrel length. Many feel there were no carbines made by the New Haven Arms Company. The fact of the matter is the New Haven Arms Company did make barrels shorter than the standard 24 inch barrel. Henry number 6850 is pictured in The Winchester Book and it has a 19 inch barrel. The Henry carbine was not a regular production gun, but it could be special ordered. Most Henrys left the factory with the standard 24 inch barrel and some were then sent back to have the barrel shortened to the desired length. Some of the carbine length barrels found today were the result of taking the gun to a private gunsmith and having him shorten the barrel. There were 2 main reasons for reducing the length of the barrel of the Henry. The first one is to reduce the overall weight of the gun. At over 10 pounds fully loaded, it was a heavy gun. The second reason is to make the gun balance better. The weight and the poor balance of the Henry were cited as why the cavalry did not like it as well as the Spencer.(6, 14) On March 21, 1865 there was a Henry carbine entered by the New Haven Arms Company for testing. This gun was an 8 shot Henry. That would put the barrel length at around 15 inches. In the rapid fire test this gun fired 8 shots in 10 seconds. A 16 shot Henry was also tested but no results were given."

There are also some pictures of carbine length Henrys on that website.
Mild Myles

[Judge Roy Bean]

Hellow the Camp,There is a Henry carbine on http://www.rarewinchesters.com/gunroom/1860/M60-06850/model_60_06850.shtml that beloned to Yellowstone Kelly if it is any help.

[Judge Roy Bean]

Seems I was a bit slow on the draw there pardner...

[Coffinmaker]

The 16" "Trapper" was not a production gun from Winchester.  Production carbines were built with 19" and 20" barrels but were not common.  Winchester did build guns to order, but I haven't seen anything shorter than 19" that was documented or in a collection somewhere.
Navy arms offered a 16" Trapper for a while in 44-40.  I know of two that were built by Uberti in .45 Colt.  I have one of them.  With a barrel length of 16" the magazine capacity is 8 rounds.
A really good barrel guy could cut a Henry to 16" but you will have an 8 round rifle in 44-40.  there is a way to get 10 rounds in a .45 Colt rifle, but not with .45 colt cases.  It take a lot of modification and a different case.

Coffinmaker

[Capt. Augustus]

I had a 20 inch Henry carbine made after I saw the Yellowstone Kelly carbine.  It was interesting, because in the letter it refers to others that length.  Mine holds 10 .45 LC  or 11 Schofields.  It cost me $200 to have it done, but it was well worth it.

[Judge Roy Bean]

They also have another carbine on the rare Winchester site marked display model.
The Yellowstone carbine looks as if it was once ownd by U.P.R.R. by the markings  on the butt stock ?

[The Avocado Kid]

Frenchie,check out this webbsite www.rarewinchesters.com/ should answer all your questions. Hope this helps,Dusty. PS: Sorry,this link has already been posted BUT worth a-look-see!

[Frenchie]

Partners, many thanks for the help, especially the link to Rare Winchesters, where I found an article on Special Short Winchesters by George Madis. Seems the term "Special Short Carbine" would be the most historically correct term for this Henry I'm considering, not "Trapper".