With the development by Smith and Wesson, and subsequent improvement of the Volcanic repeaters by B. Tyler Henry, the direct predecessor to the 1866 "Yellow Boy" Winchester was born. This weapon attained greatness almost immediatly after it was released to the public. Not only did it hold alot of shells for the day but the rapid fire capability made it stand-out. To put icing on the cake it was very accurate for at that time great distances. Unitsd of Civil War troops would pool their money and by them for replacement of their issue weapons. The Federal government having turned down buying these for their troops stating "they woud use to many rounds. The newly developed rimfire cartridge was used in this weapon in a .44 caliber. It had a 24" octagonal barrel and a 15 shot magazine. It is immediatly identifiable by the absence of a forearm. The first 300 of these produced had and iron frame with the remander being brass. They were produced from 1860 through about 1866 with the total production reaching about 14,000 rifles." This particular rifle has it's owners name, Lt. Wm. L. Shelton; 1st Arkansas Cavalry, engraved on it although as yet I haven't had a chance to hunt for records.