Winchester is famous for manufacturing the Winchester repeating rifle which became of the most used firearms in the West. He was a keen businessman who purchased a division of Smith & Wesson firearms with the patent to the Volcanic repeating rifle. One of his engineers, Benjamin Henry, improved the rifle design into what became known as the Henry rifle. The repeating rifle saw service in the Civil War, but its successor evolved into the highly successful Model 1866 Winchester rifle. This gun and the following models were known as “the gun that won the West”. The Winchester rifle is perhaps one of the most famous weapons used throughout the frontier era in the United States.