In October 1860 B.T. Henry was granted a patent for the design of a new gun using metallic cartridges. The novelty was so important that the new gun was named Henry and the cartridges bore his marking "H" as the inventor. This was the first true repeating rifle to be made in the history of firearms, one man could load 15 cartridges in eight to ten seconds with this rifle, which was equivalent of having fifteen men manned with traditional firearms.