What Guns Did The Plains Tribes Use?

In the 1800s, Native Plains tribes began to incorporate firearms into their traditional warfare and hunting practices, dramatically changing the dynamics of tribal life, intertribal conflict, and resistance against encroaching settlers and soldiers. While bows remained vital due to their silence, speed, and availability, firearms added a deadly new edge to Plains warfare—especially once tribes became adept at acquiring, maintaining, and modifying them.

The earliest firearms that made their way to the Plains were trade muskets, often acquired from French, British, or American traders in exchange for hides, horses, or captives. These early smoothbore flintlocks—such as the Northwest Trade Gun—were long-barreled, single-shot weapons with simple brass fittings and a serpent-shaped side plate. Designed for rugged use, they fired lead balls and black powder. Although inaccurate beyond close range and slow to reload, these muskets were highly valued by Plains warriors for their power and psychological impact.

As the century progressed and trade expanded through the Santa Fe Trail, Missouri River routes, and trading posts like Bent’s Fort, tribes gained access to more advanced weapons. By the mid-1800s, percussion cap rifles began to replace flintlocks. These newer guns were more reliable in wet conditions and had a slightly faster ignition system. The Hawken rifle, a muzzleloading percussion gun made in St. Louis, became a prized possession among buffalo hunters and warriors alike for its power and accuracy.

However, it wasn’t until the post-Civil War period that the real transformation occurred. The introduction of repeating firearms—especially lever-action rifles—ushered in a new era. The Henry rifle, and later the Winchester Model 1866 and Model 1873, became especially popular among warriors who could obtain them. Known to some tribes as “the gun that you could load on Sunday and shoot all week,” the Winchester’s ability to fire 15 or more shots without reloading gave its wielder a massive advantage over muzzleloading opponents.

These repeating rifles were often captured from settlers, scavenged from battlefields, or purchased through black market trade and corrupt agents. Some tribes, such as the Comanche, Sioux, and Cheyenne, even engaged in coordinated raids specifically to obtain guns and ammunition. However, maintaining firearms was difficult. Ammunition shortages were constant, and many warriors carried multiple guns or mixed bows with guns in battle. Some rifles were treasured family heirlooms, passed down through generations.

Tribes also used pistols, often Colt revolvers captured or traded. These were valued in close combat situations, such as ambushes or skirmishes at river crossings, but their short range and limited accuracy made them less useful in open plains warfare.

Firearms gave Plains tribes a critical edge in battles like the Fetterman Fight (1866) and Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876), where warriors like Crazy Horse and Gall used superior numbers and better arms to overwhelm U.S. forces. Yet even as guns became more widespread, they were always blended with traditional tactics—lightning-fast charges on horseback, encircling maneuvers, and hit-and-run ambushes.

For the Native tribes of the Great Plains, firearms were more than tools—they were symbols of adaptation, resistance, and the relentless will to survive in a rapidly changing world.

To learn more about the use of firearms by Native Tribes in the Old West, check out the HOKC video linked below!