When they discover the contraband Winchesters in Meecham's custody, instead of destroying them, why didn't they just confiscate them to use at the fort? Seems like a major waste of good weaponry to just destroy them, considering it appeared most were armed with single-shot rifles. Face it, in a big firefight, a repeater like the Winchester would be a major deal breaker!
Any thoughts?
Same reason if today's cops raid a house and find a cache of uzis they wouldn't just start using them as their issue-weapon.
Repeating rifles were very effective weapons, but they also were not a weapon used by the US Army. Soldiers had to use Army issue weapons and ammunition, even if they were inferior in certain situations to other armament of the day.
Also, I'm only an enthusiast, but I would suspect that the Army's long guns were a lot more accurate (and deadly) at long-range than a Winchester repeater.
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