My 1896 highwall .38-40 also is a self-cocking action; you have to let the hammer down onto the half-cock once it's loaded if you need a "safety."

My impression was that the automatic half-cock actions were a later development and that the original Browning rifles and most of the 19th century Win 1885s cocked automatically. That was a great advantage for anybody using the rifle for anything but target shooting--am I wrong about that?