Training and discipline - coupled with experienced leadership on the ground make the difference..
Custer's scared, green troopers had none of that, and when everything suddenly exploded all around them, they were overwhelmed, as inexperienced soldiers often are.
Since this is one of those 'What If' threads that everyone's so fond of - they could 'all' have had Henrys, Spencers, Winchesters and a Gatling or three, and they would still have fallen, because 'terror' would have caused them to give up their positions and seek shelter and safety with the larger force.
Nowhere before or since would the Frontier Army encounter the number of Indians all in one place and ready to dance, but dance they did at the Greasy Grass, and Custer's men weren't ready for that, by a long shot.
But think on this:
What if they'd been Custer's Civil War Cavalry command - the Michigan Wolverines?
Those boys were well-disciplined, battle-tested and battle-hardened - experienced killers with good Non-Coms and Company-Grades, and were under the command of a man they trusted.
Those were men that knew their trade of killing - led by the men who'd trained them.
Given like numbers, they'd have given enough of an accounting of themselves that the battle would have just been another of the many battles comprising the Indian Wars.
Taking a look at actual forensic evidence as gathered during the archaeological finds, you'll see:
Forehand & Wadsworth .32 Rimfire
Colt .36
Colt .38
Sharps .40 -.45 and .50
Ethan Allen or Forehand & Wadsworth .42
S&W American .44
Evans Old model .44
Henry .44
200-gr .44
Miscellaneous and Unknown .40
Winchester .44-40
Colt and S&W .45
Springfield .45-55
.45 Unidentified
Spencer
Unidentified .50 rimfire
Springfield .50-70
Maynard
Miscellaneous and Unidentified .50
Starr
Enfield
Round Ball - .44, .45, .50
Shot
No identifiable Webley rounds were found.
The above are attributal to all of the sites investigated.
More on this is found in 'Archaeological Perspectives on the Battle of the Little Big Horn' - by Scott, Fox, Connor and Harmon.
It's the record of the digs conducted across the battlefield after the grass fires of August 1983 stripped off all of the thatch and underbrush of the site - and the follow-on 1984-85 dgging season that completely covered the area.
This is the print version of what you've seen on 'The History Channel', and it goes into great depth, as archaeological work does - yet it's compelling...
Scouts Out!