spencer repeating rifle

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The War Department was directed to order the Spencer repeating rifle, and by war's end some 230,000 had been produced, initially by Spencer and later by the Burnside Rifle Company in Providence, RI. Available charged with either Hodgdon Triple Seven or black powder and a 350-grain lead bullet, it's really great stuff and functions perfectly in my carbine. 56 straight copper case which measured .56 at the top and bottom of the casing, hence the oft times used designation of 56/56 cal. The Spencer Rifle proved one of the earlier successful forms of a repeating rifle anywhere in the world, solidifying Christopher Spencer's piece in the annals of firearms history. It offers... A tribute to the last NYPD officer to leave the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Raising the lever chambered the round. Also, the centerfire block has a floating firing pin, so it is not necessary to halfcock the gun when operating it — though I do it anyway out of tradition. Lincoln kept the rifle, and the next day he took his secretary, John Hay, out for another shooting session, during which Hay described the Spencer as "a wonderful gun, loading with absolutely contemptible simplicity and ease with seven balls and firing the whole readily and deliberately in less than half a minute.". Recoil is very light, and the overall experience is wonderful. The 56-56 spencer was a folded head rimfire, and though pushed a 350-grain bullet at about 1,200 fps the .550-inch diameter bullets was still a relatively short-range cartridge and limited to about 150 yards maybe 200 yards maximum. The Spencer repeating rifle was a manually operated lever-action, repeating rifle fed from a tube magazine with cartridges. Born in 1833, after serving his initial apprenticeship as a mechanic at the Cheney Brothers silk manufacturing company, Spencer moved on to other venues, including a short stint at Colt, where he was employed designing revolver-fabricating machinery. Spencers have become so en vogue, in fact, that reproductions of them are offered by a number of companies, chambered for such things as .56-50, .45 Colt and .44-40. It was adopted by the Union Army, especially by the cavalry, during the American Civil War, but did not replace the standard issue muzzle-loading rifled muskets in use at the time. Still, by mid-1861 Spencer had demonstrated his rifle to a trials board at the Washington Navy Yard, after which the Navy Department put in an order for 700 Spencer rifles (and bayonets), a figure that for production-cost purposes Spencer himself upped by another 300. Its inventor, Christopher Spencer, was a native of Connecticut and a former employee of Samuel Colt. scarce civil war spencer .52 caliber repeating army rifle ca. They were issued to troops of the 5th Michigan Calvary at Gettysburg commanded by George Custer. Breechloading carbines such as the .52 Sharps performed similarly. Detractors would also complain that the amount of smoke produced was such that it was hard to see the enemy.[11]. The Spencer repeating rifle company had difficulty meeting its deadlines for several reasons. Once you get a feel for these things, the operation goes smoothly. [9] As the war progressed, Spencers were carried by a number of Union cavalry and mounted infantry regiments and provided the Union army with additional firepower versus their Confederate counterparts. This rifle is manufactured by Armi Sport in Italy. Lured back to Cheney Brothers with the offer of a job as superintendent, in between his silk ribbon-manufacturing chores he turned his attentions to designing a repeating firearm. Later, many rifles and carbines were converted to centerfire, which could fire cartridges made from the centerfire .50-70 brass. A spring-loaded follower tube was then pressed into the tube and locked in place. Originally made by Spencer Repeating Rifle Company, Boston, MA, with some production subcontracted by Burnside Rifle Company, Providence, Rhode Island. Now all one had to do was cock the hammer, aim and fire. I must admit that there is a sort of rhythm to operating the gun properly. The Spencer Repeating Rifles and Carbines were early American lever action firearms invented by Christopher Spencer. Engineer Christopher Miner Spencer was one of those 19th century Yankee polymaths who was responsible for a huge number of different, fascinating contrivances. Shooters have told me they can be dropped in easily, though it has been my experience that some handwork is required. The new assembly in no way affects the originality of the piece, and the original parts can be reinstalled at any time. Some 3,000 Model 1867 and 2,500 New Models (1868) were also produced, featuring a Spencer patented cutoff on top of the receiver. The Spencer was the world's first military metallic cartridge repeating rifle, and over 200,000 examples were manufactured in the United States by the Spencer Repeating Rifle Co. and Burnside Rifle Co. between 1860 and 1869. And in the pursuit of Lee, until he escaped across the Potomac, those regiments were constantly upon his heels€¦". The Spencer's sighting arrangement consists of a simple blade front and a ladder rear sight (below). These guns were such hot items that virtually all delivered before the cessation of hostilities saw use, so today it is unusual to find a wartime Spencer in pristine condition. Next, the shooter put the hammer on halfcock and lowered the lever to allow a cartridge to be pushed into position by the follower. The design was completed by Christopher Spencer in 1860, and was for a magazine-fed, lever-operated rifle chambered for the .56-56 Spencer rimfire cartridge. The kneeling man fires at the enemy, as the man standing behind him feeds a new cartridge into the chamber, At first, conservatism from the Department of War delayed its introduction to service. With standard battle sights, the carbine fires extremely high (I can adjust this by fiddling around with the rear ladder slide), but groups are phenomenal: 100-yarders regularly come in at three inches or less, and that's about as good as I can shoot with any Civil War-vintage arm. There is even a good case to be made for the Spencer repeating rifle being responsible, in some part, for General George Gordon Meade's victory over Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg, where, according to a period account, "The daring and dashing feats of the 5th and 7th Michigan cavalry [armed with Spencers], under the lead of the intrepid [Custer], have become historic. It speeded up loading time a good degree, but soldiers complained of the boxes being somewhat cumbersome. Deciding to go to the top, on August 18, 1863, he made an appointment with President Abraham Lincoln, taking one of his rifles and some ammunition to the Executive Mansion for a personal demonstration — according to Spencer's own reminiscence. For comparison's sake, the standard .58-caliber Springfield, firing a 500-grain bullet backed by 60 grains of powder, produced a muzzle velocity of 950 fps and a muzzle energy of 1,000 ft-lbs. Recently, I picked up an original Springfield .56-52 refurbished carbine in quite good condition (the bore is perfect). One dropped a number of cartridges, nose-first, into the magazine. But it was the Spencer repeating rifle that really established his name in the pantheon of American inventors. The chosen caliber, and the one that would remain constant throughout the war, was .56-56, a round that fired a 350-grain .540- to .555-diameter (depending on the manufacturer) bullet backed by some 45 grains of black powder to give a muzzle velocity of some 1,200 fps and a muzzle energy of 1,125 ft-lbs. Notable early instances of use included the Battle of Hoover's Gap (where Col. John T. Wilder's "Lightning Brigade" effectively demonstrated the firepower of repeaters), and the Gettysburg Campaign, where two regiments of the Michigan Brigade (under Brig. To load the carbine, the user only had to remove the follower, pull a charged tube from his Blakeslee box and dump the rounds into the magazine. A manufactory was soon established at Cheney's, and Spencer's arms company was in operation. The first was difficulty in obtaining or creating new machinery. Despite the fact that the Spencer company went out of business in 1869, ammunition was sold in the United States up to about the 1920s. The Spencer showed itself to be very reliable under combat conditions, with a sustainable rate-of-fire in excess of 20 rounds per minute. Jeremy Stafford traveled to Gunsite Academy to compare the speed of stock sights against express, three-dot, suppressor-height and red dot sights. The rifle was borrowed from the Navy Department and was fired in the "White Lot." Spencer repeating rifle From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Spencer 1860 Spencer Repeating Rifle Type Lever Action Rifle Place of origin United States Service history Used by United States Army United States Navy Confederate States of America Siam Japan Empire of Brazil Wars American Civil War Indian Wars Boshin War Paraguayan War Franco-Prussian War Production history Designer Christopher […] (As an aside, excellent reproductions of the three models of Blakeslee boxes are offered by, The Spencer repeating rifle lives on, its popularity spurred considerably by the gun's appearance in Clint Eastwood's film, Being the Luddite that I am, while I appreciate the quality, availability and lower prices of reproduction arms, I do like to shoot my period pieces now and then to get a feel for the real article. Cheney Brothers generously allowed him to use its workshop during his off hours. The 13-tube model, when fully loaded, weighed over nine pounds — more than the carbine itself. It is unlike any other rifle on the market because it offers features no one else does; those looking for a rifle that fits like a custom-made firearm should look no further than the Benelli Lupo. Total carbines and rifles were approximately 144,500. Design work on the rifle began in the late 1850s, development culminating in 1859. You can certainly see why it was the most sought-after firearm of the Civil War and why it was so popular with troopers in the West. Enforced fire discipline: The Stabler cutoff consists of a small lever in front of the trigger, which turns the Spencer into a single-shot, with the loaded tubular magazine in reserve. In early 1864, Arizona pioneer and Colonel King S. Woolsey borrowed a Spencer repeating rifle from then-Territorial Governor John Goodwin for an expedition against a band of Apaches. I've run several hundred rounds though my Spencer repeating rifle, and the gun functions extremely well, with few hang-ups or failures to eject. Though Spencer's repeating rifle was now being seen on the battlefield in some numbers, the large government contract that he had sought was still elusive. Glowing reports came in from the field. The Spencer carbine was a shorter and lighter version. Once that is mastered, however, it's a real gem. Christopher Miner Spencer was one of those 19th century Edisonian inventors who could successfully turn his hand at just about whatever caught his fancy at the time. For Spencer, the timing could not have been better. With the start of the Civil War, Spencer quickly moved into gear, attempting to interest military authorities in his repeating rifle. After waiting for invitee Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton — who was ultimately a no-show, saying he was to busy to attend ("They do pretty much as they have a mind to over there," quipped Lincoln) — they put the Spencer repeating rifle through its paces. The Spencer repeating rifle lives on, its popularity spurred considerably by the gun's appearance in Clint Eastwood's film The Unforgiven and its use by Civil War reenactors and Cowboy Action shooters. The Spencer Rifle was invented by Christopher Spencer who established the Spencer Repeating Rifle Company in Boston, Massachusetts in 1860. This effectively turned the carbine into a single-shot, the other seven cartridges being kept in the magazine in reserve — a device to warm the cockles of any penurious ordnance officer's heart. Spencers have become so en vogue, in fact, that reproductions of them are offered by a number of companies, chambered for such things as .56-50, .45 Colt and .44-40. In this segment of “At The Range,” Handgunning Editor Jeremy Stafford and contributor Patrick Sweeney compare the visibility of red and green lasers in outdoor, sunny conditions. 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