Spencer 1865 in 56-50 caliber

[Randy F]

A shop near me has this old Spencer 56-50 cal rifle that I thought was interesting. I saw one many years ago but forgot about them until I saw this. I did not realize they hold 7 rounds.

It tripped my trigger so to speak, and wondered what others here might know about them. I'm not in the market for it as I'm gawking around for a .375 H&H, but if anyone is interested at the mere low low price of $6,000 you can PM me and I will give you the contact info.

 

[Bullthrower338]

Very cool carbine! There was one that just went through an auction I was watching, sale price was just north of 2k but it wasn’t near as nice as this one.

 

[Randy F]

Very cool carbine! There was one that just went through an auction I was watching, sale price was just north of 2k but it wasn’t near as nice as this one.

Yeah wondered how “ballpark” the price is. Kind of intrigued by it. I’m sure someone ( @Redleg ) knows some history on these.

 

[Red Leg]

I have the same carbine. The Confederates joked it was the gun that was "loaded on Monday and fired all week." In 1863, Lincoln took a direct hand in getting the carbine approved through the typical conservative military bureaucracy, and Federal cavalry units (among them Custer's) used it with great success for the remainder of the war.

The Spencer was also very reliable for the period and could maintain a rate of fire of 20 rounds a minute compared to 2-3 rounds for the muzzle loading Springfield or Enfield. It also essentially had waterproof ammunition which was another huge advantage over the paper cartridges used in the rifled muskets of regular infantry. It used a tubular magazine that loaded through the butt just like a modern Browning .22 (not much truly new in firearms' design that those fellows hadn't solved a long time ago).

After the war , the cavalry was forced to take a step back and adopt the carbine length, single shot trapdoor carbine. However the Spencer soldiered on in the hands of settlers headed west and in the hands of indigenous tribes who employed quite a few against the trapdoor armed cavalry at places like Little Big Horn. You can see one in use in Eastwood's great movie "Unforgiven."

Spencer with magazine removed.

There were a number of other successful cavalry carbines as well. One of the better ones was the Joslyn. It was single shot, employing a rotating chamber closing mechanism. The designer cleverly decided to chamber it in the Spencer cartridge.

But the best was the Spencer. And yes, one in good shape with some casecolor left on the action, can be pretty expensive.

 

[Randy F]

I have the same carbine. The Confederates joked it the gun that was "loaded on Monday and fired all week." In 1863, Lincoln took a direct hand in getting the carbine approved through the typical conservative military bureaucracy, and Federal cavalry units (among them Custer's) used it with great success for the remainder of the war.

The Spencer was also very reliable for the period and could maintain a rate of fire of 20 rounds a minute compared to 2-3 rounds for the muzzle loading Springfield or Enfield. It also essentially had waterproof ammunition which was another huge advantage over the paper cartridges used in the rifled muskets of regular infantry. It used a tubular magazine that loaded through the butt just like a modern Browning .22 (not much truly new in firearms' design that those fellows hadn't solved a long time ago).

After the war , the cavalry was forced to take a step back and adopt the carbine length, single shot trapdoor carbine. However the Spencer soldiered on in the hands of settlers headed west and in the hands of indigenous tribes who employed quite a few against the trapdoor armed cavalry at places like Little Big Horn. You can see one in use in Eastwood's great movie "Unforgiven."

Spencer with magazine removed.
View attachment 400644

View attachment 400645

There were a number of other successful cavalry carbines as well. One of the better ones was the Joslyn. It was single shot, employing a rotating chamber closing mechanism. The designer cleverly decided to chamber it in the Spencer cartridge.

View attachment 400646

View attachment 400647

But the best was the Spencer. And yes, one in good shape with some casecolor left on the action, can be pretty expensive.

I knew it!

Thanks for that. Really interesting info and very nice rifles!

What was the effective range?

 

[Red Leg]

I knew it!

Thanks for that. Really interesting info and very nice rifles!

What was the effective range?

350 gr bullet at 1200 fps. Serious aimed fired was a practical 150 yards - firing at a mass of troops attacking would have been nearly 400 yards.

 

[mark-hunter]

This was trully advanced design for its time. (while most of the armies in the world still fielded some type of muzzle loaders, or single shot breech loaders at best).

 

[Red Leg]

This was trully advanced design for its time. (while most of the armies in the world still fielded some type of muzzle loaders, or single shot breech loaders at best).

It has an interesting transitional action. Upon firing, the soldier manually brought the hammer to half cock; then the lever (trigger guard) was worked ejecting the fired round and loading the next from the magazine; the rifle then would be brought manually to full cock and fired. To further increase firepower, many troopers were issued a Blakeslee Cartridge Box that held 14 seven shot magazines for the Spencer.

A dismounted Federal cavalry unit, when so armed, could generate overwhelming firepower against rifled musket armed infantry.

 

[mark-hunter]

Thanks @Red Leg, for your input!

 

[Randy F]

350 gr bullet at 1200 fps. Serious aimed fired was a practical 150 yards - firing at a mass of troops attacking would have been nearly 400 yards.

I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of one of those.