In the late 1860s, the Spencer company was sold to the Fogerty Rifle Company and ultimately to Winchester. Detractors would also complain that the amount of smoke produced was such that it was hard to see the enemy. Similarly, the supply chain was not equipped to carry the extra ammunition. However, effective tactics had yet to be developed to take advantage of the higher rate of fire. Compared to standard muzzle-loaders, with a rate of fire of 2–3 rounds per minute, this represented a significant tactical advantage.

The Spencer showed itself to be very reliable under combat conditions, with a sustainable rate-of-fire in excess of 20 rounds per minute. President Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth was armed with a Spencer carbine at the time he was captured and killed. 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. George Armstrong Custer) carried them at the Battle of Hanover and at East Cavalry Field. Wilder's 'Lightning Brigade' effectively demonstrated the firepower of repeaters), and the Gettysburg Campaign, where two regiments of the Michigan Brigade (under Brig. Notable early instances of use included the Battle of Hoover's Gap (where Col. The South occasionally captured some of these weapons and ammunition, but, as they were unable to manufacture the cartridges because of shortages of copper, their ability to take advantage of the weapons was limited. The Spencer repeating rifle was first adopted by the United States Navy, and subsequently adopted by the United States Army and used during the American Civil War where it was a popular weapon. Lincoln was impressed with the weapon, and ordered that it be adopted for production. However, Christopher Spencer was eventually able to gain an audience with President Abraham Lincoln, who subsequently invited him to a shooting match and demonstration of the weapon. The kneeling man fires at the enemy, as the man standing behind him feeds a new cartridge into the chamberĪt first, conservatism from the Department of War delayed its introduction to service. 45-70.Īlfred Waud painting showing men of the 1st Maine Cavalry with Spencer carbines during the battle of Middleburg. 58 caliber rifled musket of the time, was underpowered by the standards of other early cartridges such as the. 56-56 cartridge, which, while about as powerful as the. Cartridge length was limited by the action size to about 1.75 inches, and the later calibers used a smaller diameter, lighter bullet and larger powder charge to increase the power and range over the original. 56-46 versions of the cartridge created, which were necked down versions of the original. When empty, the tube could be rapidly loaded either by dropping in fresh cartridges or from a device called the Blakeslee Cartridge Box, which contained up to thirteen (also six and ten) tubes with seven cartridges each, which could be emptied into the magazine tube in the buttstock. The weapon used rimfire cartridges stored in a seven-round tube magazine, enabling the rounds to be fired one after another. Like the Springfield Model 1873 Trapdoor Rifle, the hammer had to be manually cocked in a separate action. To use the Spencer, a lever had to be worked to extract the used case and feed a new cartridge from the tube. Cartridges were loaded with 45 grains (2.9 g) of black powder.ĭiagram of the Spencer rifle showing the magazine in the butt

Unlike later cartridge designations, the first number referred to the diameter of the case ahead of the rim, while the second number referred to the diameter at the mouth the actual bullet diameter was. The design was completed by Christopher Spencer in 1860, and was for a magazine-fed, lever-operated rifle chambered for the. The Spencer carbine was a shorter and lighter version. 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. The Spencer repeating rifle was a manually operated lever-action, repeating rifle fed from a tube magazine with cartridges. Spencer company, Burnside Rifle Co, WinchesterĤ7 inches (1,200 mm) rifle with 30 inch barrelģ9.25 inches (997 mm) carbine with 22 inch barrel

Serial number spencer 1865