Spencer 56-50 ammo.

[Joe Heatwole 8174v]

I bought a M1865 Spencer carbine (4 digit ser.#) at the antique arms show in Baltimore a couple of years ago. It was in pretty poor condition. The butt stock did not fit and the forend, which I believe to be the original, was in very poor condition. It had a frontier conversion to centerfire that was very poor. The firing pin looked look about an 8d nail and if the gun was cocked and the muzzle pointed up, the firing pin would fall out. I have replaced the stock and forend with blanks from Dunlap and installed a S&S breach block. The gun is ready to fire. The bore is rough and slugs .521". I'm looking for info on making ammo. There seems to be a lot of poor info out there so I'll ask here where I know the info is good. Should I use starline brass or cut down 50-70? I saw a post on another site that said the starline brass with not work in an original Spencer. Also, what bullet should I use? Spencers are new to me. I have never fired one and look forward to shooting this one. The bore is rough but I would like to shoot it before I have it relined since it is original. I would like to keep the gun as much original as possible. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You

[mgmradio]

Cut down Starline 50-70 brass will work in original 56-50 Spencer?s. I use the Buffalo Arms 56-50 bullet mould for my Spencer?s . It works well and is very accurate and drops from the mould a .520. Most original 56-50 Spencer?s bore will mic out at .518?.

[Carolina Reb]

There are two Starline cases. One is for the repros and one for originals. The repros are based on 8mm Lebel/348 Winchester case rim dimensions, which are smaller and won't extract in originals. Starline 50-70 case rims are the correct diameter for originals, so the safe bet is to cut them down to 56-56 length if you can't find the Spencer cases that are made for originals. There is a lot of good reloading info on the CAS City Spencer forum.

[Kevin Tinny]

Hello, Joe:

There have been at least two SKIRMISH LINE articles with loading info for the 1865 Spencer in 56-50:

Sept-Oct, 1996.
"Spencer Repeaters Some History and Shooting Tips" by A. M. Beck.

Winter 2019.
"Shooting the Spencer in Team Competition" by Kevin Herrick and Barry Isaacs.

These might be helpful.

Tony Beck emailed me a copy of his article, and I can send that to you if you PM me contact info.

One question, please:

You mention bore diameter of .521".
Is that diameter for the LANDS or GROOVES?

All the best,
Kevin Tinny

[Joe Heatwole 8174v]

Thank everyone for your responses. There is a lot of good info there. I guess I will have to get some 50-70 brass and cut it down. How are you cutting it down? That would be a lot of cutting for a case trimmer. Like I said, this is new to me. Also the first stock I ever made so this has been quite the experience. Enjoying it very much in the winter weather.

[Joe Heatwole 8174v]

Kevin, sent you a pm.

[Kevin Tinny]

Thanks, Joe:
Responded earlier via your email address.
Will send article by Tony Beck to your email tomorrow.
All the best.
Kevin

[Dave Fox]

Access www.cascity.com and, in forums, scroll down to that devoted to Spencers. there's hours of reading there of practical Spencer shooting information.