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Dave Fox
12-05-2010, 04:29 PM
I apologize in advance for the length and multitude of questions to follow. After decades of hemming and hawing, I bought a tight, usable .56-56 Spencer carbine at the Franklin, Tennessee show yesterday. I want to shoot it, rock and gongbusting. I'm a reloader and have read a 1996 Tony Beck article on Spencers, the latest and most detailed I could find on the 'net. I know where to get the centre-fire block. Questions for M.1860 Spencer shooters: Is properly trimmed .50-70 brass ready-usable in the .56-56 now available? If not, where can I find a proper case trim die? I've picked-up Rapine has closed. His old number is disconnected. What bullet mould from what provider is suggested? Could the .556 Rapine I have for my Burnside be swaged to, say, .553, and function? Need useful tips to crank this piece up!

K. Herrick
12-05-2010, 07:38 PM
I shoot a 56-50 Original Spencer and have had good luck with the following sutlers. Cases thru Stephen Potier 317-462-2314 Moulds thru Old West Bullet Moulds 970-858-1149
Hope these help you.

Kevin

R. McAuley 3014V
12-05-2010, 08:16 PM
I apologize in advance for the length and multitude of questions to follow. After decades of hemming and hawing, I bought a tight, usable .56-56 Spencer carbine at the Franklin, Tennessee show yesterday. I want to shoot it, rock and gongbusting. I'm a reloader and have read a 1996 Tony Beck article on Spencers, the latest and most detailed I could find on the 'net. I know where to get the centre-fire block. Questions for M.1860 Spencer shooters: Is properly trimmed .50-70 brass ready-usable in the .56-56 now available? If not, where can I find a proper case trim die? I've picked-up Rapine has closed. His old number is disconnected. What bullet mould from what provider is suggested? Could the .556 Rapine I have for my Burnside be swaged to, say, .553, and function? Need useful tips to crank this piece up!

I shoot an original 1860 Spencer Rifle (3-band) rebarreled by Larry Romano in .56-50. Unless you intend to rebarrel your Spencer (Larry does a great job), you'll find that the rims of the Starline brass is too small and your extractor may not extract them. The .56-56 Spencer cases cut down from .50-70 brass have a larger diameter rim and a rim thickness closer matching to the original Spencer headspace. Buffalo Arms offers both .56-56 and .56-50 brass for original Spencers made from .50-70 brass. They also sell the 4D 3-die .56-56 reloading die set ($109.59), but you'll have to search around for the Rapine .535375 healed (shouldered) bullet mould. If you should elect to change to the .56-50 Larry Romano offers a 395-gr .50 caliber Spencer-Maynard bullet mould for about $150 that works very, very nicely. If you cannot find everything you're seeking, let me know. I have both the Rapine .535375 healed mould and .56-56 4D die set, together with 20 rounds loaded (25 empty cases) all from .50-70 that had I been at Franklin would have been on my sales table. If you should come to the show at Dalton (Chickamauga), I might still have them there?

http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/4,721.html

Dave Fox
12-05-2010, 08:52 PM
Thanks Kevin. And Mr. McAuley, you interest me strangely! Could you provide your e-mail or contact me at judgefox@ioa.com? Your possible offer of a mould, brass, and dies in .56-50 is most interesting. Thanks.

Eggman
12-06-2010, 11:01 AM
Looks like you have plenty of up to date advice here. Just a couple of additional comments, seems I got my best center fire brass from an outfit in Cody, WY, not sure of the name but Buffalo may be it. I still ended up shortening the cases a bit, about one-eighth inch, for better feeding with the bullet I use. My Spencer (Nubby) is/was a "beater" with sewer pipe barrel so got it relined by Hoyt to a .50 cal. It is a tack driver which is about par for the course for Hoyt. I think it cost about $140 to reline it about eight years ago. You must expect to wait a while for delivery from Hoyt. You know you can shoot the Spencer in rimfire mode with cases from Dixie.

Dave Fox
12-06-2010, 03:18 PM
Thanks, Eggman. Between Mr. Herrick and Mr. McAuley I'm pretty-much fixed up. And Hoyt's a gem: he's lined a .69 rifled musketoon, an M.1855 pistol-carbine, an M.1863 Springfield rifle-musket, and a Mississippi for me.

AMB
12-13-2010, 09:21 PM
Head over to the Spencer Shooters Society over at http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php?board=35.0

You will find a lot of information on loading and shooting 56-56, from me (Tony Beck) and many others. Start with the FAQ area and then feel free to post questions. You can make cases from 50-70s. Often the rims need to be turned down a little (0.67" to 0.65"), but more recent runs seem to made with slightly smaller rims and work without modification. 56-56 is not as easy to reload as 56-50, since it has a heeled bullet, but with a set of CH-4D dies (Buffalo Arms) and some practice you will have no trouble. Don't trim down the 56-50 cases made for Armi-Sports, or make cases from 348 Winchesters, the rims are just barely too small and they won't extract reliably. They work OK for individuals if you have to use them, but not in a match.

devisser
01-18-2011, 03:54 PM
I shoot a Spencer Carbine that was in the first 1,000 shipped in October 1863. It was converted to 50 cal in the 1870's. I converted it to center fired in the early 200'S. It is slow, a pain in the butt.....................But it is fun to shoot. (from the bench it shoots a 2" group). Everyone tell me to switch to a Henry. No fun as I want to get my full time on the line since I paid for the event I might as well enjoy it.