.45 Schofield Spencer help

[Capnball]

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Hello all,

As this is my first post on either CAS or SSS, I'll introduce myself. My name is Jordan Goodwin, AKA Capnball on the CWRF and N-SSA forums. I'm an ACW reenactor, and avid firearms enthusiast and shooter. I do not have a Spencer yet, but have been in love with it for a very long time. Now, I finally have a little bit of money to spend, want a repeater for both reenacting and live firing, and was planning to get an 1860 Henry, but would much rather have a Spencer. I have found one in .45 S&W Schofield for $880 shipped, but before I jump on it, I'm wondering: I've been warned against the .45 S&W because of ejection problems. What all kind of problems does the carbine in this caliber have, and how hard are they to fix? Someone said that stoning the ejectors will help or nearly eliminate the problem. Is there anything to that? Also, does anyone know anything about loading your own .45 S&W blanks that will feed in the Spencer? I've heard you can use .45 LC brass, star crimped. What about that? Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot!

[Capnball]

Well, ya snooze, ya loose, I guess. Looks like I probably wont get it. BUT PLEASE, any info would still be greatly appreciated, as I might run across another one........ If anybody's got a good Spencer in .44-40, .45 LC., or .56-50 that they'd give me a good deal on, let me know I want one so bad, I can taste it, and I find myself working an imaginary lever and hammer

[Two Flints]

Capnball,

For both reenacting and live firing you might consider the reproduction 56-50, as one of our members has come up with a pretty darn nice blank to shoot.  You may just want to look around SSS and maybe that will help you to make a final decision on which caliber to buy.  I suggest that you look at the SORI thread which deals with all types of loading and ejection issues of the Spencer in different calibers.

FWIW, my 45 Spencer Schofield ejects just fine.

Two Flints

[bluesuit01]

I've had a .45 Schofield for years. Never had ejection problems with live rounds, or blanks either. I make my blanks from .44 magnum brass, which is the same length as a loaded .45 round. I had a custom die made which forms the case mouth into the same shape as a round nose, flat point bullet. They feed right through like live rounds.

[Capnball]

Thanks for the info, guys! Man, I wish I had not hesitated!!! I should have bought the .45 S&W while I had the chance. Oh well.
As far as which caliber I want, I'd take any good deal on a .45 LC, .45 Schofield, .44 WCF, or .56-50 SRC chamberings, preferring .44-40 or .56-50.

[Drydock]

The only Spencer that  had any significant problems was the .44 Russian.  That round was simply too small for the action, and was discontinued early on in production, and is considered the one to avoid, unless you know a good gunsmith that can make the modifications needed.  Any of the others will serve you well.

[wild willi]

I have one it had a broken ejector when I got it.  I got some new ejectors and noticed they all had a little burr on them, I had to take a dremmer and just give it a hair off.  Now this was not on the area that touches the cartridge, but where it mounted in the gun.  I do not remember which side it is, but there is a right ejector and a left ejector and it is only on the one side I bought several pairs incase I need one down the road and every pair was the same!

[Herbert]

For any one with the twin extractor blades it is a very good idea to bevel the inside face of the right extractor blad stem,this will stop it catching the nose of the bullet being fed and smooth up feeding,I did this to my 44 Rusian and it now will feed very smoothly even with Keith style bullets