Hello:

Yesterday, the owner of an unaltered, original four-digit 56-56 1860 Spencer rifle, test shot it alongside me using smaller bullet, 56-50 rounds to learn relatve accuracy with the looser diameter bullet.

The 56-56's barrel has six lands and grooves, with its lands approx 2.4X wider than the narrower grooves.  Carefully measured twist is (repeatedly) 48".  Muzzle LAND OD is .540" and GROOVE OD is .554" for rifling depth at the muzzle of .007". A replacement center fire upper block was installed.
Trigger pull is around 8#, with a slight hitch.

The 56-50 rounds used old S&S, standard dim, salt bath annealed cases. The case OAL was 1.600", with 35gr 3Fg (US) Swiss, ACCURATE #51-320S .511" sized bullet in 30:1 alloy with SPG lube. Light crimp and loaded round OAL of 1.57".  These rounds cycled easily from the tube magazine.

Using a front bag rest at roughly 43 yards, and a 24" wide X 30" high cardboard target with 6" bull and the original, challenging issue sights:

All rounds fired and extracted easily with no splits.
The first shot from clean dry bore key-holed 90-degrees about 10" at 1:00 from bull center. Second shot 4" right of first shot half as key-holed. Next ten shots produced a 24" C-T-C  , scattered group surrounding the bull with either zero or barely yawed holes.

A 56-56 round was fired with a case full of 3F Swiss, which hit squarely in the aiming bull. 

The first lightly water wet patch pushed from chamber out the muzzle with coated flex rod had leading in the heavy fouling.

Our conclusion is that shooting the smaller diameter bullet 56-50 round in an issue 56-56 rifle might be combat accurate to 50 yards, with worse than "smoothbore" accuracy. At least we have some info vs conjecture.

Smiles,
El Supremo/Kevin Tinny

  Yessiree Bob

I think it wonderful any idiot with a smart phone can film and post video to U Tube.  Though it was marginally interesting.  The guy did show what we already knew.

  Hey RCJ

I actually don't consider Percussion Guns with Conversions Cylinders a consideration as "Entry Level".  I had and itch just the other day, to build another pair of conversions.  Was gonna make a pair of .38s.  I know, I already have 38s but it "was" and itch.  So I went shopping just 'cause.

Holy Krapola!!  In this day and age, doing conversions ain't atall cheap!!  By the time I finished pricing out a pair of Donor Guns, Kirst Konverters, Kirst Ejectors and a front sight, I was up to around Seventeen Hundred Bucks for the guns I wanted to do.  WOWZERS   Nope.  Not "Entry Level" atall.

Morning y'all.
Coffee and iced tea are ready.

'Tis 59 and overcast. "Cloudy. A chance of showers in the morning  then a chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the upper 70s. Light and variable wind becoming east around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of rain 50 percent."

Slim

Like 9245, I dug out my Lyman # 45 Reloading manual that I purchased in Dec 71 or Jan 72 when I began reloading the data is the same as what his 1980 Lyman Cast Bullet manual stated.  Mine also states "Loads in colored panels are maximum. These loads may be dangerous in your pistol, read preamble before using."  Venturino's pet load for 44-40 is the 205 over 6.8 gr of 231.  Excuse the spelling. I had a friend over in East Texas that made some really hot loads using 2400 in a 92. These read over the coronagraph about like a .44 Mag.
T-Joe
 

Good late morning folks. Well we survived the company, it was great having them here but it is nice just having a quiet house too. Roger, you guys get well quick. 78 here right now supposed to hit 88 and cloudy. Low chance of rain the next few days but temps in the 90s. Had a monsoon here Sunday night, washed a bunch of gravel from the parking area into the driveway so spent about an hour last night shoveling it back to where it belongs. The rain has been so heavy here the whole area is seeing snakes flushed out of their dens, so we have nearly sold out of snakeshot at work. Anyway I think I am gonna make another pot of coffee.

Awesome!

Quote from: River City John on June 16, 2025, 11:37:18 AMOH MY GOD! Jeremiah, say it aint so!
There are enough miniature wargamers out there that I would have thought selling them to eager consumers with handfuls of cash smokin' their pockets would have gotten you more. Then that could have been applied to reloading stuff . . .

All the ones around here want to play Warhammer or such.  There is no interest in Ancients or Rennaissance.

Thanks, Slim taking meds and staying cool.

Had no choice to go to Walgreens Drive thru for prescription refill due today.
Did not go in or see anyone except through glass.

Cat is hanging out with me, showing affection     

Quote from: RoyceP on Yesterday at 08:45:58 AMI would say the AI failed miserably. Unique is a powder I am familiar with and I have a lot of it. 6 grains behind a 200 grain lead projectile works great in my short barreled 44 WCF handguns. The load suggested by AI is unsafe and really sort of ridiculous.

For rifles a load of 4227 seems to work better. Consult the Hodgdon website for particulars.

I thought the same thing but just for kicks I checked an old copy of the Lyman cast bullet handbook (3rd edition, 1980) and found that for rifles one of the loads listed was Unique with a starting load of 8 grains and a max load of 10.5, and for revolvers it lists Unique with a starting load of 6 grains and a max load of 10.9.  The rifle velocity was listed as 1090 minimum and 1355 maximum and the revolver velocity was listed as 750 minimum and 1096 maximum, albeit from a 7.5 inch barrel, both loads used the same bullet, although they specified Lyman #2 alloy which casts at 205 grains vs. 220, so it might not be that far off.