Got the urge to pick up a Spencer. Found a new rifle for a good price on the internet. Chiappa 56-50, 1860 Rifle. I saw where Taylor's describes their's as an "1865" and wondered the difference. They are all made by Chiappa. So I called Taylor's and spoke to a nice fellow who said the parts listing for them are all the same. I guess there is no difference???
The rifle appears very well made. Nice color case on the receiver. Attractive wood that was nicely finished and well fitted. Other metal items were dark blued. Action operated smoothly. No complaints so far.
The rifle ( I prefer long barrels for competition use) arrived just before Christmas. I shoot several BPCR calibers but nothing that would transfer to the Spencer. That lead me on a Holiday quest to acquire brass, dies, casting mold, wads, etc. (lots of sales and free shipping!). Initially, I ordered a hundred "Spencer" bullets from BACO. Nice castings, but they were 0.520". I was able to load them, but I could tell the chamber was just able to swallow the bloated cases. I put in an order with Accurate Molds for one they make for the Spencer. 51-350S at the 0.515" catalog diameter. (came in five days!). I had slugged the bore and found it to be 0.512"-0.513". BACO had a 0.515" sizing/lube die I picked up. Using 20:1 alloy, I cast up a small lot that I sorted +/- one gr. for loading. Ran them through the sizer and lubed with Lyman Super Moly. My load was 19 gr. of BH209 primed with a Fed 215 and a 0.060 Walter Wad. OAL was 1.515"
An issue I had with the rifle out of the box was the trigger pull. Must have been 18-20#! I removed the lock and noticed the "hefty" sear spring. This I trimmed (thinned) so it just holds the sear in place. The trigger pull is now a nice, crisp 3#.
While the lock was apart, I became aware of the common assembly procedure used where the screws are left loose otherwise tightening them would cause the tumbler and sear to bind. The looseness was allowing the tumbler to wobble and when the hammer screw was tightened (that was loose, too), it rubbed on the lock plate. So I "fitted" the sear, and relieved the bridle so with tight screws everything moved freely with no slop. That also kept the sear in steady alignment with the notch in the tumbler for a consistent trigger pull.
The sights were another matter. One reservation I had getting the rifle was the barrel mounted rear sight. My old eyes can't see them. So, I decided to use a trick I employed on a repro Trap Door rifle and made a peep aperture in the base of the sight ladder. 0.110" hole right on top of the pivot screw. Unless one looks very closely, it's not obvious.
My initial range session did not include the peep sight modification and I was relying on a bleary sight pictures, but managed reasonable results at 50 yds. I know this will be improved with the peep.
Now, trying to get the Spencer to "full-auto". My 1.515" loads would cycle from the feed tube singly okay, but loading two or more caused immediate jamming. I knew I was not too long and suspected internal doom with the feed system. After serious cogitating, I surmised the loads were "too" short. I noticed the round behind the jammed one had heavy nicks on the nose. What was happening was the too-short round trying to feed and be picked up by the breech block was allowing the following round to enter the action too far. Instead of the breech block rotating and feeding the rim of the chambering round, it was snagging the nose of the following round. I confirmed this by assembling several rounds at different OALs and testing to see which would cycle.
I ended up at 1.565" for a reliable OAL. As the instructions state, the action needs to operated with "vigor". I only made six dummies, but could get all of them through with no jams. Keep in mind this is with the 51-350S and other designs may require different OALs.
With the "rapid-fire" AOL determined, I may be able to up the powder charge a grain or two. If the weather permits, I'll run these past the Labradar and see how consistent the velocity is.
I have to admit, most of this was done in concert with this forum. The threads are a wealth of information.
There's a match this weekend and I hope to try the Spencer in "anger" at mounted clay pigeons, water bottles and other breakable targets. Range report to follow...............
56-50 Mike.