Just a little bump to the thread, now that it is August. Last week was the 150h anniversary of the pivotal moment in the history of the Spencer.
In some ways the Spencer may have been a bit like the Ferguson (a favorite of mine). A good design, ahead of its time, which men in the field likely recognized as a game changer, but subsequent military arms in the US (single shot Allyn conversions and Trapdoors) tended to give back the advantages of the innovative design in favor of military arms with a slower rate of fire.