Taylor's Spencer and accuracy

[Hoot-3rd Ga]

Gentlemen:  If you can't get the accuracy you want from your Armisport 56-50 Spencer......try this. Put a bullet just inside the mouth of an empty unprimed case. It can't fit too loosely. Chamber the round by single feeding it with your thumb and gently closing the action.  Then gently open the action and extract the cartridge. If the rifling did not push the slug down into the case close to it's normal OAL, then your factory chamber was reamed too deeply.  The lead slug should engage the rifling or be very close to it when the round is chambered. I've examined several Armisport Spencer carbines and this condition was present in all of them.  If you have no way to measure your chamber length, try this.  Make up a few rounds seating the bullet out as far as you can and still chamber it by single feeding with moderate thumb pressure. If your accuracy noticably improves, your chamber is too long. A long chamber leaves the bullet unsupported when it jumps from case to rifling preventing you from getting the accuracy you are looking for. I am having my relined by R.A. Hoyt. I have discussed this with him face-to-face. My Spencer will be back in my hands in a few weeks.  I will come back with the results then.  Hoot  N-SSA

[Two Flints]

Hoot,

Thanks for the information...I'm sure those members who are shooting the Spencer 56-60 will comment on your suggestions.  We look forward to whatever you have to offer once your Spencer returns to you with after the barrel re-lining, and with your firing results.

Thanks for reporting in,

Two Flints

[Fox Creek Kid]

I'll take issue with this. Not every gun is the same. Two guns chambered by the very same reamer will shoot differently. EVERY gun has to fed what it likes & that takes load development and trigger time. My early 56-50 has the long leade as Hoot mentions but shoots great with the Rapine 350-T bullet that has a long jump to the rifiling. More important than the jump however is if the leade in the chamber is larger than groove diameter whereas the bullet is literally swaged down AFTER obturation (which happens before said bullet leaves the case) and can greatly hamper accuracy in SOME rifles. Again, every gun is a world unto itself. Mine shoots better than I hoped for considering its primitive lock time as well as trigger. Let the gun tell you what it likes. 

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[Hoot-3rd Ga]

I agree with what you said about every gun liking different loads because they are all different in very slight ways. I guess I neglected to mention that I spent almost two years and over 2000 rounds of 56-50 hand loaded ammo before I decided to have it relined. I tried hard lead, alloyed lead and pure lead.....Goex FF, Goex FFF, Swiss 1 1/2F and Swiss FF......magnum and standard primers.....Spg lube....Starline brass.....and a variety of bullet designs from Lyman, Romano and Lee.  I am a 22 yr. N-SSA member and am limited to using black powder for N-SSA competition. I was never able to get the groups off a rest or offhand that I needed.  Despite all this testing, I am still a very strong supporter of the Armisport Spencer carbine. I sold a super accurate Henry rifle so I would not be distracted in this quest for 56-50 Spencer accuracy.  We require a certain minimum level of accuracy for competitive offhand 50 yd. and 100 yd. shooting in the N-SSA. I believe Mr. R.A.Hoyt will build the "tack driver" 56-50 Spencer carbine that I am searching for by relining the barrel to my specs.
All this said.....I am not trying to say that anybody's Armisport Spencer has a problem.  Each owner must decide that for him (or herself).  I recommend them and hope everybody has good luck with them.  I can only relate my own experiences in hopes that it might give others who need it more insight.
             Thanks fellow SSS members for this forum!        Hoot     3rd Ga Vol. Inf. N-SSA...Life NRA

[Fox Creek Kid]

Hoot, I've read your posts on the NSSA Board and you are certainly a "stand up" guy.  Here's another thing I've noticed about MY Spencer: It dos NOT like to be shot off the bench as it seems as if the pressure on the forearm throws the shots. Uberti Henry rifles are like this as well, at least mine. When I "stand & deliver"  they will tear ragged holes. Perhaps with the Spencer a person could try benching with the rest about 4 in. back from the muzzle. Luckily, I have a buddy who is a benchrest fanatic who can talk for hours about barrel harmonics and he convinced me years ago of its validiity. Finally, I do not size my bullets.