Hello to all and thanks for responding to my original question.
I decided to brown my yard sale Spencer barrel and receiver. I've done the same thing to my flint locks in the past and always liked the final look. I used
Laurel Mountain Barrel Brown & Degreaser. I went to their web site and downloaded the directions for applying
Laurel Mountain barrel brown and degreaser. The photos show how it turned out.
Had to replace some beat up old screws with new ones purchased from S&S Firearms, along with their centerfire breech block. I still have to brown the screws.
At first the action was kind of rough and the breechblock would hang-up. After some troubleshooting, I discovered that the screw holding the Magazine Follower had become distorted and was not allowing the Follower to move freely up and down. I replaced that screw, and got the Magazine Follower to move freely in and out, and the breechblock stopped sticking.
Once the action was working OK, I loaded two of the 56-50 Hull Blanks I received from Todd Koster of
Black Squirrel Arsenal & Armory. They chambered just fine and went off with a loud bang, and ejected OK. I then tried two of Todd's Brass Blanks and they chambered just fine, too, but I had to tilt my Spencer barrel up to get the brass blanks to slide out.
Next step is to fire a few live rounds.
BTW, I have another original Spencer Carbine, in pieces, that I will try to put together in the coming weeks.
Two Flints