Spencer Sight

[Niederlander]

Gentlemen,  Does anyone make a good replacement rear sight for Spencer Carbines that will hold elevation adjustments?  Maybe a spring detent system?

[Two Flints]

I used this search parameter "replacement rear sight for Spencer Carbines" and it led me to this link for starters.  Not sure if this is what your looking for?

https://www.granpasgunparts.com/spencer-1

or this one

https://www.dixiegunworks.com/index/page/product/product_id/1743/category/481/category_chain/392,439,477,481/product_name/EP0270+Rear+Sight+%28Repro.%29++For+Spencer+Carbine

or this one

https://www.lodgewood.com/1865-Spencer-Complete-Rear-Sight-W-Spring_p_883.html

Two Flints

[El Supremo]

Hello, Niederlander:
An interesting question.
I have wrestled for years with the rear sight sliding bar not holding position on many versions of Civil War era ladder rear sights.  Even 1st Model Maynards with a screw lock feature on the sliding peep can move from recoil. 
Aside from drilling and tapping the side of the bar for a set screw, the only other solution that has worked on only one of mine is a shim under the rear fingers.  It came that way.
I have never been able to squeeze the fingers so they hold, because many ladders seem to have varying thicknesses that create looseness at different spots on the ladder.  I have seen skirmishers resort to soft solder or epoxy when shooting at only one distance.  Maybe an o-ring.

Most I know just use the ladder folded for the nearer distance with the front sight height adjusted for zero, and raise it with the slider all the way down for the next further distance so the slider doesn't have to be raised.
If you learn how, please let us know. Tx.
El Supremo/Kevin Tinny

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[Niederlander]

I'm asking for a friend who shoots his in GAF shoots.  I think we'll probably have to go to the set screw (probably from an '03 Springfield), as we have to shoot out to 300 yards.

[El Supremo]

Wow, 300 yards:

That'll be a challenge with a carbine and the anemic 56-50 trajectory because the slightest variation in sight bar location and small muzzle velocity variations will produce big vertical spreads. 

I use a peep locator with steps for each distance or a vernier caliper to set the peep.  Some shooters use different ladders with epoxied in place peep bars. Their experience is that the slider will move somehow unless very securely held.

The other frustration is the ladder not standing truly at 90 degrees.  The flat spring under the ladder and recoil can leave it leaning forward or even backward with variations in the height of the bar.  At 300 with the rainbow trajectory, variation in zero due to ladder unsquareness can be significant. 

I've done a lot of 300 yard black powder shooting and plus/minus 15 fps of shot to shot muzzle velocity variation (with a 1250 muzzle vel) that is insignificant at 50/100 yds will create 2 inches of vertical at 200 and at least double that at 300.  I think the normal 56-50 muzzle velocity is around 950 -1,000fps.  The plus/minus 15 fps variation would create vertical dispersion that would move impact out of a 2-inch x-ring at 200 and out of a 4-inch ten-ring at 300.  Wind and mirage magnified these.
Loading a ctg like the 56-50 to consistently produce a muzzle velocity extreme spread of under 20 fps is the first step. 

Cycling ctg's can tip bullets in the case, so perhaps he can test the benefit of single loading.

I don't know what size target he's using, but humorously suggest that with the 56-50, the 300 yard center be at least 12 inches in diameter.

Am fascinated, and realize your friend is probably just having fun, not trying to do benchrest stuff.  Please share how he does.   All the best.
El Supremo/Kevin Tinny

[Niederlander]

We shoot that distance at AR500 IDPA targets, so you've got a target 18" wide by 30" tall.  That's definitely doable.  All these old military rifles were designed to hit a man sized target at combat distances, and from what we've seen over the years, they'll do just that.  (Personally, I feel that, while extreme accuracy is nice, we've taken it to absolutely sill lengths in the last twenty or thirty years.  I've had guys brag their rifle will shoot under an inch from the bench.  I've seen them shoot, and they'd be fortunate to hit a pickup at two hundred yards from a field position.)  The old rifles do what they were designed to do, and usually do it quite well.  The Spencer, and the Henry, can be quite a challenge as distances go beyond two hundred yards.