The Spencer repeating rifle was a manually operated lever-action, repeating rifle fed from a tube magazine with cartridges. It was adopted by the Union Army, especially by the cavalry during the American Civil War, but did not replace the standard issue muzzle-loading rifled muskets in use at the time. A lever-action is a type of firearm which uses a lever located around the trigger guard area (often including the trigger guard itself) to load fresh cartridges into the chamber of the barrel when the lever is cranked. The most famous of such lever-action firearms is the Winchester... A repeating rifle is a single barreled rifle containing multiple rounds of ammunition. ... A 30-round STANAG magazine. ... The 21st Michigan Infantry, a company of Shermans veterans. ... Soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback in combat are commonly known as cavalry (from French cavalerie). ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... A muzzleloader is any firearm into which the bullet is loaded from the muzzle of the gun (open end of the gun barrel). ... The rifled musket is a long-barreled infantry weapon (to be distinguished from the shorter rifle carried by some light infantry units), usually percussion, that was common in the 19th century. ...

Overview

The design was completed by Christopher Spencer in 1860, and was for a magazine-fed, lever-operated rifle chambered for the .56-56 rimfire cartridge. Unlike later cartridge designations, the first number referred to the diameter of the case at the head, while the second number referred to the diameter at the mouth; the actual bullet diameter was .52 inches. Cartridges were loaded with 45 grains of black powder. The Spencer carbine, a shorter and lighter version, was also manufactured. Christopher Spencer (b. ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ... A rimfire is a type of firearm cartridge. ... Black powder for sporting can be freely bought in Switzerland. ... The Spencer repeating rifle was a falling block, repeating rifle fed from a removable magazine. ...

To use the Spencer, a lever had to be worked to extract the used shell and feed a new cartridge from the tube. Like the Dreyse breech-loader, the hammer then had to be manually cocked in a separate action. The weapon used rimfire cartridges stored in a seven-round tube magazine, enabling the rounds to be fired one after another. When empty, the tube could be rapidly loaded either by dropping in fresh cartridges or from a device called the Blakeslee Cartridge Box, which contained up to ten tubes with seven cartridges each, which could be emptied in the magazine tube in the buttstock. The Dreyse needle-gun (German das Zündnadelgewehr or figuratively firing-pin rifle) was a military breechloading rifle, famous as the arm of the Prussians in 1866 and of the Germans in 1870 and 1871. ...

There were also .56-52, .56-50, and even a few .56-46 versions of the cartridge created, which were necked down versions of the original .56-56. Cartridge length was limited by the action size to about 1.75 inches in length, and the later calibers used a smaller diameter, lighter bullet and larger powder charge to increase the power and range over the original .56-56 cartridge, which, while about as powerful as the .58 caliber rifled musket of the time, was underpowered by the standards of other early cartridges such as the .50-70 and .45-70. A wildcat cartridge, or wildcat, is a custom cartridge for which ammunition and firearms are not mass produced. ... The . ...

History

The Spencer repeating rifle was adopted by the United States Army and used during the American Civil War. The South occasionally captured some of these weapons and ammunition, but, as they were unable to manufacture the cartridges because of shortages of copper, their ability to take advantage of the weapons was limited. Notable early instances of use included the Battle of Hoover's Gap (where Col. John T. Wilder's "Lightning Brigade" effectively demonstrated the firepower of repeaters), and the Gettysburg Campaign, where two regiments of the Michigan Brigade (under Brig. Gen. George Armstrong Custer) carried them at the Battle of Hanover and at East Cavalry Field.^[1] As the war progressed, Spencers were carried by a number of cavalry and mounted infantry regiments and provided the Union army with additional firepower versus their Confederate counterparts. The United States Army is the largest branch of the United States armed forces and has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... Motto: Deo Vindice (Latin: Under God, Our Vindicator) Anthem: God Save the South (unofficial) Dixie (traditional) The Bonnie Blue Flag (popular) Capital Montgomery, Alabama (until May 29, 1861) Richmond, Virginia (May 29, 1861–April 2, 1865) Danville, Virginia (from April 3, 1865) Language(s) English (de facto) Government Republic President... The Battle of Hoovers Gap was the principal battle fought in the Tullahoma Campaign (also known as the Middle Tennessee Campaign) of the American Civil War. ... Colonel (IPA: or ) is a military rank of a commissioned officer, with the corresponding ranks existing in nearly every country in the world. ... John Thomas Wilder (January 31, 1830 – October 20, 1917) was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War and an industrialist who was instrumental in developing the natural resources of the State of Tennessee. ... Meade and Lee of Gettysburg Gettysburg Campaign (through July 3); cavalry movements shown with dashed lines. ... A regiment is a military unit, larger than a company and smaller than a division. ... The Michigan Brigade, sometimes called the Wolverines, the Michigan Cavalry Brigade or Custers Brigade, fought in the American Civil War. ... A Brigadier General, or one-star general, is the lowest rank of general officer in the United States and some other countries, ranking just above Colonel and just below Major General. ... George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. ... The Battle of Hanover took place on June 30, 1863, in York County, Pennsylvania as part of the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War. ... On the Third Day of the Battle of Gettysburg (July 3, 1863) in the American Civil War, the attention of history has focused on the disastrous infantry assault nicknamed Picketts Charge. ... Some Confederate soldiers The Confederate States Army (CSA) was formed in February 1861 to defend the Confederate States of America, which had itself been formed that same year when seven Southern states seceded from the United States (four more states soon followed). ...

In the late 1860s, the Spencer company was sold to the Fogerty Rifle Company and ultimately to Winchester. With almost 200,000 rifles and carbines made, it marked the first adoption of a removable magazine-fed infantry rifle by any country. Many Spencer rifles and carbines were later sold as surplus to France where they were used in the war against Germany in 1870. The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American maker of repeating weapons during the late 19th Century and the early 20th Century. ... Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme in World War I. Infantry are soldiers who fight primarily on foot with small arms in organized military units, though they may be transported to the battlefield by horses, ships, automobiles, skis, or other means. ...

Despite the fact that the Spencer company went out of business in 1869, ammunition was sold in the United States up to about the 1920s, and many rifles were converted to centerfire, which could fire cartridges made from the centerfire .50-70 brass. While production ammunition is no longer generally available, it can still be obtained on the specialty market. Old Western Scrounger, a retailer specializing in obsolete cartridges, does list ammunition in .56-50 Spencer, made by Ten-X Ammo, though it is a special order item and prices run over US$5 per round[1]. 1869 (MDCCCLXIX) is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... The 1920s was a decade sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties, usually applied to America. ... A centerfire cartridge is a cartridge in which the primer is located in the center of the cartridge case head. ...

See also

• M1819 Hall rifle
• Henry rifle
• Volcanic rifle
• List of individual weapons of the U.S. Armed Forces

The M1819 rifle was a single-shot breech loading rifle formally adopted by the U.S. in 1819. ... The Henry repeating rifle was an American . ... The Volcanic lever action rifle was a precursor to the Henry and Winchester line of repeating rifles, and was designed by Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson Smith & Wesson. ... Individual weapons by type and current level of use. ...

Notes

References

• Earl J. Coates and Dean S. Thomas, An Introduction to Civil War Small Arms
• Ian V. Hogg, Weapons of the Civil War
• Barnes, Cartridges of the World

External links

• The patent drawing for the Spencer action
• Spencer's Repeaters: Some History and Shooting Tips, with information on Spencer's unique caliber designations, and how to reload for centerfire conversions
• Description and photos of Spencer rifle, serial number 3981
• Smithsonian Institute page on the Spencer rifle, mentiones the Blakeslee cartidge box
• Production information on the Spencer carbine
• www.ammo-one.com, dealer in rare ammuntition, has pictures and information on Spencer cartridges .56-56, .56-52, .56-50, and .56-46