I needed to do some research using late 19th and early 20th century department store catalogs on another topic and decided to look at the firearms sections for Spencer ammo. Some members have noted a few of these before. I found that all 4 Spencer Rimfire cartridges could be found in each company's 1894 catalogs and in the 1902 Sears catalogs. By the 1908 and 1911 Sears catalogs only 56-50 and 56-52 were available. No Spencer cartridges were listed in Sears 1927. I would like to get a 1917-1921 catalog to see if WWI was the end of these cartridges, as I suspect. Several members have posted over the years about the 1902 Sears catalog and Spencer's that were for sale. There was another post 10 years ago where the author had information from 1915? Sears catalog with Spencer's still for sale with 100 rounds included. If that's true these weren't hot sellers. The fact they are not in the 1911 catalog suggests more than one group of these were brought in by Sears. It interesting that folks were still buying and shooting these 40-50 years after the Civil War especially with the ammo being so expensive compared to other rifles. While Winchester and Marlin rifles were over 3 times more expensive, centerfire ammo like the 44-40 was 25-30 percent cheaper per 100 rounds than the Spencer cartridges. I'm going to see if any colleagues have catalogues from the late teens to early 20s. Hopefully more to come.
1902 Sears ad
(https://up.picr.de/48719007hg.jpeg)
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Any idea about the age of the rounds- e.g. Were they of recent manufacture or left over from the days of Spencer production?
DeaconKC and Matt45 - thank you for the replies! I am assuming the person that posted here about an interest in a Spencer carbine with associated Sears cartridges could see a Sears marked headstamp or a Sears box. So, I will assume recent (1894-1911) manufacture. Having said that Sears could have obtained old ammunition and put it in new Sears boxes.
A search of the International Ammunition Association Forum suggests there were shotgun shells headstamped Sears but not rifle and pistol ammo even when found in Sears marked boxes.
I've got to call Cody about some unrelated stuff, but I'll check to see what Winchester's production of Spencer ammo was in those years.
Spencer cartridge availability in the 20th century update - Remington UMC 1911-1912 and 1918-1919 catalogs have 56-50, 56-52 and 56-56 cartridges for sale. Winchester 1916 catalog has 56-50, 56-52 and 56-56 cartridges for sale. Montgomery Ward 1918 and 1922 catalogs have no Spencer cartridges for sale. I do not know anyone with a Sears catalog between 1916 to 1920 and I cannot justify buying an expensive original for work.
Would libraries have those catalogs?
They might have the recently (1960s-1970s) republished versions. However, I don't believe any of the 1916-1920 catalogs were redone.
Matt45 - any luck with Cody?
Check into these libraries, some have sears catalogs on microfiche
http://searsarchives.com/catalogs/questions/findcatalogs.htm
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Prof marvel
Check Barnes & Noble's - look in their Antiques section.
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I appreciate the replies! Our local public library has a few of the reprints of the older catalogs (1920s- 1940s) which I already have. Barnes and Noble also carries some of the same reprints. Nobody has the 1915-1920 versions. Those have to be purchased on EBay or the like, costing $75-200 each and some falling apart with pages missing, I'll need to think about how much I really want to know the answer to this question.
John, a quick google search brought up this 1918 Sears catalog for $65 on Etsy. It just so happens that one of the sample pages shown is for ammo, although I don't see Spencer ammo on the part that is visible.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1707005473/original-1918-sears-catalog-136?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=sears+catalogue+1915&ref=sr_gallery-1-1&content_source=6b20e25fda569e4b9b60bffc93f284ffd881ef97%253A1707005473&organic_search_click=1
Abilene - thank you for the heads up. I think the Spencer cartridges, if they are there, would be in that upper left area that is covered by the torn page - rimfire is always listed first in these catalogs. One of my colleagues has a bunch of the old catalogs but he doesn't remember what years and they're stored away in a box in his garage. He is retired and out of town until next month. We will see when he gets back.
Winchester catalog no. 82 (1920) - no Spencer cartridges