Could this be an "Indian" used Spencer???

[Swedeman]

Hello all !!Sweden here!! (my namne was suposed to be swedeman, not swedenab) :-).
Found this great forum i have a nice early Spencer carbine whith inlays of pearl in the side of f the stock, also on top of the stock, both of them are formed like a "heart" or something like that, i have a feeling that this could be an old Indian gun, what do you all think about that?



Best Regards

Patrik
Sweden

[Two Flints]

Hello Swedenab,

Thanks for posting and that is a nice looking Spencer.  How about some closeups of that pearl mark on the side of the stock.

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Two Flints

[Swedeman]

Thanks , gonna change the name :-)

The inlay is not silver, it made of "mother of pearl" also the same in the top of the stock, gonna take some closeups this evening.


Best Regards

Patrik

[Deadeye Don]

I am no expert on Indian owned guns, but that just looks too professionally done to to have been altered on the plains in a dust storm.    Looks to me like it was either done at the factory as a presentation gun or aftermarket by a professional.  IMHO.  Very nice looking Spencer though.   Safe shooting.  Deadeye.

[Swedeman]

Here is some more pics of the Spencer, the "mother of pearl" is realy hard to take a photo of, just looks like silver on a picture, the photo of the inlay of top of the stock,also show the "mother of pearl", (or maybe just maked out of a shell).
Still have the rimfire, is there any new blocks that  i can buy that are made for centerfire?

also couple of more pictures at : http://s19.photobucket.com/albums/b196/swedeman/spencer/ 




















Hope you understand my English!

Best Regards

Patrik

[St. George]

Native American embellishments run towards the brass-tack and rawhide wrapping style of decoration - sometimes featuring tufts of Buffalo hair - sometimes perhaps paint - but that's somewhat difficult to find remnants of, given the elements.

There's no stock varnish and obvious care lavished on those weapons, since that was what they were - weapons - and were expected to be used hard by those who carried them.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Forty Rod]

Someone was very proud of that carbine.  The inlays a nicely done, possibly professionally.  Too bad the old girl can't talk.

["Houston 1852"]

Looks like a 23rd Corps insignia (badge) to me.  I've seen several guns over the years with corps badges inlaid into the stock.  If you look at the posts from a few days ago, I posted some pics of a Sharps carbine I own that was most likely Indian owned.  It has brass tacks that have been there well over a hundred years and as typical with other indian guns, the ladder site was removed.  Most likely for use as a knife or hide scraper.

["Houston 1852"]

23rd   Dept. of Ohio
Dept. of North Carolina 

["Houston 1852"]

Here's a Sharps with similar mother of pearl corps badge inlays:

[Swedeman]

Thanks alot guys!
Houston, it looks like you are aboslutly right on the inlay, gonna use google to see if i can find anymore info about it.
Do you have any answer/meaning about the inlays on the Sharp??, like the cross, arrow,  the moon and the star, i just wounder, cause there was a flintlock blunderbuss/carbine on a local auction here that had almost the same inlays on the stock, but at that moment i had a feeling that it was a fareast gun or something like that.
Anyone know what happend to Springfield research service???,

Have one more quesiotn also what does the word Dept. and 23rd mean in "23rd   Dept. of Ohio  Dept. of North Carolina" ,also the word corps.( remember i´m from the cold country Sweden, and here we talk Swedish :-) ) 


Best Regards

Patrik

[St. George]

Greatly simplified - during the Civil War - the Union forces were divided into geographical areas - 'Theaters' and Departments' - and military groups - Armies, Corps, Divisions and the like.

Each Corps had a distinctive 'badge' - the 23d's being that of a shield.

As you research - look for 'Civil War Corps Badges'.

The material should outline the areas they operated in and the make-up of the elements within.

That's about as simple as you're going to find - since there's a helluva lot of information available that deals with the subject - so Happy Digging...

One thing to be aware of, is that these 'decorated' weapons were most likely done up after the War as remembrances of that conflict.

The Army frowned on its soldiery doing anything with them beyond their intended use - though many were marked with initials.

Post-war - there was a huge market for souvenirs - and many, many military-issue items fed that demand, with more than a few of them being decorated for display in parlors and GAR Posts.

You need to try backtracking your Spencer through previous owners, if at all possible.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Two Flints]

This link shows Civil War Corps badges/insignias: 
http://howardlanham.tripod.com/linkgr3/link151.html

Two Flints