56-56 spencer

[Dana]

Hello, I shoot a 63 Shiloh Sharps and thinking about getting 56-56 Spencer, I have been reading about the cartridges, it looks as if the bullets sizes are about the same. My Sharps bullet is .543 dia. and close to .875 long. Does anybody use the same mold for both types of rifle. Without never seeing Spencer round (except pictures ) which look the same as Sharps,  is there a major difference. I've read that spencer bullets were used in Ballards as well as Joslyn carbines.

Thanks Dana

[Herbert]

to load the 56-56 you need a healed bass bullet the only mould that i am aware of for 56-56 is made by rapine bullit moulds there may be others though

[Trailrider]

to load the 56-56 you need a healed bass bullet the only mould that i am aware of for 56-56 is made by rapine bullit moulds there may be others though

You may also be able to use a hollow-base bullet around .535" dia.  The case may need to be inside neck-reamed, and that would require a special diameter reamer.  If you use .50-70 brass, you will probably have to anneal the case necks after trimming to length.  Most of the original M1860 Spencers I've measured have tapered barrels, ranging from .545" ahead of the chamber down to .535" at the muzzle.  This is for 22" barrel carbines.

[Bead Swinger]

I'm pretty sure you're right there about Ballard's and Joselyn Carbines being chambered for Spencer rim-fire ammunition, but I think these were for 56-50, not 56-56. I'm also pretty sure that this is true of the few Peabody carbines issued at the end of the war. They were also chambered for 56-50.

[Arizona Trooper]

The Sharps bullet won't work. It can't be seated in the case, and it's awfully heavy. Do a search through the archives here for 56-56 bullets, there are several different molds available.

Towards the end of the war, the Army decided to standardize on 56-50 for all new carbines, so a lot of late war arms were chambered for it, including Warners, Remington Split Breech, Triplet & Scott, Ball, etc. Early on, the Dwight Chapin Ballards were nominally chambered for 56-56, but their bores are a true 54 caliber. You need bullets about .555" or larger for them to shoot well. This was one of the reasons they were rejected by federal inspectors (and sold off to unsuspecting Kentucky). Joslyns, at least the first models, are also chambered for 56-56. They shoot regular Spencer ammo just fine. I have shot 56-56 ammo in both the Ballards and Joslyns. Couldn't hit the backstop with standard Spencer ammo in the Ballard!