Spencer fun

[Arizona Trooper]

Went out shooting yesterday with some friends who shoot modern arms. I brought the '61 Springfield and the Spencer rifle (and a Krag, just to prove that not all of my guns make a smokescreen). We had a great time. Everyone wanted to try loading and shooting the Springfield. There were several comments about getting eaten by bears (or Yankees, or Confederates depending on who was commenting) before we could get off a second shot. Then, I handed them the Spencer with a few rounds. What an eye opener. They couldn't believe that it was made in 1863. We were shooting targets (pretty big targets) out to about 150 yards, and everyone was getting plenty of hits. Lots of fun all around, and all I came home with was empty 56-56 cases.

[.56/50 Iron]

These Spencers are really a lot of fun to shoot. I have shot mine at paper targets trying to get magically small groups and this can be frustrating at times. I don't shoot as much as I would like and I need lots of practice. The lock-time of the Spencer is long (takes a lot of time for the hammer fall, impact of the hammer on the firing mechanism, etc). You have to follow through as you would in bowling, golf, etc. Practice! I like to shoot milk jugs at about 75 yards off hand. If I do my part, I have a great time making the jugs "leak"! I use blackpowder almost exclusively but now have to try smokeless. I made up some loads using "Trail Boss" powder on advice from Hodgdon Powder Company. It was also great fun not having to clean cases when finished. I'm not going to abandon black powder, but there is only so much you can do with blackpowder in that short .56/50 casing. The word is to have fun! That's the key!
.56/50 Iron