Range Report 11-13 56-50 Armisport Spencer

[PvtGreg]

Hello All,

I took 22 newly cut down 32 ga. brass cartridges, 19 new cut Lebel 8mm loads and 8 starline 56-50 cartridges to the range today along with my 56-50 Armisport Spencer.  

All the cut down brass required fire forming, so I wasn't expecting good results.

The conditions were interesting.  The wind was 20, gusting to 30 mph.  The design of the range is such that the wind was in my face from the right blowing left with swirling.  Even with this I was very pleased with the Spencer today.  I stayed at 50 yrds because of the wind.  

I benched until the last 19 rounds.  Why 19?  I lost count, it was suppose to be until the last 21.

The first target is 9 rounds of 32 ga brass with a mix of large pistol and large rifle primers, benched loading single rounds.  330gr bullet with 9 gr of Trail Boss.  I had some problems with my powder measure and had a .1 to .5 gr variance in loads.  Why 9?  Well I thought I shot 10, but miscounted.



As I say I was pleased.

I lost the second target, which was 10 rounds of Lebel, benched and single loaded.  The accuracy was of the same order as the 32ga brass.

The last Target was a mix of 6 32 ga, 7 Lebel and 6 starline 56-50 all mixed together.  All loaded as specified above.  The big difference here was I shot those last 19 off hand, loading the tube mag in 7, 6 and 6 round loads using my 10 tube Blakeslee Box to speed loading.  I basically shot these like a 19 round SASS stage as fast as I could.



I am very, very please with this set.  One of the ROs timed me starting with 7 rounds loaded.  I shot 7, reloaded 6 from the Blakeslee box (I dropped the each tube on the ground for speed), shot those, reloaded another 6, shot those.  Total time?  68.5 sec.

The technique was to hold the rifle tight to my shoulder with my left and do everything else with my right, basically like you would single shoot a '97 on a SASS stage.  I'd sight, shoot, work the level with my right, then slap the hammer back to full cock and repeat.  I was very surprised with the speed I got.  Keep in mind the target face is 12 inches, the same size as most SASS rifle bang and clang targets.

My conclusion is the following:

• 32 ga brass works great with large pistol primers in the Armisport Spencer
• 8mm Lebels work great as well
• 56-50 Armisport Spencer shooters have some good alternatives for Starline Brass

I'm still working on a couple of more posts on how to rig a lathe for 56-50 cartridges and how to make Spencer brass from 32 ga brass.  Hope to have these posts done next week.  Sorry for the delay, been a busy week.

Brother Herbert?  I thing 32 ga. brass will work very well for you.

Pvt. Greg