22 Spencers for sale at Baltimore Antique Arms Show this past weekend

[Walksfire]

Howdy friends and fellow Spencer Shooters.
I attended the annual Baltimore Antique Arms Show this past weekend. There were literally hundreds of dealers tables in a place called Cow Palace at the Timonium Fair Grounds. The show was mostly Civil War, but there were some dealers with earlier arms as well. As I went from table to table, I counted the number of Spencer Rifles and Carbines for sale. The most expensive was a 1860 rifle supposedly used by Custer's Michigan and they wanted $4500. The nicest Carbine belonged to a display of the 8th Iowa re-en actor group. They also had an original Blakelees Box and original box of 56-56 shells. Not for sale. However, there were 22 Spencers for sale. 2 rifles, 2 Springfield 2 band conversion rifles (one with a ram rod attached), 7 1860 carbines, 10 1865 carbines (several with cutoffs). S&S firearms had a great display of parts. with two boxes full, and one partial carbine. The most expensive 1860 carbine was $3800 by Horsesoldier  and it looked really nice with cartouches and great wood and patina. The next best 1860 carbine was $2800 by Co. J ( James Jamera). He was really helpful to me when I first got into this Spencer hobby, by explaining what to look for when purchasing an antique Spencer. The cheapest Spencer was an 1865 Burnside that was rough for $1800. A real wall hanger with cracked stock and someone had painted the metal parts black to hide the rough rust underneath.

[DJ]

I'm going to up your count on M1860 rifles--there were at least five at the show:  one in the 7,XXX serial range and one in the 10,XXX range, plus three in the 23,XXX to 24,XXX range.

One of the two-band Spencer rifles was gone by Saturday afternoon--it has a beautiful bore and came with the ramrod and correct bayonet for not much more than the ratty Burnside.  I look forward to shooting it.

It's entertaining over the years to sense the ebb and flow of various gun types.  This year there were a half-dozen or so 1873 Winchester muskets, and three of them looked "just out of the box" with prices to match.  On the other hand, I did not see a single Lee bolt action of the 1882-1885 era, although I was looking for them.  In the past, the muskets were less numerous and the Lees all over the place.  I guess that kind of yearly change keeps it interesting.

Anyway, glad you enjoyed the show, and I agree that the abundance of Spencers was a welcome foil to most of the shows I am able to attend.

--DJ

[Baltimore Ed]

I missed another super Baltimore show I'm sure, maybe next year. I used to get to this great show regularly but haven't been able to get there for a while due to my wife's health. I always looked for Webleys and NWMP accoutrements. I always enjoyed the firearm displays too.

[Blair]

The Baltimore gun show has always been a very good Show.
I remember, years ago, fork lifts bringing in palates of firearms, stacking them side by side and one on top of the other. Mostly surplus Military Arms of all types and period from all over the world. (Of course it is worth noting that K-Mart also offered palates of surplus arms ranging in cost of around $10.00 each at the same time.)
Spencer's were cheap! Ammo was becoming very hard to come by during this time. But, they were great ASW firearms to collect.  Almost a requirement for any good Civil War arms collection.
My first Spencer was a Navy Rifle, SS No. 667 in 1974. I paid $100.00 for it.
The NSSA has kept many Civil War Arms very much alive because they shot them in live fire competition. The NSSA has developed and made cartridges to get many of these arms in a shootable condition where as no one else was willing or able to try. The more shootable they became, the higher the price went.

My best,
Blair 

[DJ]

Baltimore Ed--

With that name, I'm not sure what your excuse is for missing the Baltimore Show--there is so much to look at.

This is not a NWMP example or a Spencer, but it also followed me home.  I had been looking for a decent, shootable one for years.

[Baltimore Ed]

Born and raised in Bal'mer but been in NC for 44 years. Baltimore is about 8 hrs away. I like your revolver and handled one of those Enfields at the show once. A neat piece of history. You need to let us know how it shoots. Before it's over I want a Webley Fosbery, I've got a nice Webley Wilkinson, a Webley Greene target, a Mk1,4and 5. And a Metropolitan Police .450. They wouldn't let me bring my Mk1 Navy into the show the year I carried it up there and I had to leave it at the front. As there are no surviving records for Webley revolvers and they built prior marks along with later marks there's no real way to date the early guns supposedly.

[treebeard]

Maybe it is because I live in Kansas but those prices seem high. I would love to go to the Baltimore show just to enjoy the old guns.