Which mold for early 2000’s Cimarron Spencer Cabine

Started by Leadville Bill, September 13, 2021, 12:31:32 PM

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Leadville Bill

Hello everyone. New to forum, lots of great things I've learned going through the FAQ. I am now the proud owner of what appears to be an unfired 56-50 Cimarron Spencer carbine. I'm aware the early carbines have various feeding issues to troubleshoot but at present I have no dummy ammunition for a cycle check. I'm in the process of buying components and I'm stuck on which mold to buy between the RCBS 350-CM or the Lyman 515139. Neither is easy to find at present but I'd like to have one selected so I can jump on it when the opportunity comes. I already have RCBS dies so it's just bullets and brass to go. Thanks for your help. LB

El Supremo

Hello, Leadville Bill:

Suggest adding the out of production Rapine 350T to your list.  It was developed for the Armisport 56-60 Spencer.  Another source for excellent moulds is Accurate Bullet Molds in Salt Lake City.  Use only its website drop-dn msg box.  He's deaf. 

All the best,
El Supremo/Kevin Tinny
Pay attention to that soft voice in your head.

Leadville Bill

Thanks Kevin. Looks like he has a few different variations for the 56-50. Any suggestions on which one? I'll be using black powder mostly and it appears all of them have decent grease grooves. 51-350S appears popular.
Thanks

El Supremo

Hello, again:
That Accurate 51-350S should be fine for your carbine.  Size it to .001" over groove OD.  Use a black powder lube such as SPG. 
El Supremo/Kevin Tinny
Pay attention to that soft voice in your head.

Leadville Bill

Unless I missed it, I didn't see a discussion on why the Lyman and RCBS bullets were undesirable. Does anyone have experience with either of these, in particular the RCBS? Are there issues with the profiles? I figure they must work in most guns or folks would've lit them up in the online reviews for the outfits that sell the molds.

Coal Creek Griff

I can't comment on the other molds, but the Accurate Molds 51-350S has worked very well in my Armi-Sport Spencer carbine. Tom is great to deal with and makes a quality product.

Griff
Manager, WT Ranch--Coal Creek Division

BOLD #921
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1860 Henry Rifle Shooter #173
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El Supremo

Hello, Leadville:

I now use only Accurate for bored cavity and tight tolerances.

There have been serious quality control problems with "cherried" (not bored) moulds.  I have had three new Lyman 515's with different ogives, different front band shape, .002" parting line shift, and up to .008" (not a typo) out-of-roundness. QC on some RCBS moulds has been frustrating, with sprue plate hole alignment so far off center that the outer edge was opposite the base edge.  When questioned, the customer service rep. said "meets spec's".

Sizing will not correct out-of-roundness issues because the nose and lube grooves will remain out. 

Two Flints has a Spencer Oft Requested Info ("SORI")section here.  Lots of helpful info in it.
Smiles.
El Supremo/Kevin Tinny


Pay attention to that soft voice in your head.

Sedalia Dave

In case you are not aware Spencers can be OAL sensitive.

I have both Accutate 56-50 Spencer moulds. (51-320S and the 51-350S)

The 51-320S works well with longer OALs. For short OALs crimp winds up being on the ogive.

The 51-350S works great. I had the crimp groove omitted so that I could adjust the OAL for optimal feeding in my 2 Armi-Sport Spencers.

Right now I am considering ordering the 51-350CL without a crimp groove for my Spencer Rifle. The larger lube groove should be beneficial with BP loads.

The best thing about ordering from Accutate Moulds is that you can tweak the design to fit your needs. An added bonus is that multi cavity moulds are available and each cavity can be a different design.

Jbar4Ranch

I've used the RCBS 50-350-CM with good results, but the longer, more tapered nose of a cut down Lee 515-500-F works a bit better, and comes out to a gamer weight of around 325 grains when cut. The problem with the Lee is you're not crimping in a groove, so it works great with BP, but not so good with smokeless. Shooting smokeless in a .56-.50 is blasphemy anyway.  :D
TFJ

Lee on the left, Ten-X factory loaded bullet in middle, and RCBS on the right.

El Supremo

Hello Jbar4Ranch:

Thanks for the info and pictures.

What lube is on them, and do those bullets with that lube work in rifle length barrels, please?

Tx and smiles.
El Supremo/Kevin Tinny
Pay attention to that soft voice in your head.

Jbar4Ranch

I have an older DGW/Armi Sport carbine - never owned a rifle length rifle. The lube is a soft solid stick lube that we used to use on nodulizer drum bearing rings at a plant I worked at 25 years ago - no idea what the makeup is, other than it's probably petroleum based and not synthetic. I've never had a problem with it using black powder though, so who knows.

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