Old Spencer at PA BP Shoot

[Bead Swinger]

Well, my pard and I made it down to the PA State BP shoot last week - it was a really well-organized shoot, in 92+ PA heat and humidity. Everyone appreciated seeing the old girl out there (1860 Rifle), and it was fun reloading on the clock (Blakeslee and all).  But I have to say I was very dissappointed to have the gun jam on all four stages that I used her on. Usually, I'll jam one or two cases in a whole match.  This time, I jamed six cases in four stages (39 rounds) . The nice part is that Spencer tools are ideal for prying the case loose, so I actually had no misses with the rifle, and three of the four stages were clean (much to my surprise).

The jams were all extraction problems where the blade extractor starts getting past the case and jams the case up against the wall of the frame. Really bad ones jam the case against the wall and against the front of the extraction guide as it drops into position.  I only had one of those. But I was really dissapointed that I had so much trouble. While I know the Buffalo Arms 50-70 cases I use can jam (I've beveled the rear edge of many of them to improve their performance), I've never had this much trouble before. I guess I better find another rifle to use for CBA. Ideas welcome.  Now I need to find the $$.

The funny part was that I did NOT come in last place - (I normally do)