Spencer Cleaning

[greymount]

I recently purchased an ArmiSport Spencer rifle 56/50 and was wondering if I have to remove the action to clean the gun after firing?  What is the best way to clean it?

[Herbert]

it depends on what pouder you are yousing,if yousing black pouder take the action out and spray some ballistol on action and frame and wipe down,for the barel i youse a flexable fiber rod and clean from the breach,spray with ballistol and push patches through till clean,with a new gun ialso youse hopys to get rid of any lead that may have been left behind,if not yousing for a wile give everything a light coat of oil before storing,with smokless you would not havr to take the action out very often but the barell can be cleaned in the same maner also a boar snake is handy for smokless

[.56/50 Iron]

Hello! Whether you have to take the action of the carbine apart for cleaning depends upon how well the fired cartridge cases sealed up the chamber and kept the smoke in the barrel. I use Starline cases for making ammunition. I also use black powder for no reason other than that's what the carbine was designed for. You can also use smokeless powder if you want. I also have some cases I got from Dixie Gun Works that are not made by Starline. I believe they are machined out of brass, not drawn brass as the Starline are. Dixie's cases are hard brass. (Starline's are also but Dixie's are harder...) In order to get the cases to seal the chamber, you have to soften the brass up a bit. This is called "annealing" and there are varying ways to do it. I deprime and clean the fired case, then set the case base down in about a half inch of water in a shallow pan. I take a propane blow torch and aim the tip of the flame at the top edge of the case, going around the top of the case as much as possible with the torch, heating the brass until it begins to darken a bit. If it starts to turn red, that surely is enough!! Then, tip the case over into the water and it will cool instantly, softening the brass at the case mouth. You CAN overdo this, so be careful. Now the case will expand when fired and seal the chamber, keeping all the black powder smoke in the barrel. Make sure you sit the cases in a half inch of water when you start to heat them as you do not want to soften the brass in the base of the case. You want that to remain hard for strength.
     If the cases have done their job, than all you have to do is clean the barrel and perhaps the face of the breech block around the firing pin a bit. Also wipe down the barrel at the muzzle end as that will have smudges from black powder. If the cases have not been annealed, then you will have black powder fouling from the smoke throughout the action. Remove the screw that the lever pivots on and pull the lever and breech block assembly from the carbine action. Take soapy water and a little rag and wipe out the inside walls of the frame and around the rear end of the barrel. turn the carbine bottom side up and get the inside walls again. I leave the cartridge keeper lever in place as it is hard to put back in for me. If that was out, you could get at the inside of the action better. When the inside of the frame is clean and dried out, I use a product called AMSOIL (TM) MP Metal Protector (Product Code AMP-SC). This is a synthetic product and is nationally distributed. Check out the Amsoil site on the internet as they do mail order if your area does not have this product. It is a product that goes on wet and then dries leaving a film that protects the metal and also lubes it more than enough for use in keeping the metal parts moving in the Spencer. At this point, you need to clean up the lever and breech block assembly. If it has black powder smudging, wipe it off with the dish soap and water patch you are using, then dry and lightly oil. Now on to the barrel on the inside! Take some clean dish soapy warm water and another small patch, large enough to fit the barrel rather snuggly. Make the patch wet with the soapy water and wipe out the barrel. Rinse the patch in the soapy water and run through the barrel again. Do this until the patch comes out clean. Then wipe out with a dry patch. Look for lead streaks. If these are present, you will have to use a .50 caliber brass brush and brush out the lead. Then re-clean with soapy water and dry. Now you can run a patch with regular gun barrel solvent such as Hoppe's #9 through the bore or, if you have found the Amsoil product I mentioned, run a moist patch using that stuff thrrough the bore. Re-assemble the lever and block assembly into the carbine and you are done. Take my advice and practice taking the carbine apart, including the take down of the lever assembly and upper and lower blocks so that you are familiar with this. You can't wreck anything so don't fear that! The Spencer is by far the easiest of the Civil War carbines to take apart. Christopher Spencer was a genius! Any questions please ask. Other members probably have other tips to offer. Cleaning a gun well is a large part of owning one. If you use blackpowder, be sure to clean the cases with soapy water also. Then dry the inside and out with clean paper towel material. The fun you have using blackpowder and going through the shooting process with it as the soldiers did in the past is a large part of the fun I have with these period firearms.
.56/50 Iron