Reproduction Spencers in .45

[Macon Due]

Howdy all
I have just been wondering how many of us have a reproduction Spencer in .45 Colt or .45 Schofield? Also.....if you do, are you having feeding problems? If you have read my latest post, you know I was about at my wits end with my Cimarron in .45 Colt. No matter what I did or how I worked the lever it was 85% reliable feeding at best. Then I came across Johnson Barr's post in reference to his .44 Russian feeding problems and how a good bullet mold restored his faith in his Spencer. I followed his footsteps and ordered a custom mold from Tom at Accurate Molds and my carbine is now 100% reliable. The difference is night & day. Just thought this might help someone else.
Macon Due SSS # 850

[Two Flints]

Macon,

When you write .  .  .  "I followed his footsteps"  .  .  .  would you go into more detail as to what you meant by "his footsteps"?

Might be helpful to others with a .45 Schofield Spencer.

Two Flints

[Macon Due]

two Flints
Yes Sir, His footsteps were to decide what was the major problem with feeding. His conclusion was that the current bullet shape was the culprit. The original bullet shape was much more tapered than our blunt, giant meplat .45 cast bullets. Of course the original bullets were a pointed design as the cartridge was a rimfire. He needed a bullet that mimicked the taper of the original design but with a flat meplat. He had found a commercial bullet that worked pretty well but then they were no longer available. This caused him to search for a bullet mold maker that made a mold for a bullet more like the original shape. He discovered that Tom at 'Accurate Molds' cataloged just such a bullet design in a .44 cal. for his .44 Russian, Spencer. After speaking with him I made contact with Tom at Accurate Molds and asked for a mold that would approximate the .44 bullet except in a .45 cal. for my Spencer .45 Colt. Tom came through and in due time I received the new mold. My Spencer now feeds perfectly and it seem lever speed is not important to proper function either. My bullet is the # 45-240E. I am as pleased with my Spencer as 'Johnson' is with his. I hope this will be of help to someone else.
Macon Due SSS #850

[Two Flints]

This is the bullet mold, as mentioned by Macon Due that he received from Tom at Accurate Molds.





Macon, for those SSS members who own a .45 Schofield Spencer, what do they ask Tom to make for them so that the 45-240E mold will work in their .45 Schofield Spencers?

Macon Due, many thanks for your posts on this subject.

Two Flints

[Macon Due]

Two flints
If it was me ,I'd ask for the exact same mold [ the # 45-240E] to be used also in the .45 S&W..... I asked for it to cast a .452"-.453" bullet out of wheel weight material. it says the 'meplat' is .18 but in reality it runs closer to .202-.205". If a person wanted it a bit larger in diameter I might ask for a 'meplat of .222" in which case I would also ask for the bullet weight to be increased from 240g to about 255 grains  cast from wheel weights with the extra weight in the nose length. In other words increase the length of the bullet but with the body of the bullet remaining the same length as it is now and the increase in overall length being in the nose. The reason for this being to ensure I did not end up with a less gently tapered , more stubby bullet than desired to function correctly.
Hope this helps.
Macon Due #850