Civil War Ballard Carbine in Spencer 56-50

[Arizona Trooper]

Dai, It's probably a 56-56, as several folks have noted. If it is a Dwight Chapin "Old Model", the bore is way oversize, more like 54 caliber. I have a rifle (30 inch barrel) that was converted to centerfire for post war arms trilas. It's a good shooter but bullets need to be about .555" diameter to even have a hope of hitting anything! Rapine 56-56 bullets are way too small. If yours is still rimfire, the Dixie 22 primed brass is the way to go. I've fired Spencers, Joslyns and Ballards with it and it worked fine.

If yours is actually marked Dwight Chapin it is EXTREMELY rare. Most were rebuilt by Ball and Williams after government inspectors rejected the lot, because D.C. quality control was lousy. When the frames were refinished the Dwight markings were removed, leavig only Ballard's Patent and Merwin & Bray Agent markings. Most major parts are serial numbered, and these will be all mixed up. My rifle is 888, breech assy. is 7, extractor 2000, and so on. The state of Kentucky eventually bought 1000 carbines and 600 rifles, all of which wound up in cavalry service. The carbines are much more often seen than rifles. It appears that the rifles were sold off on the international market. There are less than a dozen known in the US.

There was an experimental 56-50 Ballard made after the war. I'll have to check my books for more information. As I recal only a few were made for trials. It's completely different from the Kentucky Civil War 56-56s.

I wrote an artical on big bore CW Ballards for the N-SSA magaine a couple years ago and would be glad to send you a copy. I could send you a few Ballard sized 56-56 bullets too. Drop me a line at T_CBECK@Charleston.net and I'll send it next week, when I get home.

[Arizona Trooper]

By the way, the Stephen V. Benét (pronounced Ben-ay) was the inventor of the inside cup central fire primer. He was an ordnance officer at Springfield and the father of poet Stephen Vincent Benét (Jr. and author of "The Devil and Daniel Webster" among other things).   

[Dai.S.Loe]

Dai,

I believe the 15 that you are finding is an assembly number as these guns were mass produced but hand fit they used a number to make sure the part they fit went into the rifle they were fitting it to.

Old Top

Thank you this makes a lot of sense. It is still fun finding out about this lovely old piece of the gunsmiths art.

[Bead Swinger]

Hmmm... .555 needed? ' Seems pretty large. Please note that Rapine makes another Spencer mould besides the 535370 - It's 5463xx, if I remember correctly. I'm thinking it was created for the really early rifles/carbines which were more like Sharps .54's; possibly for Joselyn's, but I'm guessing here. I bought the .535 since I knew my gun to be near the end of the 56-56's; Fortunately, it does seem to shoot pretty well.

Now, I might be way off, but the last time that I took a few of my loaded 56-56's, the ball actually measured .558 or so right at the case .  They started life at .535 or so, but right where the heel went into the case, they measured larger, apparently from the loading process forcing the top part of the heel to match the outside case dimension, which really is pretty close to .56.  I thought nothing of it at the time, but I think I'll get a pile of loaded 56-56's out with a set of calipers and see what they actually measure at after being loaded.  Now even if my memory is correct, this probably isn't enough lead to grab a bore that really is more like .54x as opposed to .535.

In any event, if you need a bigger ball, consider the Rapine 546xxx; It still seems like a slug in your bore is the way to go.