How and When did you fall in love with the Spencer

[Tuolumne Lawman]

Question:  How and or When did you first fall in love with the Spencer.

For me it was the summer of 1970.  I was working as a handyman at a restaurant owned by my girlfriends family.  It was called "Aylwards Round Up" and it had a Western motiff.  There were numerous original Old West artifacts and guns mounted to the walls, etc.  The was an original Spencer carbine in a glass front shadow box right next to the cash register.  It also had a copy of the picture of the cavalry trooper loading one from the ten tube Blakeslee Box.

When my hormones weren't raging (dang she was hot and she had a 1968 red GTO convertable!) I was facinated by the old guns, especially the Spencer.  In fact, that is the only gun there that I specifically remember.

When the Taylor's 1865 Spencer came out in 2002 I got a .45 Schofield one to do an article on.  I couldn't afford to buy it after the evaluation, but I was hooked. It wasn't until  2004 that I finally got one to keep.  It was an original 56-56 that had been partially chromed as a presentation piece. It had a mint bore. too.  It put a centerfire block in it and it shot great.

[matt45]

When I was around 10 or 11 I found an old rimfire case up in a ghost town.  Fast forward to when I was a sophmore in High School there was an old gun shop in Butte that had a Spencer, and the owner would let me cycle the action (never could dry fire it- and could never afford it, either).  Thank the Lord they are making something most of us can afford, now.

[Black River Smith]

I was a Freshman in high school 69/70, it was in American history.  There in the textbook at that time was pictured a Spencer and a drawing of the workings.  I know I wanted one.  Never found an original in the 80's / 90's that I could afford or afford to load either.  Also conversion blocks were not advertised as much back then.

But, I have one now (2005) in 56/50 and really enjoy it.

[Major 2]

TL

it was about the same time as you... I was just back from the service.
A friend of mine knew a Gunsmith that had a Spencer in a basket.
The Smith had disassembled the gun for polishing to restore & nickel it.
But , the owner never paid him, so... Steve bought the gun, and I reassembled it.
Steve still has it, I liked it so well I bought one at a Gun Show for $350
I still have that one

In 1981, I was working on the Film The Blue & The Gray I rented both of those guns to Props.
Mine was used by Gregory Peck as Abe. Lincoln in the scene with an actor playing Christopher Spencer.
Stacy Ketch used the other one.
I made my Gun & S&S Upper block purchase price back and then some.

I almost bought two Fletcher Bidwell Spencers for another film , but delivery was delayed & the above same two guns were used again.
Luckily the Fletcher Bidwell fraud did not get me....
When I saw the first guns Tammy & Sue had at Taylor's I deside to get one for myself , but all they had were 44 Russian.
I waited until the 45 Sch. was available and traded for one , NIB
I now own the original 56/56 & the 45 Sch. (which matches my OT)
I've considered a 56/50 but then the 56/56 serves , but my range RO's won't allow the uses of non pistol calibers in Cas.

[Harve Curry]

I was always facinated by the early metalic breechloaders, especially repeaters. It was before the film "Unforgiven" came out a Spencer was floating around Tucson and I kept missing my chance at it for $800-$900. I went to a gunshow and there it was but now after Unforgiven it was $1200. I'd been carrying around a home equity line of credit check in my wallet for over a year and used it to buy the Spencer. It was the most expensve gun I ever bought . Has alot of saddle wear being a 1865 carbine 56-50  but the bore is mint. I've used it on the film "Into the West" to shoot some downed taxidermied horses and an Indian. With live ammo it shoots good and I use it for coyotes. If I get drawn for oryx the plan is to use the Spencer out to 75 yards.

[mtmarfield]

   Greetings!

   I don't recall exactly; it was probably like the "gotta have it!"'s that I felt when I saw the LeMat on the cover of the March 1978 Am. Rifleman... A 'Guns & Ammo' from the 70's had an article about a fellow who converted a spare 1860 Spencer breech block to centerfire, and then shortened DGW .50-70 brass for cartridges. Being enamored of early breechloaders, some bells&whistles no doubt went off!
   When L. Romano Spencers hit the scene in the 90's, I decided that I would sell an American Eagle Luger {wish I still had it...} to make some cash. Some time later, I received an incredibly beautiful 1860 Carbine. Having developed case forming for "obsolete" firearms into an absolute fetish, the real fun began! I've been permanently warped since!

      Be Well, All!

                 M.T.Marfield:.
                     2-17-07

[W.T.]

"Unforgiven".

"I can shoot the eye outta a bird flyin'."

[Snapshot]

Since the Palmetto replica came on the marked in the 56-50 cal. Since we started to talk Spencer rifles and carbines on the old CAS-list....
Now I am the happy owner of one replica in 56-50....  The only regret is that I could not bring my Spencer Rifle as the long barrel here on on the Balkans, I had to setle for the 7.62 H&K AG-3 and my trusted Glock.

Best Regards
Snapshot
On duty tour somwhere on the Balkans

[Captain Tanglefoot]

When I was 7 or 8 my cousin gave me a toy one. It had plastic stock and foregrip with a metal barrel and action. It was about 3 inches long or so and could fire caps. I fell in love with the lines of the thing. There is something about the that drop in the reciever were the lever attaches that I always liked. I saw one of those toys at a local gun show a couple of years back and it sure brought the memories flooding back. I think I still have mine somewhere but, now I play with the real thing and it's alot more fun. Bigger boy bigger toy.

[Major 2]

Since the Palmetto replica came on the marked in the 56-50 cal. Since we started to talk Spencer rifles and carbines on the old CAS-list....
Now I am the happy owner of one replica in 56-50....  The only regret is that I could not bring my Spencer Rifle as the long barrel here on on the Balkans, I had to setle for the 7.62 H&K AG-3 and my trusted Glock.

Best Regards
Snapshot
On duty tour somwhere on the Balkans

Armi Sport makes the Spencer...
Though Palmetto makes the Colt Revolving Rifle & once made arguably the most authentic 1863 Sharps carbine replica... The Garrett Sharps.
Some of the Palmetto personal, left to start Chaparral.

[Will Ketchum]

We had a kid in he neighborhood about 50 years ago that had an old Spencer that he usded to play "cowboys & indians" with.  I always tried to talk him out of it but never managed to   I still haven't bought one

Will Ketchum

[Bead Swinger]

When I was a kid in the early 70's,  my mom decorated my room with some prints of post-war cavalry soldiers, including one corporal with a Spencer. When I got into high school, I started reenacting, and my unit commander had an original carbine, and got me going to the Baltimore  (MD) gunshow, and got to see lots of originals - the engineer in me was completely hooked. What a beautifully simple, reliable system. At that point it was not if, but when I'd land on one.

Once I got out of college, I was at the Allentown (PA) gunshow, and came across a table with more than a dozen carbines and rifles - and I blew some of my grad-school money on my 56-56 rifle for $465; I still think I should have bought everything on the table - There were at least two more rifles for under $1000, and several carbines. At the next Baltimore show, I picked up the S&S block, and eventually landed on the Rapine bullet mould and 4-D dies while I was in grad school. CBA seemed an easy move - even if I'll never win!  It's such a hoot to blast off a tube of ammo. 

[Grapeshot]

The first time I saw a Spencer was on a Walt Disney Television show.  Was intrigued by the design and action.  Years later, when I was on Active Dutty, I was home on leave and a friend of mine brought mer over to one of his fellow police officer's house and we got to talking about guns.  His buddy opened his closet and brought out a Spencer carbine and let me handle it.  Right then and there I decided that I wanted one.  Now I have one of the Taylor repro's in .56/50.  I'll be itchiong to get it into action this shooting season.