Cocking the hammer.

[John Smith]

I normally cock the hammer of my Spencer before cycling the action.  How about the rest of you?  What were the troops taught to do back in the civil war days?

[Two Flints]

Hi John,

This link may be of help in answering your question: 
http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,11020.0.html

There are other threads on SSS that cover your question.  Do a search on page one of this forum.  Just type in "Cocking the Hammer" and you should get quite a few replies.

I would imagine that in the heat of battle Union soldiers fired their Spencers all three ways - forgetting to cock the hammer before working the action, half-cocking the hammer, and full cocking the hammer.  Personally, I half cock the hammer and then work the action putting a round in the chamber.

Two Flints 

[Mossyrock]

It depends....  If I am shooting a string with follow-up shots, I bring the hammer to full cock.  If not, just to half cock.  Regardless, I don't cycle the action with the hammer down.

[Trailrider]

Howdy, Pards,
IMHO, if you are looking for speed, pulling the hammer to full cock using your thumb, allows your hand to slip down to the lever.  Of course, you want to be sure your sear gets good engagement when you lever! 

[Mossyrock]

This video shows how I run my Spencer during a string.  I am cocking the hammer with my trigger finger.

[geo]

my two cents worth...bring the hammer to full cock between shots. reduces the chance of a slam fire. good luck, geo.

[major]

To all
I have a Spencer in 44-40 and use it strictly for reenacting.  I find that I need to put the gun in a veridical position (muzzle up) when I lever it to allow gravity to help clear the shell.  I always cock after I have levered the action.  I figure that I have fired over 2000 blanks out of it and never had a slam fire.  The only problem I have run into is that a couple of times I did not get the hammer back all the way so the sear did not engage and when I let loose of the hammer it fell on the pin and fired the blank.
Terry 

[Appalachian Ed]

IF you have a Spencer with an internal floating firing pin, my opinion is to cycle action, then cock. It is 100 times more likely to hit the trigger when cycling and drop the hammer, than to 'slam fire' a Spencer with the 'correct' floating internal firing pin.

-Ed