Just won another spencer

[Ibgreen]

Putting Kerr rifling aside, has anyone tried gain twist rifling in a spencer?  Wasn't the original Burnside carbine a gain twist?

[Herbert]

The Kerr style of rifling is no good for the Spencer , it needs a long bullet to stabilise in the fast twist barrel.I have used a original Lancaster,Kerr and a Witworth rifles and the Witworth shot better than the gain-twist Kerr though the Kerr would load much eaiser after a few shots,the Witworth had to be kept very clean,the oval bored Lancaster worked much better for me though it too required a closer fitting bullet for best accuracy or the bullet could strip in the rifleing but it is very quick to clean.The original Burncide caping breach loaders did have a gain twist barrell  as far as I know, but reports of its accuracy by Colonel Reno states its accuracy and range were pore.The rifling in the Spencer is dictated by the need to use a short fat bullet at lower velocitys,this works out best at 1 in 36 for the 56-50 with a bullet lenth of .75+ ,a 56-56 Spencer with a slower twist will need a heeled bullet as short as can be made to feed and as high a velocity as posible with the 40 gr BP load

[Fox Creek Kid]

I'm thinking original Spencers had a 1 in 48" rate of twist.

[Snakeeater]

The Kerr style of rifling is no good for the Spencer , it needs a long bullet to stabilise in the fast twist barrel.I have used a original Lancaster,Kerr and a Witworth rifles and the Witworth shot better than the gain-twist Kerr though the Kerr would load much eaiser after a few shots,the Witworth had to be kept very clean,the oval bored Lancaster worked much better for me though it too required a closer fitting bullet for best accuracy or the bullet could strip in the rifleing but it is very quick to clean.

I have not as yet shot my large-bore Whitworth as I am still negotiating for the cylindro-conical bullet mould with NEI on account of its size. Peter Dyson is supplying me with a hex wad cutter, but like the mould, I am at a disadvantage in that no one makes anything quite as large as I need. The link below has some information relating to the rifle, and the bullet, which had a wood plug in the nose (shown page 211 at link below).

http://books.google.com/books?id=8HTNAAAAMAAJ&lpg=PA213&ots=jyNF_q79LA&dq=large-bore%20Whitworth&pg=PA211#v=onepage&q=large-bore%20Whitworth&f=false

[Ibgreen]

The Kerr style of rifling is no good for the Spencer , it needs a long bullet to stabilise in the fast twist barrel.I have used a original Lancaster,Kerr and a Witworth rifles and the Witworth shot better than the gain-twist Kerr though the Kerr would load much eaiser after a few shots,the Witworth had to be kept very clean,the oval bored Lancaster worked much better for me though it too required a closer fitting bullet for best accuracy or the bullet could strip in the rifleing but it is very quick to clean.The original Burncide caping breach loaders did have a gain twist barrell  as far as I know, but reports of its accuracy by Colonel Reno states its accuracy and range were pore.The rifling in the Spencer is dictated by the need to use a short fat bullet at lower velocitys,this works out best at 1 in 36 for the 56-50 with a bullet lenth of .75+ ,a 56-56 Spencer with a slower twist will need a heeled bullet as short as can be made to feed and as high a velocity as posible with the 40 gr BP load

^^^^^^^^^^^ this is why this is such a good site!   I think BH could do it, but his sine bar is set up for a 1-20 twist.  I guess I won't re-invent the wheel and go conventional. 

[Herbert]

I'm thinking original Spencers had a 1 in 48" rate of twist.

The 1860 56-56 Spencer has a 1 in 48" twist that is why it shoots best with a shorter bullet at the highest velocity posible with BP.the 56-50 modle Spencers have a 1in 34" to 1 in 36" twist except for the Springfield converted Burncide Spencer carbines to rifle wich has a 1in 42" twist of the early 50-70 Sprinfield rifles,not sure of the twist rate in the Sprinfield re-lined barrels

[Ibgreen]

Just found some very faint engravings on the side.  Anyone ever seen anything like this?

[Ibgreen]

I have a 6 yo that spelled out 55 or 54 Tenn. Cav?