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Spencer M1865 Serial Number

2cav66
I have a M1865 Spencer carbine manufactured by the Burnside Rifle Company. The serial number is 218A (both on the breech and on the barrel beneath the fore stock). I am trying to determine what the letter "A" denotes. Roy Marcot personally examined the gun in 1992. At that time, he had never seen the letter as part of a Spencer serial number. Does anyone have any info of this type of serial number configuration?
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  • JohnnyBGood
    If Roy Marcot doesn't know, chances are nobody knows.

    First off, are you absolutely sure it's an "A" and not a worn/defaced number?

    If you are certain it is an "A" then a GUESS might be that the Burnside Rifle Co. accidentally stamped a duplicate serial number, so to tell this carbine apart from the other one they added the "A". This scenario would be more likely if the "A" looks like it was stamped at the same time as the sn. If the "A" looks more recent, then I might guess a former owner did it for some type of inventory purposes (or perhaps a legal reason...in a foreign country?).

    Dunno [:)]

    Johnny
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  • 2cav66
    Johnny, it is definitely a letter A and it is at both serial number locations. The letter appears to have been stamped at the same time the numbers were stamped. Thanks for the suggestions.
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