spencer 50-70
Want to know if a 50-56 spencer can be rechambered to 50-70. I know it would only function as a single shot but since 45-70 can go to 45-90 etc it seems like it would work. Would like to hunt with spencer but 50-56 is not legal length in my state. When spencers were converted for buffalo trade in old days were they rechambered?
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In my opinion this would not be a good idea. First of all,if you have a 1865 model Spencer in 56-50 it is worth far more as a antique then you would ever realize on any type of conversion. Second,while the Spencer action is adequate for the cartridge for which it was chambered,I don't believe that there is much reserve strength in the action. Third,you would have to convert the breech block from rimfire to center fire. Fourth,the extractor/ejector on the Spencer is relatively weak and was one of the reasons that the Spencer was droped from use by the Army. Also,I don't believe that the extractor has enough range of movement to withdraw a case that much longer from the chamber,but haven't tried it in my own Spencers. You do realize that you would be limited to black powder because of the strength of the action? As far as the Spencer being used as a buffalo rifle,what they did was to ride into the herd and ride as close to one of the animals as they could get and try to shoot it in the head. This was called "buffalo running". It was done for sport and to show how brave you were and was dictated by the anemic ballistics of the Spencer cartridges. Nowhere in the literature of the buffalo hunting era (1870-1884) have I ever come across a reffernce to the Spencer being used from a stand as where the Sharps and Remingtons. Neither have I ever run across any reffernce to Spencers being rechambered to any other cartridges,nor in over 40 years of collecting have I ever come across a Spencer chambered for something other then the 4 Spencer cartridges. All in all I think that it is a bad idea. 0 -
quote: The reason I asked is I recently saw a spencer-hawken and if I have one made up I wanted it in a caliber I could hunt with.
In my opinion this would not be a good idea. First of all,if you have a 1865 model Spencer in 56-50 it is worth far more as a antique then you would ever realize on any type of conversion. Second,while the Spencer action is adequate for the cartridge for which it was chambered,I don't believe that there is much reserve strength in the action. Third,you would have to convert the breech block from rimfire to center fire. Fourth,the extractor/ejector on the Spencer is relatively weak and was one of the reasons that the Spencer was droped from use by the Army. Also,I don't believe that the extractor has enough range of movement to withdraw a case that much longer from the chamber,but haven't tried it in my own Spencers. You do realize that you would be limited to black powder because of the strength of the action? As far as the Spencer being used as a buffalo rifle,what they did was to ride into the herd and ride as close to one of the animals as they could get and try to shoot it in the head. This was called "buffalo running". It was done for sport and to show how brave you were and was dictated by the anemic ballistics of the Spencer cartridges. Nowhere in the literature of the buffalo hunting era (1870-1884) have I ever come across a reffernce to the Spencer being used from a stand as where the Sharps and Remingtons. Neither have I ever run across any reffernce to Spencers being rechambered to any other cartridges,nor in over 40 years of collecting have I ever come across a Spencer chambered for something other then the 4 Spencer cartridges. All in all I think that it is a bad idea.0 -
I have a question. What in the world is a "Hawken-Spencer"? Iam familiar with Spencer carbines and own several,Iam also familiar with the Spencer infantry rifle and own one of them,but have never heard of a Hawken-Spencer. If you want to hunt with the Spencer,with it's 350 grain bullet and 40 grains of black powder it is just a little bit more powerful then the Winchester .44-40 which would just about make it a short range deer cartridge. Velocity from the 32 inch rifle barrel is about 1200 fps. From the 22 inch carbine barrel velocity is only about 900-1000 fps. 0 -
A spencer-hawken is rifle reworked by J.P. Gemmer. It was owned by none other than Liver Eating Johnson aka Jeremiah Johnson. It has the Hawken style half stock barrel and forearm and buttstock with no provision for the magazine tube.. It is in the Wyo state museum. Here in Wyo there is a big game cartridge length law which was put in to eliminate the use of underpowered rifles such as the 44-40.
Since Gemmer made conversions to trapdoors,sharps and others I wondered if he also might have made caliber changes to the Spencer.0
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