This famous longarm is a Civil War Model 1860 Spencer Repeating rifle in very good original condition. Initial army contracts with the Spencer Company of Boston, Massachusetts called for 10,000 repeating firearms at a cost of $40.00 each. This specimen, serial #1646, was one of the approximately 11,000 produced between 1863 and 1864. Rifle is a .52 caliber rimfire longarm that used the “No. 56” Spencer rimfire cartridge.

Rifle measures 47” overall with a 30” round barrel that features six-groove rifling. Bore is clean with good rifling. Features rear flip-up sight and front blade site emanating from a socket bayonet lug. All gun metal exhibits light use and wear and scattered light pitting. On the top of the receiver is the three-line maker’s stamping “SPENCER REPEATING - / RIFLE CO. BOSTON, MASS / PAT’D MARCH 6, 1860”. Early serial number “1646” is visible at rear of receiver. Mechanically good with one very minor exception: the spring for the cartridge guide (the piece that sits atop the breech block and guides the spent case out of the receiver and then guides the new cartridge into the chamber) is loose or broken so there is no tension on the guide.  Butt plate, tube magazine, sling swivels, nose cap, barrel bands, and band springs all here and show similar wear with uniform pewter-gray color.

Barrel is mated to a black walnut two-piece stock. The fore stock is in very good condition. There is a hairline crack that runs on the underside from the receiver out to the to the screw on the bottom (~1 ½” long). No trace of government cartouche visible. Wood has original finish with beautiful patina and depth of color. Shoulder stock is equally as nice with only a old, shallow 1 ½” long gouge on the left cheek of the stock.

The most important piece of information on this rifle is the serial number 1646. This number tracks the rifle to the 5th Michigan Cavalry as follows:

Only two units of the Army of the Potomac were armed with Spencer Repeating Rifles at Gettysburg.  While organizing the 5th Michigan Cavalry, Lt. Col. Joseph T Copeland privately purchased 1200 Spencer rifles. The first 500 were delivered about January 5, 1863 followed by another 500 in mid to late January 1863. The remaining 200 arrived in February 1863. The first thousand that were delivered had serial numbers ranging from between 1000-2050 while the last two hundred were numbered between 2051-3250.  The first 900 rifles went to the 5th Michigan Cavalry and the other 300 went to the 6th Michigan Cavalry. With this rifle having a number that falls well within the range of those delivered first it no doubt went to the 5th Michigan. Also, the fact that the weapon does not have a cartouche mark shows that it was purchased privately and was no doubt one of the weapons purchased by Lt. Col. Copeland. Ordnance records of the 5th and 6th Regiments Michigan Cavalry, submitted a month after the Battle of Gettysburg, indicate these two regiments carried a total of 572 Spencer Repeating Rifles and 10,000 rounds of ammunition to the field.  The men of these regiments made good use of their Spencers in the July 3 cavalry battle east of Gettysburg, but this was the only place on the Gettysburg battlefield that the Spencer saw action except for those rare cases of soldiers who had privately purchased the weapon.

A nice, very low numbered Model 1860 Spencer Army rifle with Gettysburg provenance. [jet]

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