^Lot 3521 CIVIL WAR 1860 SPENCER BREECHLOADING CARBINE.

Cal. 52 (56-52). S# 32840. Standard configuration, 22" barrel with 6 groove rifling, marked on receiver top flat "SPENCER REPEATING / RIFLE CO. BOSTON MASS / PAT'D MARCH 6 1860". Buttstock is arsenal upgrade with later inspection on top of comb. Over 90,000 of these popular carbines were purchased by the government. The Spencer was the first repeater rugged enough for military service. So formidable was its rapid fire that it was named the "horizontal shot tower" by the Confederates. The heavy casualties at Chickamauga inflicted by the Spencer rifles of Wilder's' brigade proved the value of the repeater in war. The many battlefield captured Spencers by Confederates could only be used till captured cartridges ran out. Copper was scarce in the South & one hundred percussion caps could be made from the metal required for one Spencer cartridge. Cavalry units from Michigan, New York, Wisconsin, Indiana, Connecticut, New Jersey, Ohio & Massachusetts were equipped with Spencer carbines. UNATTACHED ACCESSORIES: 6 original copper cased .56/.56 cartridges with two bullets (dug in 1974 at Hoover's Gap, TN by our consignor). CONDITION: very good overall, matching serial numbers on barrel and frame. Maker's mark is better than most and well struck, frame is smooth silvered patina, case color is retained in protected areas of breech mechanism. Barrel has overall plum patina with traces of blue in protected areas. (01-28143/JS). ANTIQUE. $3,000-4,000.