Question about the new Spencer 45LC carbine...

[66illinois]

Has anyone tried/used the new 45LC caliber Spencer carbine on the reenacting battlefield? How do you like it?

Does the piece have to "adapted" to fire the 45LC crimped brass blanks?

Thank You,

George A.
Shreveport, LA

[major]

George
From what I have been able to see the 45LC Spencer would not make a good reenacting gun. You would be better off with the one in 44-40. Here is an article explaining how to make it work with cheap blanks. http://www.9thnycavalry.webeditor.co...r_article.html
You could use the 5 in 1 blanks but that gets expensive when you are going to fire over 200 in a weekend. The blanks made from 410 hulls work great and are a lot cheaper then the 5 in 1. You could also go to the Spencer Shooting Society board to get more info. http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php?board=35.0

[Artyman]

Terry,

I'm about to buy a Spencer myself. I was interested in the 45LC too, since I load so many 45 LC's for my other firearms. From a live fire perspective it makes sense. What makes it difficult for blanks? Just curious before I make a mistake.

Harry

[harley_davis]

I do not have experience with the .45 Colt vs .44WCF in the Spencer, however, I do have experience with blanks in Henry's, 66 & 73 Winchesters. IMHO the biggest difficulty is the rim width on the .45 compared to .44. The rim is much smaller on the .45 casing when compared to the .44 making it harder for the extractor to pull the spent casing. These weapons were never designed to use the .45 case originally and function better with the larger rim width. Also, the .44 is a bottleneck casing vs the straight wall of the .45 which means there is less casing surface to contact the chamber wall upon extraction. Additionally, the tapered case of the .44 facilitates feeding into the chamber when compared to the straight case of the .45 round. The Spencer action itself may cause additional difficulties with the .45 but others on this forum may be able to speak with more authority on the specifics with the action. I never liked the 5 -1 plastic blanks since they use flash powder which is very corrosive in your weapon if left unattended for even a very short period of time. This fellow offers a 5 -1 blank made of brass using black powder and I have used them with good results.
http://www.gunblanks.com/ammo.html
Regards,

[Blair]

Harry,

The Spencer (whether original or repro) along with the Henry is very sensitive to the overall finished length of the cartridge. (Makes no difference what the caliber is.)
You remove the bullet from a .45 Colt and you have effectively shortened the overall finished length by about 3/8th of an inch.
To get your blank rounds to work in that gun, you have to find a way to make up for the difference in overall finished cartridge length.
I would suggest you go with a .45 Schofield and make your blanks from .45 Colt. Better yet make you blanks from .454 Casull cases which are like a Magnum case for a .45 Colt.
Blair Taylor

[Curt-Heinrich Schmidt]

Hallo!

Just an aside...

The straight walled .45 LC appears to be "dirtier" than the bottle-necked .44
allowing more "blow back" into the inner works.

CHS

[Cpt Boone]

You may also want to contact Joe Swanson for blanks.

http://www.joeswansonsmotionpictureblanks.com/

He made M1 Carbine blanks that had necked down casing where the round should be. May want to see what he can do.

[major]

Terry,

I'm about to buy a Spencer myself. I was interested in the 45LC too, since I load so many 45 LC's for my other firearms. From a live fire perspective it makes sense. What makes it difficult for blanks? Just curious before I make a mistake.

Harry

Harry
A lot of the reasons for using a Spencer in 44-40 has to do with $$$$. The cost of a good 5 in 1 blank round is over 50 cents each. And when you are firing 200 to 300 in a weekend that really adds up quick. I have found a way to make blanks for the Spencer in 44-40 for about 17 cents each using cut down 410 shotgun hulls. It requires an initial outlay of money for the tools but they would pay for themselves many times over in a short time. I have been using them in my 44-40 Spencer for the last 2 years and they work almost flawlessly. Also I get 0 blow back into the chamber from them which means that my action stays very clean. Here is a link to the article I wrote about how to make the blanks for use in a 44-40 Spencer. http://www.9thnycavalry.webeditor.co...r_article.html
As far as live shooting is concerned the 44-40 has always been a more accurate cartridge than the 45. I shoot N-SSA and almost everyone in N-SSA is shooting 44-40s in their Henrys.

[Artyman]

Please excuse my Neanderthal Mind for not comprehending the subtilities of this concept, but wouldn't a Spencer Repro made for use of 45LC already have all these issues handled?

Harry

[major]

Harry
I am not sure I fully understand you question, but IMHO the 45LC Spencer was made for the Cowboy Action Shooters. They can use modern powder and shoot very short distances in their matches. With N-SSA and reenacting we use black powder which is very dirty and in N-SSA we shoot 50 and 100 yards. Some of the problems with the Spencer in 45 can be overcome with the use of smokeless powder. But in reenacting at least, we need the smoke that is produced with black powder.