peashooter85:The Spencer Repeating Rifle and Carbine,Designed in 1860 by Christopher Spencer, the Sp
peashooter85:The Spencer Repeating Rifle and Carbine,Designed in 1860 by Christopher Spencer, the Spencer Rifle was a favorite among Civil War soldiers as it was one of the first practical repeating rifles that used a self contained metallic cartridge. It was a lever action rifle, with the trigger guard acting as a the lever. Pushing forward and back on the lever ejected a spent cartridge casing, while loading a new casing from the 7 round tube magazine located in the butt stock. It was chambered for a .56-56 rimfire cartridge. Unlike its competitor, the Henry Rifle (precursor to the Winchester), the hammer on the Spencer had to be hand cocked cocked with each shot.Unlike the Henry, the Spencer was easier to produce and cheaper than its competitor. The US Army bought and supplied the Spencer in limited numbers, but many Union soldiers saved their pay to buy one for themselves along with ammo. It was worth the money to have a repeating rifle when pretty much everyone else were using single shot muzzleloaders that only fired 2-3 shots a minute. The Spencer was not offered for sale to the Confederacy, and Confederate soldiers had to capture the rifle and ammunition on the battlefield. Around 200,000 were produced between 1860-1869. -- source link