Spencer Carbine

[awyllie11]

Hi
I have a Spencer carbine serial number 51469. Cananyone give me any information on this gun?
Thanks
Art

 

[johan_steele]

Pictures always help.

 

[UCVRelics]

We would love to help find info. If you can post photos of the entire Spencer and the makers marks and serial # and we will see what we can find for you. Looking forward to see your Spencer.

 

[scooter748driver]

Welcome from the Fort Sumter and the Fredericksburg forums.

Yes, post pics please.

 

[awyllie11]

I have taken the best images I can, thanks.

 

[JOHN42768]

Welcome, enjoy

 

[UCVRelics]

Thanks for the photos. Its not listed in the SRS and with that serial # its a VERY late war produced gun and would have been issued in early 1865.

 

[Conquerordie]

Nice gun, has a replaced rear sight, could restore it to the ladder type sight it originally had, or leave as is.

 

[Jeff in Ohio]

This one was used during it's working lifetime, which is a good look. You can see the sight is a new one, the original longer sight was gone, and someone replaced it with this simpler and more robust sight.
For my taste, I like it better with the new one removed, since you are not going to be shooting this and so don't need a rear sight.
These Spencer carbines were well liked, and there was a continuing demand for them even after the War. They were used in the West...In the Clint Eastwood moving "Unforgiven" the character Ned Logan played by Morgan Freeman was using his Spencer Carbine as his weapon of choice....I think this movie was set about 1881.

 

[awyllie11]

Thanks all for your comments.
What I have found is that Spencer carbine serial number 51427 (just 42 numbers off of this one) was issued to Emmitt Gilbreath of the 14th Kansas Cavalry on March 25, 1865. I am assuming that this one was part of that group.

 

[scooter748driver]

Thanks all for your comments.
What I have found is that Spencer carbine serial number 51427 (just 42 numbers off of this one) was issued to Emmitt Gilbreath of the 14th Kansas Cavalry on March 25, 1865. I am assuming that this one was part of that group.

No, you can't assume anything like that. While it may be possible, unless there is a direct match on the SRS or unless you find some other document listing that carbine by number and unit, you can't assume it was issued to the same unit.

 

[UCVRelics]

Thanks all for your comments.
What I have found is that Spencer carbine serial number 51427 (just 42 numbers off of this one) was issued to Emmitt Gilbreath of the 14th Kansas Cavalry on March 25, 1865. I am assuming that this one was part of that group.

You can't really assume that as there are many in the 514 range issued the 7th Indiana Cav

 

[Jeff in Ohio]

No, you can't assume anything like that. While it may be possible, unless there is a direct match on the SRS or unless you find some other document listing that carbine by number and unit, you can't assume it was issued to the same unit.

The serial number you list as closest to yours is 51427 and the SRS records show it was issued to a trooper in Company A, 14th Kansas Cavalry.
But there were no more than 100 men in Company A of the 14th Kansas, and the earliest serial issued to Co. A was 49,235, and the last to Company A was 52,740, a spread of 2,790 serials. So, only 1 out of 30 in this range went to Company A of the 14th Kansas.
So you really can't know where your Spencer went.