To use the Spencer, a lever had to be worked to extract the used case and feed a new cartridge from the tube. Cartridges were loaded with 45 grains (2.9 g) of black powder.ĭiagram of the Spencer rifle showing the magazine in the butt Unlike later cartridge designations, the first number referred to the diameter of the case ahead of the rim, while the second number referred to the diameter at the mouth the actual bullet diameter was. The design was completed by Christopher Spencer in 1860, and was for a magazine-fed, lever-operated rifle chambered for the. The Spencer carbine was a shorter and lighter version. It was adopted by the Union Army, especially by the cavalry, during the American Civil War, but did not replace the standard issue muzzle-loading rifled muskets in use at the time. The Spencer repeating rifle was a manually operated lever-action, repeating rifle fed from a tube magazine with cartridges. Spencer company, Burnside Rifle Co, WinchesterĤ7 inches (1,200 mm) rifle with 30 inch barrelģ9.25 inches (997 mm) carbine with 22 inch barrel
