Make: Burnside Rifle Company
Model: 1865 Spencer Carbine
Serial Number: 21349 (matching barrel)
Year of Manufacture: 1865 / ATF Classification: Antique
Caliber/Gauge: .56-50 Spencer Rimfire
Action Type: Lever operated rotating breechblock, tubular magazine, and a Stabler cutoff in the front of the trigger guard
Barrel Length: 20"
Sights/Optics: The front sight is a brass blade pinned into a base fixed to the barrel. The rear sight is a folding ladder sight with a v-notch dovetailed into the barrel.
Grip/Stock Configuration & Condition: The furniture is two-piece smooth wood with a straight wrist grip, straight comb, and a smooth metal buttplate. The buttplate has little remaining finish and heavy wear. The wood shows scattered pressure dings, drag lines, and scratches. There are three characters on the left side of the buttstock which are no longer legible. LOP measures 13" from the front of the trigger to the back of the buttplate. There is a crack on the bottom right of the butt. The furniture rates in Good condition.
Type of Finish: Blue & case color
Finish Originality: Nonoriginal
Bore Condition: The bore is dark and the rifling is worn. There is mild to heavy pitting and erosion throughout the bore. In this writer's opinion, the bore rates 4/10.
Overall Condition: This rifle retains about 20% of its metal finish (counting the cold blue). The metal surfaces are heavily worn, with pitting, scratches, and other blemishes scattered throughout. The barrel has cold blue applied and the hammer was refinished. The screw heads show little to no tooling and retain turnable slots. The markings are clear and complete. Overall, this rifle rates in Good condition as an antique.
Mechanics: The action functions correctly. We did not fire this firearm. As with all used firearms, a thorough cleaning may be necessary to meet your maintenance standards.
Box, Paperwork & Accessories: None
Our Assessment: The Model 1865 Spencer Carbine represented the final major U.S. military development of Christopher Spencer’s famous repeating carbine. The Model 1865 incorporated the newer .56-50 Spencer rimfire cartridge, a shortened 20" barrel, and, on many examples, Edward Stabler’s magazine cutoff. The Stabler device allowed the carbine to be operated as a single-shot while retaining the cartridges in the buttstock magazine in reserve. Burnside Rifle Company of Providence, Rhode Island manufactured Model 1865 Spencer carbines under government contract, with documented deliveries beginning in April 1865. This example, serial number 21349, has a matching-numbered barrel and retains the desirable Stabler cutoff. Its 20" barrel and .56-50 chambering are characteristic of the Model 1865 configuration.
This carbine retains about 20% of its metal finish when including the later cold blue applied to the barrel. The metal surfaces show extensive age and service wear with scattered pitting, scratches, finish loss, and other blemishes, and the hammer has also been refinished. The smooth wood furniture shows numerous pressure dings, drag lines, and scratches, with a crack at the lower right portion of the butt and three now-illegible characters on the left side of the buttstock. The bore is dark with worn rifling and mild to heavy pitting and erosion throughout, rating 4/10. Despite its well-used appearance, the action functions correctly, the screw slots remain in quite good shape, and the principal markings remain clear. The matching barrel is a particularly desirable feature on a heavily used military arm of this age. Overall, this Burnside-manufactured Model 1865 Spencer Carbine rates in Good condition as an antique and remains an evocative example of the repeating cavalry arms that bridged the Civil War and early Indian Wars periods. Please see our photos for a better understanding of the condition and good luck with your bids!
