What is Spencer repeating rifle?
[[File:L spencercarbine.jpg |thumb|right|300px|{{Center|Spencer Carbine}}]] The '''Spencer repeating rifle''' was a lever-action, seven shot [[repeating rifle]] with a [[Breechblock|rotating block]]. It had a [[Cylinder|tubular]] magazine that fed 56-56 rimfire cartridges into the [[chamber (firearms)|chamber]].<ref name=JamesGA>{{cite web |url=http://www.gunsandammo.com/historical/7-shot-wonder-the-spencer-repeating-rifle/ |title=7-Shot Wonder: The Spencer Repeating Rifle |author=Garry James |date=14 October 2015 |website=Guns & Ammo |publisher=Outdoor Sportsman Group |access-date=18 August 2016}}</ref> The rifle was [[invented]] by [[Christopher Miner Spencer]] and [[patent]]ed in 1860.<ref name=aotc>{{cite web |url=http://www.aotc.net/Spencer.htm |title=The Spencer Repeater and other breechloading rifles of the Civil War |author=Bob Redman |publisher=Army of the Cumberland |access-date=18 August 2016 |archive-date=12 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101212041309/http://aotc.net/Spencer.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> == History == Spencer had formerly worked for [[Samuel Colt]]. His rifle was one of the most advanced designs of the [[American Civil War]].<ref name=NRAfam>{{cite web |url=http://www.nramuseum.org/guns/the-galleries/a-nation-asunder-1861-to-1865/case-14-union-carbines/us-spencer-lever-action-repeating-carbine.aspx |title=U.S. Spencer Lever Action Repeating Carbine |publisher=NRA National Firearms Museum |access-date=18 August 2016}}</ref> It took some time to sell the idea to the [[United States Government]] so the rifles were not produced until 1863.{{efn|Civil War infantrymen on both sides mainly used .58 or .577 caliber [[Rifled musket|rifle-muskets]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/warfare-and-logistics/warfare/smallarms.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/ |title=Small Arms of the Civil War |publisher=Civil War Trust |access-date=18 August 2016 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The main re