chiappa spencer QUESTIONS

NB.nagantsniper

NB.nagantsniper

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
362   0   0
Location
northern nb
thinking on buying a 44-40 CHIAPPA spencer rifle ( infantry model 30 inch barrel )

any members OWN the rifle or carbine.

what issues did YOU have. what things to try an AVOID ?

what solution did you do for your problem, if any.

ANY HELP / INFO MOST WELCOMED.
 
I would go on the CAS city hall forums they have a spencer rifle section there that covers all the problems you might find with a chiappa spencer.The biggest problem is they suffer from quality control so it s luck of the draw if you get one without any problems.Another thing to think of is if you have any problems the warranty repair on Chiappa firearms is a bit of a nightmare here in Canada
 
NB.nagantsniper said:
thinking on buying a 44-40 CHIAPPA spencer rifle ( infantry model 30 inch barrel )

any members OWN the rifle or carbine.

what issues did YOU have. what things to try an AVOID ?

what solution did you do for your problem, if any.

ANY HELP / INFO MOST WELCOMED.
Click to expand...

I have the carbine in .45 Colt, and the only problem I have is the barrel band slips off when shooting because of a weak spring on the catch. It's a pretty accurate rifle, and lots of fun to shoot. Hickok45 did a review on his channel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9926qMkzkw&t=1211s
 
i have read thru the cacity.com s website spencer forum, some good info there of course. also a few good videos on you tube for doing basic tweeks to get the chiappa to work .

another question i thought of as a possible beginner to chiappa spencers can you start off with factory made / store bought 44-40 ammo ?? smokeless loaded ? if i get the rifle ill need a mold and dies .

any more possible problems?

any advise in gneral, or on dies / molds or ammo if i proceed that far ?
 
Curtis264 said:
I have the Spencer carbine from Chiappa, just received it back from Gretch outdoors who does their warranty work. After the second time using it the whole breech block came out of the rifle, have not had a chance to shoot it since. Cass is a good place to get info, the Spencer Shooting society is the thread on the Spencer https://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php?board=35.0
Click to expand...

Just took it back out after the warranty work fix, fired 3 shots and the same thing happened again
 
I have a Chiappa Spencer carbine in 56-50. Beautiful little gun! Gorgeous case colours in the receiver and hammer. Great looking wood. Good little shooter at 50 yds.

Did I have issues with it? Yes. The barrel band was loose and after about 20 rds, the barrel seemed loose! As a long time resident of CasCity, I appealed to the 'sperts on Spencers and was buried in information. They even have a FAQ forum on trouble shooting them.

The cure for the barrel band was to put a strip of electrical tape inside of the barrel band. Done.

I emailed Chiappa in Italy and was told to LocTite the barrel in place! I did and no problems since. That or contact Grech Outdoors. A quick check on reviews of Grech and that was not an option.

I was gifted with a copy of Marcot's book on the Spencer, an out of print volume that is the Bible on historic Spencers. Goes for $200 USD if you can find one.

You have to operate the Spencer as if you were mad at it. If you baby it, it will not feed reliably.

In the Marcot book there is a comment by a US Army Officer that he ordered his troops to discard the mag tube, load 5 instead of 7 rds, plug the butt with a rubber or wooden plug and to point the gun at the ground when operating the lever, letting gravity do the work. He was right!

You also do some grinding polishing on the breechblock in a critical area, but I chose not to do that. Done incorrectly, you only create new problems.

You have to remember that it is 1860s technology. DO NOT drop your rds vertically into the gun, especially if you use Federal primers! Just like the Henry, it is asking for trouble.
 
Going back to the original question, if the reproduction is a faithful copy of the original (except for being centerfire), the extractor could be a problem. On the originals, the extractor travels down and back and if it is all rough, it saws away at the rim of the cartridge

cheers mooncoon
 
mooncoon said:
Going back to the original question, if the reproduction is a faithful copy of the original (except for being centerfire), the extractor could be a problem. On the originals, the extractor travels down and back and if it is all rough, it saws away at the rim of the cartridge

cheers mooncoon
Click to expand...

Sharps 74 hit it on the nail you have to treat the gun like you're mad at it when you're extracting, you have to be hard on the lever and it'll extract, none of my brass cases and I'm using 45 Colt have any damage because of doing this
 
Curtis264 said:
Sharps 74 hit it on the nail you have to treat the gun like you're mad at it when you're extracting, you have to be hard on the lever and it'll extract, none of my brass cases and I'm using 45 Colt have any damage because of doing this
Click to expand...

I used a turned brass case in my gun and while extraction was easy for the first one or two shots, the extractor quickly wore through the rim of the case and all future shells had to be knocked out with a ram rod. Being a rimfire, the extractor wears on the same location with every shot. I would wonder if your chamber is a tiny bit rough if your gun is in 45 cold

cheers mooncoon
 
cigar_man said:
Just buy an original antique instead of a reproduction.
Click to expand...

a repro new is about 1800$ then fix any quality problems as they appear.

as to an original, tried that on last switzers auction price was about double , and no guarantee on a 150 year old rifle .

theres a basket case spencer on the black powder EE but again how much $$$ to get it shooting .

and there the member with a group of now 5 chiappa spenceRS in the sporting gun EE.

MAYBE MY IDEA on bying is not feasable.
 
Curtis264 said:
Sharps 74 hit it on the nail you have to treat the gun like you're mad at it when you're extracting, you have to be hard on the lever and it'll extract, none of my brass cases and I'm using 45 Colt have any damage because of doing this
Click to expand...

Not just on extraction - you have to be very positive in chambering the net rd as well! Like the Commanches were coming across the river and you were sh!t scared!

Pampering it will simply not end well.
 
Nice job of talking yourself out of buying one!

It IS interesting! Just 1860s technology. You're either into firearms of the ACW or you're not. They all have issues, whether repros or originals.

Anyone who isn't into working with them should give them a pass. For one thing, owning and shooting one isn't cheap.

But - who hasn't had to tune a modern rifle: glass bed it, add an aftermarket trigger, replace the stock, shim scope mounts, shave barrel channels, etc., etc.

People today expect a rifle/handgun to come out of the box and perform flawlessly with no effort on their part. That's why the market is flooded with cheap plastic stocked rifles that come with cheap scopes that fail on the first trip to the range.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom