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I went to an estate gun auction Sunday to see the owner's collection of antiques and how they sold. He had a mixed collection of over 300 guns about 30% some fine 19th century antiques including an extensive collection of 1849 Colt cartridge conversions and Trapdoor Springfields (about a dozen). Anyway before the auction I was attracted to a Spencer conversion buffalo rifle that was listed behind a Spencer carbine. They were #4 and #5 in the auction and several people were in the back room still bidding on all kinds of shooting support equipment but the gun auction began at 10:00 and the auction never holds things up.
I knew exactly what the Spencer was. In the late 1860's and very early 1870's there was a shortage of Sharps and Remington buffalo rifles in Dodge City (then called Buffalo City), Kansas and the Zimmerman gunshop had a gunsmith on staff who converted Civil War surplus Spencer carbines and Sharps percussion carbines into centerfire single shot buffalo rifles. Zimmerman was the world's largest Sharps dealer for over a decade and the way he ordered rifles often dictated what Sharps' standard models looked like. The big Sharps and Remington rifles were very hard to get at that time and almost everyone was either shooting conversions or Trapdoor Springfields (called needle guns). This gun has no markings at all on it. It was listed as .50 caliber and I believe it is a .50-70. It weighs between 13 and 14 pounds on my less than exact bathroom scales and has strong 8 land and groove rifling. Octagon to round barrel, Pewter stock inserts and brass trim. The auctioneer couldn't get active bidding on the buffalo rifle so I bid and got it very reasonably! This is my first time trying to post a photo so it may not work.