roger and spencer

[wpjson]

What does anyone know about Roger and Spencer 1865 by Euroarms. Looking at one and would like some advice.

 

[Homesteader]

I have one, and have found it to be a very good smokewagon. Any specific questions?

 

[Artificer]

When Euroarms came out with the Rogers and Spencer revolvers, they wound up taking the NSSA shooters by storm. A LOT of people really liked the full size grips and they shot well. Many people who had been Remington shooters, especially, switched over to them.

Also, having been inside a couple of Original Rogers and Spencers revolvers, I can state there are only some very minor differences between the Euroarms and the Originals, and mostly on the inside, but nothing that hurts reliability or accuracy.

Gus

 

[wpjson]

Just looking to see if anyone had any problems with them. The experience of others is less expensive than getting my own.

 

[Homesteader]

:applause: Well put!

Yeah, my experience is that it's accurate, durable, and I particularly like the way the wide cap-wells (if that's a term) let the spent caps fall away from the works. On the flip side, there's no way to park the hammer between cylinders, and the hammer spur is higher than the frame, so you must cock it to sight. I'm also not a fan of the little cross-pins on the loading lever latch. Pretty minor, but worth mentioning.

But apparently US servicemen were pleased with them in the spanish American war to replace .38's for a while! That's a pretty good endorsement!

 

[torn moc]

Had one many moons ago...sweet pistole, no problems with it at all...traded it off though...I still regret the trade....
I bought a new unfired R&S online the other day ! should be arriving in a few days..
I would advise you to GRAB the one you are looking at ! They are getting rare nowadays.
I think you will love the pistol...
I loved the grip and balance.......

 

[bpd303]

I've not had any problems with mine. It is very accurate and points better than my Remingtons & Colts for me. My favorite cap & ball revolver.

 

[hawkeye2]

From the begining Euroarms seemed to build them to a higher standard than their other revolvers and those of other manufacturers. They rapidly attained a reputation for being very accurate. If you took 10 out of the box and shot them against 10 of anyone else's revolver of any style I'm willing to bet 9 out of 10 of the R&S's would outshoot all the other guns. I had the loan of one from a friend and I did well with it with no modifications which is more than I can say for any other percussion revolver I have had. I bought it from him a year later, shot it for another year doing very well with it and then I turned it over to the late Tom Ball for one of his super accuracy jobs and did even better after. You will have no problems with cap jams and they are probably the most reliable C&B revolver out there. They do have a shortcoming if you load with the lever but if you load the cylinder out of the gun there is no problem. None of what I have said or might say in the future applies to a R&S made by anyone other than Euroarms (EOA). I have no experience with the current offering but I'd be surprised if they are as well fitted as a Euroarms even if they are made with the same castings.

 

[Poor Private]

I had one, and sold it last summer, after owning for several years. I had no problem with it, but when your gun cabinet is overlaoded with handguns it turned into a safe queen. The reason I sold it--I had to finance my 1" swivel gun that I was building The wife said the easiest, and quickest way to raise the funds was to sell a few unused handguns. And thats what I did. That was the first time I have ever sold any of my "guns". Now I have a neat 100# plus swivel gun that fires 1 oz loads.

 

[RADeO]

While the grip feels a bit strange to me, and I too do not care for the tiny cross-pins in the loading lever, the trigger pull is really sweet in mine. It is box-stock and the pull is as good as my Ruger was after it had been worked over. My R&S is also very reliable and accurate.

Mine is a bit of a pain to disassemble the frame for cleaning, requiring a pair of padded-jaw Channel Lock pliers to slightly compress the grip frame to allow removal and reinsertion of the screws. I don't know if this is a problem with other examples of this revolver however.

Go ahead and grab it if you can. If it feels right in your hand, you will not be disappointed.

 

[BGRooster1]

I have one standard and one adjustable sight version of this revolver. I use the adjustable sighted one loaded with a conical for hunting and accuracy is good for whitetail out to my limit and then some.
My understanding is that by the time Pedersoli bought out all the equipment from Euroarms. The R&S equipment was unusable and wore out. The Pedersoli R&S are said to be made on different machines.
Unfired they tend to bring about the same as ones that are in good shape. Even a rough example will fetch, most always over $250. I watch the R&S auctions pretty regular on the web. Some unfired have sold for $325-350 while an obvious used being sold at the same time sells for $375 -425. Go figure

 

[smoothshooter]

I did'nt know about the Spanish and American War use. Have any other info about it? Sounds imteresting!

 

[Millermpls]

I let one go on GunBroker at $410 when I thought you could still get new at Dixie Gun Works. At least for the time being, new does not appear to be an option. Bought one on GB for $450 too late in the season to give it a try. Looking forward to Spring to give it a workout.

 

[hawkeye2]

Homesteader, I have been unable to find any references to the Rogers & Spencer having ever been issued at anytime, do you have a source that I am unaware of? The Single Action Army (.45 Colt) was reissued for use against the Moros to replace the .38 Colt DA.

 

[wolfundrabe]

It took me a while to appreciate the quality of the Euroarms R&S replicas since mine was the 2nd cap and ball revolver I ever shot. The only thing I had to compare it to at the time was a brass frame colt replica.
There seems to be plenty of demand whenever one of the R&S becomes available.

 

[hanshi]

I owned and fired a Euroarms R&S for years and found it to be a superior handgun. It locked up tighter than a bank vault' that's how precisely it was made. It's design was the epitome of the c&b revolver design. Mine easily fired 6 shots in 1.5" at 25 yards. The only weak point is the skimpy brass peg that's suppose to serve as a front sight. I ended up selling mine to finance a flint Lancaster rifle.

 

[Homesteader]

I'll have to dig into my reference materials to find the citation for their use against the Maori. From memory the R&S was issued after the soldiers complained about the lack of power in the .38, as an expedient until the .45 could be delivered in the numbers required. Evidently the War Department still had a stockpile of the old R&S revolvers. I read the soldiers were fairly satisfied, for a while at least.

Hopefully I can dig something up. I'll post when I do. :thumbsup:

 

[torn moc]

Here is a great Looker !

 

[Brokenlaig]

I'll have to dig into my reference materials to find the citation for their use against the Maori. From memory the R&S was issued after the soldiers complained about the lack of power in the .38, as an expedient until the .45 could be delivered in the numbers required. Evidently the War Department still had a stockpile of the old R&S revolvers. I read the soldiers were fairly satisfied, for a while at least.

Hopefully I can dig something up. I'll post when I do. :thumbsup:

I don't know where you read that, but it's flat out wrong. All 5000 R&S produced for the army were held in storage, in the the original issue crates until being sold to Bannerman's in New York around the turn of the 20th century. At no time were they ever issued or used. There may-and the evidence is very sketchy-have been a few released as pre-production pieces that might have seen action in the civil war.
The revolvers reissued in the Spanish-American war were Colt Artillery SAA in .45.
And they were used against the Moros in the Phillipines...Maoris live in New Zealand :wink:

 

[Homesteader]

Yeah, I concede the point. :surrender:

I dug through my stuff and other than a few comments by sellers I cannot substantiate my comment. It's one of those things like Catherine the Great's love of horses or Benjamin Franklin's preference for turkeys that persists but can't be documented.

Sorry if I misled anyone. Still, I'd suggest you dig. I really know that a cousin of an aunt told an uncle that a corporal knew a private that saw a major use a Rogers & Spencer back in the war!