Christopher Miner Spencer

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This article is about the inventor. For the author of The eBay Entrepreneur, see Christopher Spencer (author).

Christopher Miner Spencer (1833 – 1922), born June 20, 1833, was an American inventor, from Manchester, Connecticut, who invented the Spencer repeating rifle (one of the earliest models of lever-action rifle), a steam powered "horseless carriage", and several other inventions. He developed the first fully automatic turret lathe,[1] which in its small- to medium-sized form is also known as a screw machine.

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[edit] Early years

Spencer worked for Samuel Colt’s factory, where he learned the arms-making trade.

[edit] Civil War

Although the Spencer rifle had been developed as early as 1859, it was not initially used by the Union. On August 18, 1863, Christopher Spencer walked into the White House carrying one of his rifles and a supply of cartridges. He walked past the sentries, and into Abraham Lincoln's office. After some discussion, he returned the following afternoon, when Sepncer and Lincoln were joined by Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War and other officials, and the group then proceeded to walk out on the Mall. Near the site of the Washington Monument, they engaged in target shooting.

Subsequent to that meeting, the U.S ordered some 13,171 rifles and carbines, along with some 58 million rounds of ammunition. This proved in part to be his undoing. The heavy expenses incurred in the manufacturing of these arms, as well as a glut of rifles on the market after the war resulted in the Spencer Repeating Rifle Company declaring bankruptcy. All the assets were acquired by Oliver Winchester.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Rolt 1965, p. 169.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Rolt, L.T.C. (1965), A Short History of Machine Tools, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: MIT Press, LCCN 65-12439 .

[edit] External links

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