Very few sporting rifles were manufactured by the Spencer Repeating Rifle Company. Most educated estimates place the total number produced at under 2,000 due to the focus on producing military rifles and carbines for Union contracts during the Civil War. The patent for the action was granted in 1860, but the Spencer Repeating Rifle Company was not formed until January 1862 and any sizable quantities of sporting arms were not manufactured until late 1864. Some sporting rifles were given as presentation pieces to notable government officials including Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles and Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. The early sporting rifles used military contract actions with .44 caliber sporting barrels, higher quality sights, and high grade wood stocks. Rifles with receivers originally produced for sporting rifles such as this example were not manufactured until April of 1865, and the company ceased production in 1869 and closed their doors somewhere around serial number 1,700. These later rifles are easy to identify by checking to see if the serial number is offset to the left of the peep sight and not also marked underneath as is the case here. This rifle has the standard sporting rifle blade front, folding ladder rear, and receiver mounted peep sights. It also features a special order set trigger, the breechblock mounted Spencer cut-off, a standard sporting rifle forend cap, smooth forearm and stock, and standard markings including the matching serial number on the action, barrel, and forearm. The matching assembly number "606" is marked on most of the other components, including the various breech components, lock plate, buttplate, and buttstock.

Very fine. 85% of the original blue finish remains on the barrel, and 75% plus of the original case colors remain on the balance. There are some sections that are partially bright from an abrasive cloth, minimal light spotting, and some oil residue. The wood is very good and has only minor scratches and dings from handling and storage. The set trigger needs some adjustments, but the action functions excellently. This is a very seldom seen sporting variant of the Spencer Repeating Rifle in outstanding shape for its age. These rifles rarely appear on the open market let alone this very fine and rarely, if ever, used condition.