The top of the heavy weight barrel is marked "F. SHILLING SAN JOSE" behind the rear sight, and the top of the receiver has the standard three line address and patent information. The serial number is marked behind the breech in the standard Civil War production location. It has a brass blade front sight, buckhorn rear sight, double set triggers, a smooth stock and forearm, pewter end cap, and a sling swivel on the bottom of the buttstock. The saddle ring and bar have been removed from the left side. There is a circle with a dot at the center cut into the buttstock on the right side. During and after the Civil War, buffalo hunting was a lucrative endeavor for enterprising American men like Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Pat Garrett, "Wild Bill" Hickok, and "Buffalo Bill" Cody and hundreds more on the Great Plains. Buffalo meat was used to feed soldiers garrisoning remote outposts and fighting to push the Lakota and other Native American groups onto or back onto reservations. Some military officials recognized that decimating the buffalo also helped with this endeavor as it made life off the reservations more difficult. Buffalo hides were more valuable than the meat and were sent east by the train load to be turned into leather goods while the meat often rotted on the plains. One of the most popular rifles for hunting buffalo was the Spencer. About 200,000 were manufactured during the Civil War and many were available as military surplus arms ripe for conversion to hunting arms. However, by the 1870s the Spencer's heyday was gone as the more powerful cartridges available for Sharps, Remington, and Winchester rifles grew in popularity. By the 1880s, the buffalo were nearly gone due to over hunting combined with to a lesser degree with disease, competition with domestic animals, drought and fire; the era of the buffalo hunter was over.

Good as period converted to sporting configuration. The barrel and action have a blend of dark brown and gray patina and have textured oxidation and areas of mild pitting. The wood is also fine and has mostly minor marks from storage and use along with a couple of hairline cracks. The action and set triggers function very well, and the markings are crisp.