This M1890 Spencer Shotgun was made by Bannerman. These unique camming block shotguns were developed by Christopher Spencer, the inventor of the famous Spencer repeating rifle and carbine. Like the carbine that also bares his name, Spencer designed this unique 12 gauge around a camming block - that is to say that rather than drawing a bolt forward and backward to chamber and eject cartridges, the bolt of the Spencer shotgun cams up and down on an axis, which allows the block to both pick up new shells from the magazine and subsequently swivel away to allow for empties to be eject from the chamber. Christopher Spencer produced these guns at Spencer Repeating Rifle Co until 1890, when he sold the patent to Francis Bannerman, the found of the famous Bannerman's Military Surplus. Bannerman produced the gun with very little changes from Spencer's original design until 1902.
These awesome and unusual shotguns are a great display piece and are even more fun to shoot. In fact I'm writing this description only a few hours after having taken my own personal Spencer Shotgun out dove hunting.
This particular model is in good shape. It shows evidence of some good use, but was well taken care of as the action is all complete and functions correctly with a good tight lock up and no broken parts.
There is a light patina on all the metal parts but no areas of major rust or pitting.
The stocks are in good condition with some dings and dents from field use but no cracks or major chips.
The barrel is full length and the bore is quite good with no major rust or pitting.
Records indicate that this gun was manufactured in 1896; meaning it qualifies as an antique and can ship just like any of our other pieces without an FFL.
