Winchester '92 question

[P&R Fan]

Seems there's a lot of threads about Winchester lever actions recently, so I'll ask a question I've always wondered about. As far as I know the Pre '64 M92s were never offered in .357 Magnum. I know a lot of them were converted to that caliber. Skeeter Skelton had several. Were there NONE in that caliber?
I know the newer ones are. It seems to me it would be a really nice rifle. In fact, I think it would make a great self defense rifle, especially if you carried a .357 Magnum revolver, as I often do.

Anybody agree?
Jim

 

[Kinman]

Original '92s were chambered in the common pistol cartridges of the day, 25-20, 32-20, 38-40, and 44-40. The newer Japanese made Brownings are chambered in .357, .44 magnum, 44-40 and .45 Long Colt. There are a number of other Companys making the '92 including Rossi which also includes Navy Arms, Armi San Marco of Italy also makes them as well EMF.
I have an original in 32-20 that is very accurate out to about 100yds and was owned by an orchard owner that claimed to have killed at least a hundred deer and countless coyotes in his lifetime.
According to the few guys I now that own the Italian repops and shoot alot of cowboy stuff, they claim that they rarely have any problems that don't usually come down to operator error, either from not jacking the lever down far enough to completely function the action or one guy had problems with his tendency to hold the rifle at an odd angle while cocking, which influenced its inability to load correctly.
I tend to think that as long as the '92 was produced in the later years with better steel production that chambering up to .357 shouldn't be a problem, they are built hell for stout. Some .357 reloads can build up quite a bit of pressure, that would be my only real concern.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

1892's were made until 1941 and the last version, model 65, was made until 1947. The metallurgy for the higher pressures for 357 Mag. would require tests and proofing on a system that was a money losing line. Yes, some people modified a rifle into a high pressure cartridge. One other thing was that no 92's were chambered in true straight walled cases. I think the powers that be, just didn't want to mess with it. I have a Rossi and love it. Oh, one other thing, John Browning and Winchester had already had a falling out and John's whole dying thing. They work now, that we are thankful for! Ivan

 

[35Rem]

Rossi even chambers it's 92 in 454 Casul!

The 357 was too new to make it into the 1892 original production. WWII seemed to be the end of the intermediate cartridge rifles. The really cool little Remington 25 pump (25-20 & 32-20), Savage had a pump and bolts.
The 22 Hornet has limped on, but the 25WCF, 32WCF, a myriad of other small caliber cartridges seemed to go away. I think that the huge surplus of high powered rifles after WWII killed them off completely. That, and the better 22LR ammo that came along eliminate the gap between the rimfires and high powered rifles. Similar thing happened to the 16 ga with the magnum 20ga...

 

[Road Rat]

Last fall I picked up a Rossi PUMA from the Interarms era. Twenty inch barrel, in .357/38. Very nice rifle and very accurate.

The newer ones are not as nice and they have "safeties".

There is a Rossi rifles forum where you can read up on the old and the new.
Winchester will be hard to find in shooting condition and they will be expensive!

If you get down in the Cedar Rapids area we can step out back and play with my Puma.

 

[tompehret]

I had an early (1893-4 maybe) model 92 that had been converted to .44 Mag long before I bought it. It had an octagonal barrel. The barrel was stamped 25-20 and re-stamped .44 Magnum. I never shot any "hot" loads through it, just mild re-loads. Can't say what the prior owners did. It wouldn't feed .44 Specials. I was told this could be corrected but I never went to the trouble. It always worked perfectly and was a pleasure to shoot. It had been completely refinished (and re-chambered) so it had no collector value and I sold it off years ago. Bad move. I had a Japanese Winchester '92 in .45 Colt that I used In SASS matches that always worked great. My wife had an EMF '92 in .38/.357 for a while but it was a lemon. So, some good, some bad.

 

[feralmerril]

I had a old shot out 92 that was originaly in 25 -20. About 1971 I had it completly redone to .357 mag. You have to get the firing pin re bushed. I have a 357 rossi now and a .44mag browning 92. I once many years ago even had a original winchester 73 that was a shot out 32-20 rebored and converted to .38 special. Dumb, but worked. That was also about 40 years ago.

 

[Faulkner]

I have a '92 and a 94 in .38/.357 magnum and like most people, I find the 92 to be a much smoother operating rifle with handgun length cartridges than the 94.

I've taken several whitetail deer and ferel hogs with these lever guns and do indeed thing they make a great combo for self defense rifle. I've known several Arkansas lawmen who used saddle carbines in .357 as duty rifles that served them well.