Old Winchester is in the house...

[fortyshooter]

Got the call from local Cabelas....40 mile trip..... that my 1892 was ready for pick up so off me and wife went on a road trip and beautiful day for it too. They had packed it very well in a hard rifle case but was surprised to see a lock on the lever. Seems Cabelas has an over the top safety rule where only the manager can remove the lock if you want to cycle the action and it has to be in a special room with two people present with gun barrel stuck in a bullet catch container. All I wanted to do was take a look at the barrel bore with my light!
Anyway the rifling looked okay but with some roughness or minor pitting....it's has 129 years of use you know!

Brought it home and headed out to my shooting shack for a bore clean...lube the action and to try it out for cycling and ejecting a round. Loading up the new HSM 44-40 rounds was very smooth and it chamber a round easily. However there was an issue where the extractor would not grip the case head to eject it. I checked out the extractor and found it was gummed up a bit and would not spring down on case head. A little spray and wipe with Ballistol loosend it up and now it ejects round perfectly. Firing pin still in one piece and seems to be okay.

Doesn't look bad for it's age and headed to the range tomorrow for a few shots!

Plan on sending off for the Winchester Letter for the rifle and wonder if there is any info on where it was shipped to for first sale.

[daytime dave]

Wow Forty, what a wonderful piece of history. It's well worth a 90 dollar box of shells. I'm glad it checked out well too.

Yes, I almost bought a firearm from Bass Pro's / Cabelas. I passed on thier corporate "safety" procedures when all I wanted to do was look at a handgun one time. I haven't returned there. I'm glad it went well for you.

I'm looking forward to the range report and any YouTube video that might accompany the range session.

[Headhog]

Congratulations on a very nice addition. That is is piece of history and needs tender loving care. Shoot and enjoy that old gal. Winchester made some very fine firearms back in the day. I'm sure it will last another 129 years.

Paul

[Ernie]

Looks in pretty good shape for 100+ years old. I'm with Dave, that is quite a piece of history.

[North Country Gal]

And the 1892 is such a gem in any caliber. That's a real find.

[fortyshooter]

This rifle was among others from an estate that the family sold to a Cabelas in Conn. I was looking thru Guns International to see what was available in 1892's and happened to catch it and jumped on it. The price was about right for what I wanted to spend and was looking for a 44-40. Working with the sales guy there went real well and it was packed up nice and shipped out quick.
When I was cleaning the barrel with CLP and bronze brush I had the rifle upside down so any crud would fall out and not get into the action. The last owner kept it clean as not much crud or rust came out. Cleaned bore again with Brake Clean parts cleaner and then a wipe thru with Ballistol while wiping the complete rifle down. Hope it shoots straight but we will see!

[RanchRoper]

That's all the gun a cowboy would ever need. Nice.

[fortyshooter]

Now you know where this is going to go.....sell one of my other 6 shooters for one in 44-40! It never ends!

[RanchRoper]

You want your pistol to match your saddle gun. Nice old-timey round too.

44-40 can be a little tricky to reload I'm told due the bottleneck case.

[BrokenolMarine]

Looks good. I have just decided not to add calibers I don't already load for. Saves the bank account in SO many ways.
Will look forward to the Range testing....
... Oh, and the matching Single Action when you find it.

[Vaquero]

Congrats on the nice ole '92, in a very Cowboy caliber.
Sure hope it's a shooter tomorrow.
Kinda like BM on the adding of calibers at this point.
I think at last count there are 18 sets in the cabinet.
But, I never say never.

RP

[BigAl52]

Congrats Forty looks good hope it shoots good for ya

[Ozarkwoodswalker]

Enjoy your find!!
The over the top safety junk at the store is just a sign of the crumbling society we live in now where masses of people basically have no raising, so there are many who are prone to act like idiots... that and the companys lawyers response to such idiots... thats just my opionion........

[fortyshooter]

Well this morning I took one of the HSM rounds and using my hammer bullet puller tool removed the bullet. Wanted an empty case to see if the firing pin would set it off and it did. The bullet weight was 198.8 gr. for the HSM 44-40 200 gr. ammo. Bullet diameter .4285
Looks like right now that is the only brand of 44-40 ammo available so will order couple more boxes to keep on hand. No telling when Starline will make the brass again which HSM uses listed as No Backorder. Also want to do a bore sizing and see what it is as it could vary in those years before ordering cast bullets.
I think most use the standard .429 sized bullets like 44 Special which I have in 200 gr coated.

[Hatchdog]

Congrats on the new shooter.

Sure glad the rifle didn’t take the same journey as your recent shotgun purchase did.