Howdy
I only have one 1886, this original that left the factory in 1886. Yes, it has been refinished. Now the interesting thing is, it did not function perfectly when I got it. There are those who believe the model 1892 Winchester is a scaled down version of the Model 1886, which is mostly true, but there are a few minor differences. The design of the carrier for the Model 1892 was changed a bit from the original 1886 design.
This is a 45-70 round about to be fed into the chamber of the 1886. Notice at the rear of the carrier their is a cage like apparatus machined onto the carrier that almost completely envelops the rear of the cartridge.
This is the carrier of a Model 1892, with a 44-40 round on it, about to be shoved into the chamber. Notice the lack of the cage like structure at the rear of the carrier. The round merely rests on top of the carrier.
I don't know if all the original 1886 rifles were like this, I only have the one. But the problem I experienced with it was when the round was fed backwards onto the carrier by the magazine follower, the rear edge of the rims would often hang up on the cage like structure and prevent the round from completely moving to the rear of the carrier. This would jam the carrier, preventing it from rising to feed the round into the chamber. I could reach in with a finger and pop the round all the way back, but that was not a satisfactory solution. I took the rifle to a very experienced Cowboy Action gunsmith, and we discussed breaking the edges of the cage like structure a bit more than when they left the factory, so a round could slide all the way back, which he did. However when I went to pick up the rifle from him, we discovered that the rounds were still hanging up and not riding all the way back onto the carrier. Our solution, rather than removing more metal from an antique rifle carrier, was to bevel the rear edges of the rims of a bunch of 45-70 brass a bit more than factory, so they could enter the carrier without hanging up.
I suspect when the Winchester engineers got Browning's design for the 1892 rifle ready for production they made this subtle change to the 1892 carrier.
Anyway, so much for the originals.
I only have one Pedersoli rifle, a reproduction of the Sharps, and the barrel is spectacular. I understand in the hands of a really good rifleman, which I am not, the Pedersoli Sharps rifles can compete head to head with the much more expensive American made C. Sharps rifles. I will also add that the wood to metal fit of my Pedersoli Sharps is not quite as good as the C. Sharp rifles. It is very good, but not perfect.
I am surprised you like your Chiappa 1892s so much, when they were introduced to the American market quite a few years ago they were routinely panned by all the Cowboy shooters. Perhaps quality has risen since.
Anyway, if you prefer the rifle without the tang safety, go for the Pedersoli, it's that simple. What's $100 when spending that much money on a rifle?
Regarding the Japanese being able to produce a fine quality rifle even though they cannot buy one themselves, what the heck does that have to do with anything? I'm sure most of the guys making Rolls Royce automobiles many years ago could not afford to buy one. That does not mean they were not excellent craftsmen who could produce a quality product.
Regarding the Henry Repeating Arms Company, yes they appropriated the name because it was in public domain, there was no trademark on the name. However for a very short time there was a Henry rifle company. Oliver Winchester's company that produced the Henry rifle was named the New Haven Arms Company because they were being made in New Haven Connecticut. Winchester had a dispute with B Tyler Henry over money back around 1866 or so. After working tirelessly for several years to get the Henry rifle into production, Winchester took a boat to Europe for an extended vacation. Henry took advantage of Winchester's absence to petition the Connecticut legislature to change the name to the Henry Repeating Arms Company, or something like that. Winchester got wind of the plot while in Europe and took the first boat back to the US. He was able to quash Henry's attempt at taking over the company and changed the name to Winchester Repeating Arms Company, and the first product under the new name was the Model 1866 Winchester.
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