domestic model 92 rifle

[35 Whelen]

I have a buddy that has a Rossi 92. It'd be okay if it was tinkered on a while, slicked up and new springs. It's still a fun little gun like it is.

The Winchesters made in Japan are not foreign made copies, they are Winchesters. They are made under license by Miroku, in Japan, for Winchester. To me, that's different than the others, that are merely copies. I'd rather have a real Winchester that's made in Japan than a copy of a Winchester made here or elsewhere. The fit and finish makes a lot of difference too. Anyone that's handled the Winchesters made in Japan will tell you, they are the the best Winchesters ever made.

Of course the firearms made by Miroku are Winchesters. And if Daisy licensed Miroku to make Red Ryder BB Guns and allowed Winchester to stamp their name on them, those would be Winchester's as well. If Winchester licensed Uberti to make their Model 1873, then they would be Winchesters. I have a Browning Model 12 that was made in Japan by Miroku, undoubtedly through some agreement with Winchester. But since Browning stamped their name on it, it's a Browning Model 12. But if Winchester stamped their name on the same shotgun, it'd be a Winchester Model 12, which would mean neither is better or worse than the other.

Back to the original subject, I suspect Rossi has so much of the market of the Model 92, that there's no room for anyone else. I do wonder what it would cost someone like Henry to tool up and make '92's. It would be interesting for sure.

35W

 

[P89DCSS]

You won't need to slick up Rossis made after ~2013. The latest versions coming out of the factory these days are the best Rossis ever.

 

[35 Whelen]

I wish one of the US based gun companies would manufacture a copy of the model 92 lever action rifle/carbine.
I would also like to see them price it at a reasonable price.
I think it would sell.
All the 92's made today are made overseas. Italy, Japan, and Brazil.
And they all seem to sell pretty good. I think that is an area that Henry could do well in.

I've been thinking a lot about your desire, wondering what a domestically-produced Model 1892 would cost for someone like Henry to make. Then it occurred to me that both Henry and Uberti make 1860 Henry's. The Uberti's seem to run in the $1600-$1700 range new while the Henry's are about twice that (~$3200) for the same model. So for comparison a new Cimarron (Chiappa) 1892 costs in the $1300-$1350 range, so I suspect if Henry were to produce an 1892, they'd probably run in the $2600-$2700 range.

35W

 

[Dr T]

Now it lives in the laundry room gun rack doing varmint duty and goes with me when I check the cows or am just bumming around the pasture.

35W,
I wish you wouldn't post pictures like that. They make me too damned homesick. I guess North Texas means the Panhandle.
From the looks of those posts, you may want a good snakeshot load for it for when you get around to replacing them.
Dr T

 

[35 Whelen]

35W,
I wish you wouldn't post pictures like that. They make me too damned homesick. I guess North Texas means the Panhandle.
From the looks of those posts, you may want a good snakeshot load for it for when you get around to replacing them.
Dr T

I'm a bit east of the SE corner of the Panhandle, less than 15 miles from the OK state line. When we first moved out here I always kept a shot load in whatever revolver I happened to be carrying because rattlesnakes seemed to be everywhere. But over the years with lots and lots and lots of practice I finally got to where I didn't really need them anymore.



35W

 

[Dr T]

When we first moved out here I always kept a shot load in whatever revolver I happened to be carrying because rattlesnakes seemed to be everywhere. But over the years with lots and lots and lots of practice I finally got to where I didn't really need them anymore.

Growing up out on the western edge of the Edwards Plateau, we always had a 22 rifle handy for rattlebugs. When I got older, I started carrying a 22 LR or 22 WMR revolver (depending on the season--and a revolver because I don't like to carry a pistol in battery when working on the ranch--too many things to go wrong). A 22 seems about right. Anything bigger and there is too much flying rock dust and shrapnel.)

I never found shot loads for 22 rifles or pistols to be particularly effective--too much ricochet from the #12 shot off the limestone caps--and I prefer bullets. I have some 44 RM loads for my Marlin 1894, but never had occasion to try one. The only really effective shot load I have found for the big snakes is a #6 or #7 1/2 load from a 20 or 12 gauge.

The Model 92 would be a bit more convenient to carry than the Marlin (they feel about a pound lighter and seem to be a bit more pointable), but in those cases when you hear that high pitched buzz, it is more of a matter of what you have on you rather than what you wish you had.

 

[35 Whelen]

The Model 92 would be a bit more convenient to carry than the Marlin (they feel about a pound lighter and seem to be a bit more pointable), but in those cases when you hear that high pitched buzz, it is more of a matter of what you have on you rather than what you wish you had.

As far as the rattlesnakes go, my brain is engrained with the patterns present on the backs of the diamondbacks and massasauga's, that I find them easy to spot except in deep grass, such as we have now. So I avoid deep grass and never go outside at night this time of year without a flashlight.

I toyed with the idea of one of the newer Marlin .44 Magnums with traditional rifling, but they just LOOK heavier and less...svelte.

35W

 

[OLDE RETIRED COASTIE]

My granddads had model 92s purchased new in the 1920s. No safety, no gimmicks, they were really slick and worked like a charm. The Cimarrons are about the best ones I have seen. I do not care if they are made under license, and have Winchesters name on em, they are still not made by Winchester, like granddads was, and the ones I have seen have that funky safety. I grew up handling lever guns, Winchester and Marlins, and none of them ever had a safety. We did learn to handle em anyway. I am 72 and never had an accident, besides the best safety in the world is the one between your ears!!

 

[Frulk]

I’m at my mothers in eastern Washington for the week. There’s a gun shop here posing as a pawn shop. Overwhelmingly the guns in the racks are brand new. Probably 300+. I like this store because all the long guns are in racks on the floor you can walk through and handle at your leisure.

Been a long time since I handled a Rossi but they had several in the racks including a stainless octagon barreled one. I worked the action on them all and didn’t find anything mechanical that would put me off of purchasing one. I did fixate on the front end of the stock. It looked unfinished on all of them. Straight cut with no sanding to taper or round off the wood past the barrel band. That’s something I could resolve on the bench at home in about 5-10 minutes.

While I was perusing the Rossi’s a customer behind me at the counter was pledging to the staff he would be back on payday to put a deposit on a new Henry brass framed Big Boy he had just handled.

While I’m a fan of Henry’s I think I could easily live with the Rossi and the $300 plus I would save as well as not having to tote around an additional 1-1.5+ pounds of that brass and octagon barrel.

 

[halfmoonclip]

The advent of scopes put paid on the top ejecting Winchesters, and the most recent production for pistol caliber guns was based on the longer, clankier 94 rifle-round action.
Went looking for a 92 a few years ago, and even Rossis were hard to find. The Italians were nowhere to be found. I settled for a Mirochester '73 in .45 Colt, and finally tracked down a Mirochester '92. I'm not crazy about the tang safety, but it's far less obnoxious than the crossbolt safeties on Marlins and late Winchesters. Marbles makes a tang sight that works with the tang safety.
The Japanese Winchesters are really nicely done; good triggers and smooth actions.
I've had a Rossi 92, as have some friends. Smoothness and trigger pull varies from gun to gun.
Moon

 

[Bazoo]

My friends that have Rossis, of the 4 I've seen, all have sucked as far as out of the box not needing to be tuned. They all launched empties into low earth orbit, chewed up brass, had excessive springs everywhere, razor edge on the loading port, and were dang hard to load. But yeah, they are fun though. And if you tune them, they are much better. Of those four, all 357, 1 had such an excessive feed ramp milled into the chamber that it bulged brass so badly it wouldn't resize enough to then chamber again. Rossi had it for about a year before they finally replaced it for my buddy.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

This is the first rifle I bought for CAS, around 20 years ago, a Winchester Model 1892 chambered for 44-40. It shipped in 1897. Sorry, I do not recall what I paid for it, but not too much because it had been refinished.






This 44-40 1892 carbine shipped around 1918. Sorry, but I do not remember what I paid for this one either. These two photos show the differences between a Winchester Rifle and Carbine. Notice the crescent shaped butt plate on the rifle above. Notice there are no barrel bands, the magazine and fore stock on the carbine are supported by barrel bands. The magazine of the rifle is supported by a hanger dove tailed into the underside of the barrel. The fore stock is also supported by a dove tailed hanger. Notice the fore end cap on the rifle, no fore end cap on the carbine.






This 32-20 Model 1892 left the factory in 1911. I paid $1200 for it a few years ago. Notice the octagonal barrel.






I have a 25-20 saddle ring carbine too, it shipped in 1928 and I paid $975 for it a few years ago. Sorry, no photo.


That's it for my 1892 Winchesters. I won a Rossi 1892 rifle in a raffle a bunch of years ago. Yes, it was rough and would have profited from some smoothing up, but I sold it and used the cash as a down payment on my 44-40 Uberti 1860 Henry.

 

[eastbank]

these original winchesters were bought for a little over a $1000.00 a piece

 

[Bazoo]

these original winchesters were bought for a little over a $1000.00 a piece

Wow, both are nice, but a takedown model is tops to me.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

When I was about 16 or so there was an older man who had a 92 rifle in .44-40 and a Savage 99 in .250-3000. He let us shoot both and I was amazed at the Winchester. I should have asked him if he wanted to sell it, but I was in the market for a whiz bang .243.

 

[RainDodger]

I have a Browning 92 in .44 Magnum and of course it's made by Miroku, as the Winchesters are. Absolutely beautiful rifles. Fit and finish is awesome. Yep, you gotta pay for them though. That handy (and light) little carbine in .44 Mag will beat you up though. The actions are very smooth and the engineering/design of the 92 is a pleasure to use. Find one you like and spend the $$. Worth it.

 

[Bazoo]

The sad part is the folks that turn their nose up at the Winchesters and Brownings made in Japan, their loss.

 

[sevt_chevelle]

People complain things are not made in America.
Item gets made in America, people complain about the price, people in turn buy lesser priced item made by child labor.
Item doesn't sell due to lack of sales, gets discontinued. People complain about their cheaply made products and complain that no such product is made in America.

 

[OLDE RETIRED COASTIE]

I purchased the stainless steel version with the 16 inch barrel Have not had a chance to shoot it yet, but it seems to function as well as any new lever gun I have ever used.
I did take the funky safety off and replaced with a plug, I grew up with Winchesters and Marlins, and never had a safety on any of them. I am 72 and have found the best safety is what you have between your ears.

 

[OLDE RETIRED COASTIE]

that 16 inch barrel just seems to carry sooo well!!!

 

[halfmoonclip]

...That handy (and light) little carbine in .44 Mag will beat you up though. The actions are very smooth and the engineering/design of the 92 is a pleasure to use. Find one you like and spend the $$. Worth it.

RainDodger, how hot are you loading your .44? I've a 94 Marlin, whacked to 16", that has taken a bunch of deer for me over the years. My handloads are clocking 1600'sec/240, and it really doesn't pound me; my 100lb daughter took a deer with it. Now I've never taken it and shot it all afternoon, like I do with the 92 Winchester with punkin' roller .45 Colt loads.
Anyway, not really meaning to argue; you're not the first .44 carbine owner to complain about recoil...is it the steel buttplate? My Marlin has a thin, flat recoil pad, which may be some help.
Entirely agree on the quality of the Miroku Winchesters, and wish a classic American rifle was still made in America. As I said before, the inability to mount a scope (leaving the classic 92s to SASS folks, and those who simply like them) narrows the number of potential customers.
Thanks,
Moon

 

[OLDE RETIRED COASTIE]

I do agree that Miroku makes awesome rifles, and price reflects that, but those coming in from Taylor and Cimarron, made in Italy, are awesome too. Course the price also reflects that too. Their prices are about the same as the Winchesters made by Miroku. I guess it depends on which version you want the ones with the safety made by Miroku, with Winchesters name on em, or the ones without the safety and not marked Winchester, but are basicly the same gun. After having grown up around Winchesters and Marlins without the safety, I prefer the Italian guns, and Henry's. They do have a safety, although it is internal, and not obvious.