So after a battle with LRD for a PTA, followed by a stuff up with the rifle not being sent for 3 weeks, my new Winchester (Miroku) 1892 in .357mag has finally arrived.
Fit and finish is excellent all round. Superb quality. Cycles smoothly. Timber is a little plain but still has some nice grain and is oil finished beautifully. Slots into the middle of the 45/70 and .22lr perfectly.
Hopefully she’s a nice shooter.
Edit: The rebounding hammer is … Odd. Reasonable trigger pull, probably could.use some running in. The rebounding hammer though, when dry fired, sort of slaps the firing pin rather than go clunk. Feels weird, probably be hidden by recoil etc when fired.
Loaded and cycle tested a few dummy rounds. Cycled really well in .357mag, .38spl required a small double pump of the lever to feed it. Would probably cycle better with a bit more of an aggressive lever cycle. At the moment everything is new and tight , so I will reserve judgement till I put a few rounds through and loosen it up. The loading gate is tight. Currently not easy to load, requires a bit of technique to slot home a round. Tried using another cartridge etc, again just tight so will wait and see. As it stands, loading pinches thumbs and seems more difficult than it should be. Hopefully the spring will soften a bit with use , or I may need to trim it.
Did confirm the argument of loading gates vs tube load.
I have no doubt I could fully load a tube loader much faster.
The ability to top off is nice.
You can’t beat the classic slab sided styling of a top eject and loading gate.
20inch barrel it points and balances well. Easy to see the genius of John Moses and how it truly is a masterpiece of engineering. Everything it needs, nothing it doesn’t. Svelte and timeless shape.
Have both, in fact first started with gate… Prefer tube load, because I like skin on my fingers and not in the mag.
Jealous.
Re: 38’s - try seating them a bit further out, you just need to make up the length (and gives you more powder capacity). Similar on Henry. Not so much feeding, but extracting needs a bit of aggression.
It cycles and shoots very nicely. The crescent butt is far more comfortable than I thought it would be. I haven’t really tested for groups but it will comfortably hit gongs at 200m
When loading the magazine, don’t push each cartridge right in. Leave the rim to hold the gate open for the next one until the last cartridge, then push the last one home with the end of your thumb. If the mag spring wants to push them back out, just hold the cartridge in place with your left thumb if loading the rifle flat on a bench or one of your fingers if its in your hands. ( hard to describe, easy to demonstrate )
Shooting .38’s in a .357 mag chamber leads to a carbon ring in the chamber. Just use mild .357 loads if the idea is for a softer loading. Gets rid of the chambering problem as well. The lifter is machined for the length of the .357, .38’s sit too far back for reliable cycling.
The 1892 is actually a “miniaturised” version of the 1886, arguably the best lever gun ever made.
Yeah, I’m not sold on “shoot .38s too” thing. Long term, I think chamber damage could result…Even in my Martini, I wont shoot .38s…shoot the right .357 load it functions and shoots beautifully. Thanks for the tips @danmac…
