New toy.

by Noisydad » 06 Oct 2016, 12:50 pm

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Well after a an interminable wait my 44 WCF Winchester '92 has joined the black powder stable. It was built in 1911 and the wood is showing its history. It has a long 24" Octagonal barrel and a half magazine. The trigger is light and crisp and action is as smooth as a '92 typically is. Even though it was designed and built during this damned smokless fad, the cartridge is nearly as old as cartridges can get so it'llburn BP most of the time.
At some point some unkind soul had painted all the iron with urethane varnish presumably to keep rust at bay. Removing that was the first thing I did. Given its not any where close to mint I'm pretty tempted strip it, clean her up properly and re blue it and true oil the wood. Hanging out now to make smoke this weekend and start some load testing. I found that by compressing half the powder at a time I can actually fit 40 gns in the .44-40 case. Testing will tell if it's worth the effort. I'm a bit keen on putting lube cookies under bullets these days as means getting more lube up the barrel to help control powder fouling to get more shots per cleaning.

by Gamerancher » 06 Oct 2016, 1:15 pm

She looks good Noisy. How's the bore? A mate recently bought one that has been refurbished, even been re-lined. I don't believe that doing so destroys the rifle as "serious" collectors will have us believe. If it was in the "rare" category, i.e had non-standard feature/s, small production numbers or had some provenance as being otherwise "special" that may be true but a standard rifle from a year that they made over 56,000?
Giving an old rifle a new lease on life, if done correctly, can only be for the better. Especially if you want to use it.
Refinishing the timber and sealing it will extend its life, just go real easy with any sanding.
I have a number of old Winchesters , totally original, totally "coon-fingered" and completely refurbished. They are all used for shooting, some more than others.
Let us know how she shoots.

by Noisydad » 06 Oct 2016, 2:25 pm

Yes according to the online Winchester serial number references 56000 were made in 1911. I reckon the bore is 7-8/10 so it's good enough for the relatively short range stuff it's intended for.

by Gamerancher » 06 Oct 2016, 2:38 pm

Maddis lists 1911 as starting at 586997 and ending at 643483, totalling 56,486. 7-8/10 sounds very shootable. I've got an old .32-20 that I'd rate at 5/10 and it shoots good enough for pistol calibre lever action silhouette. A mate in the U.S uses black-powder in his levers, gets around the fouling by using a home-made pull through every 5-10 shots.

by Mick280 » 06 Oct 2016, 10:40 pm

Very nice noisy!!
Looking forward to hearing how she shoots!!!
Mick

by GLS_1956 » 07 Oct 2016, 1:21 am

Lovely rifle. I'm glad that someone who appreciates the old girl has her. Idle curiosity has me asking, does she have a crescent, curved, or straight butt plate?

by Noisydad » 07 Oct 2016, 5:10 am

It has a crescent butt plate. grooved trigger, screw secured front sight, buckhorn rear sight. I have a strong preference for old iron. I also collect and restore (as time permits) antique oil engines and related farm machinery - have done since my early teens.