EMF Hartford 1892 Lever Action Short Rifle

[Greybeard]

EMF Hartford Model 92

When I decided to give CAS shooting a try I looked around to see what rifle to use. My first choice was a Winchester Model 73 or clone with my second choice a Model 66 or clone. Well after checking the prices of them I decided maybe I best look at my third choice the Winchester Model 92 and a clone not an original. I believe that most perhaps all of the reproduction or clones of this rifle are being manufactured by Rossi and are imported into the US by several companies. Just so happens that EMF is one of those companies. Since I was getting the Dakota revolvers from EMF I asked Gary if he’d mind sending along a Hartford Model 92 rifle at the same time. He said he’d be happy to.

We had a minor mix up at my FFL dealer’s store when they came in. For some reason they thought the pair of Dakotas and the Hartford 92 were part of a shipment they had ordered for store stock. I guess this was partly the fault of EMF for not marking the shipment a bit more clearly for me but also partly the fault of the store as it did clearly say on the invoice writer’s samples. Oh well it all worked out in the end. The rifle was sold before I showed up to claim it but Gary very quickly got another on the way to me and so with only a couple days of delay at most it was in my hands. Now I’m gonna be honest with ya. They way this one shoots I’m kinda glad the other one was sold. I don’t know that it wouldn’t have been just as good or even better but I sure do like this one.

Why you ask? Well how about these two groups shot with the factory issue iron sights at 25 yards with my tired old eyes as a why.

This first one was shot with Hornady CAS ammo and the second with Black Hills CAS ammo.






Now folks I dunno about you but that Hornady group is as good as I can see these days with open iron sights. With a good set of  tang peeps I might do better but not with semi buckhorn open sights. To say I’m happy with the way this rifle shoots is an understatement. I’ll be finding an excuse to tote it afield this fall with me for some hunting also.

I’ve not shot it with reloads yet but will work up some later and edit this post to add some info on how well it does with what loads but for now I’ve only fired it with the Hornady and Black Hills CAS ammo. I sure like the way it shoots them. I have a big box of those same bullets Hornady loads in the CAS ammo for reloading and plan to work me up some loads using them. They are nice soft lead and should expand well on game and it is obvious this rifle likes that bullet. I just have to find the right combination to see if I can match the groups the factory ammo delivers with a bit more punch for hunting.

So how does it function? To perfection is the answer. I know most serious competitors want their rifles to be slicked up by a knowledgeable gunsmith but to be honest I just don’t see a need with this rifle. Now I’m not a gamer. I gave up serious competition a bunch of years ago when it began to seem more like work than fun. Now I strictly shoot for the enjoyment and thus am not out to try to win anything. I just want to be out there with the pards and have a good time and hear the bullets clink on the metal targets. I’ve had no failures of any kind with either the Black Hills or Hornady ammo. Fast or slow it feeds them fine and without a glitch. I dunno what more you can ask. Well yeah maybe I do.

You can ask the rifle to look good while performing good. It’s a winner in that department too or in my eyes it is. They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder and as I behold this rifle it sure is a purdy thang. The wood isn’t real walnut but some Brazilian hardwood they use in place of walnut as I am led to understand. But it looks pleasing to the eye. Fit and finish are first rate. The bluing is nice and smooth with a high polish. The case colors are bright and look first rate. My only regret is I asked for the 20” barrel model rather than the 24” but heck that just gives me an excuse to get another. My thoughts at the time were I was gonna get me a Model 73 later and they just need that long barrel to real good to me. So getting this one with the 20” barrel makes it really handy and I now use it as a home defense gun as well as a CAS rifle. And this fall I’ll take it hunting with me some.

I have no complaints. This one was just as I expected and hoped for right out of the box. You can be sure it wasn’t a hand picked one just for me also. It was pulled out of stock when I called Gary from the store the day I found the other one was sold. Next day I had this one in my hands less than 24 hours later in fact. So it is just as you can expect to find it on your dealer’s shelves.

Not sure if it matters to you but this one from EMF comes without the tang safety on the ones imported by some of the other importers. I like that for historical authenticity and looks. I figure the ONLY safety that counts is the one between the ears of the fellow with the gun in his hands. Rifles like this have been used for over 100 years by many hundreds of thousands of shooters just fine without a stupid safety on them and I prefer them that way. If you are in the market for a Winchester Model 92 reproduction rifle I’d highly recommend you take a serious look at the offerings from EMF Co. They have a full line with a variety of finish options and barrel lengths as well as configurations. I chose the one with 20” full octagon barrel and case colors. As you can see in the photo below it is a good looking rifle.




CRR92RCH-20 Hartford 1892 Lever Action Short Rifle, Casehardened Frame, 20" Octagonal Blued Barrel.


Visit the EMF Web Site at: http://www.emf-company.com/
EMF Company, Inc
1900 E. Warner Ave., Suite 1-D
Santa Ana, CA 92705, USA
Tel:  (949) 261-6611
Fax: (949) 756-0133

[howdy doody]

Pard, that is a handsome rifle for dang sure. I think it would be perfect for me and I am looking for a replacement for my Marlin. I am pretty excited about those groups you got with it too. I see one in my future.  :-)

Hey, I know I shouldn't ask, but I must, cause I know everyone else is curious too, but just what kind of discount do writers get when purchasing from distributors. Awww, you don't have to say. Probably none of my business, but curiosity drives my asking. :grin:

[Graybeard]

Discounts vary depending on who the distributor is. Some actually only "pretend" to give you a discount and you can actually find places that sell the merchadise cheaper than you can get it on the writer's discount. Others offer deep discounts of as much as 75% off of retail which really does make it a bargain.

Guns are usually at anywhere from distributors price to 10%-20% less than a distributor will pay when you get it from the manufacturer or US importer. I won't say publicly just what any individual outfit charges. Let's just say if you knew how little I paid you'd be green with envy on some of the stuff. On others you'd wanna know why in the world I kept it and paid that much.

GB

[howdy doody]

Thanks for the reply ol' pard. I think I have a bead on it. Not that I am taking to writing or anything. It is just that writers I follow closely like Bottom Dealing Mike and Mike Venturino are always mentioning things like it was too nice a gun to send back, so I bought it and stuffed it into the safe.
I still appreciated your appraisal of the rifle and I still think I am going to save up for one to back up my Marlin, which has to be getting ready to break after 5 years of CAS and most every week too. I can't rely  on just one rifle anymore, got to have a back up. That is what I tell the wife, so far all I get is dirty looks  :-D

[Holiday]

Howdy Marshal! I think LSI is the only one that imports the Rossi with the ugly tang safty. I was looking at getting either a EMF or Navy Arms Rossi 92, but my dealer couldn't get one from two differant distributers. So I ended up with a Marlin Cowboy. By the way, from what I have found out, the Navy Arms model actually has American Walnut stocks, but it costs a good bit more than the EMF. I'm glad you like your rifle, Rossi makes a good gun! When ya gonna come back and shoot with us again?

[Lone Yankee]

I have a .44 mag blued EMF Hartford '92 Carbine. I use it for BP only.  10 round groups at 25 yards  run 1"-1.25".  Good enough for SASS.  The hardwood stocks on the EMF Rossi look like Walnut,  the blue is better thanteh regiular Rossi and the action is slicker out of the box. You can't beat this rifle for the money.

Lone

[Mainspring]

Looks like a real nice rifle there Marshal.

On Rossi safeties...the LSIs I've seen have that REALL REALLY stupid safety on the top of the bolt.  I'd sure like to meet the rocket scientist who thought THAT one up.

[Cuts Crooked]

I'm not surprized in the least Marshal! I've long said that the "Rossi" 92s, regardless of importer, is the true work horse of CAS! It can do it all and do it well!

I have two of these fine guns. One a .357 (I call it my .38-22), the other a .45. I bought the .38-22 many years ago, long before I discovered CAS, as a Mizzora brush fer deer hunting and it served very well in that capacity. When I found CAS I learned to load with BP and it worked fantastic for that job. Then I acquired a used .45 and found it to be just as good as my old .38-22!

They CAN be tempermental though, and take some attention from time to time, which I guess is true of any firearm ever made, and home "smithing" on them can be a lesson in frustration similar to carrying water with a sieve. But there are a couple of good web sites out there that will walk the novice through almost any problem one can dream up with these guns.

Bottom line, they are rugged, accurate, and well within the price range of the new Cowboy! And while not as sleek or nostalgic as the 73s, 66s, and Henrys, they are still a danged nice looking gun! If a 92 wuz good enuf fer the Duke, it's sure good enuff fer me!

[T. Two Dogs]

Howdy:

I have a Rossi .44 REM MAG Blue, an EMF Hartford .45LC Stainless, and a Legend brass receiver .45LC (with the silly safety).  All are essentailly Rossis are ALL are GREAT.  The Legend had the smoothest action I ever worked.  The other two are a little stiff.  But they work and work and work.  The screws are a bird to get out though.  Wouldn't trade em for anything. :-)

[B_Koes]

My Puma seems to have some difficulty extracting the round completely after firing.  I don't have much trouble the first 10 rounds or so, but after things warm up a bit then it seems like the problem gets worse.  Anybody have some suggestions?

[Cuts Crooked]

Is the round clearing the chamber but dropping into the action? Or is it not coming alla the way outta the chamber? If it is the former than you need to look at at the ejector, perhaps worn at the bottom, or there is some binding inside the bolt. If the latter, then you may have to replace the extractor hook or deepen the notch that it sets in when the bolt is closed, niether of which is difficult to do.

The ejector however can be a bit of a butt pain to deal with. Look closely at it when the bolt it open. See those two "legs" on the bottom? Those will sometimes wear until they are actually at an angle to the bolt face which will allow the case to pop out from under the extractor hook prematurely and drop the case into the action before the ejector gets a chane to "boot" it outta there. Same thing can happen if the ejector mechanism is binding on something inside the bolt.

[B_Koes]

I tried to make that distinction in my previous post, but apparently didn't.  The problem is that the case is generally not coming clear out of the chamber.  It is like the extractor is not getting a good enough hold of the rim.  I didn't expect as much problem with the .357 since it looks like it has a lot of rim to grab onto but I'm having a problem nevertheless.

I am the second owner of this rifle and it only has about 200-300 rounds through it.  I've heard that these rifles need to be cycled with a pretty quick motion otherwise it will jam.  The shooting I've been doing has been pretty slow and I haven't followed that advise...just wondering if that may be the cause or if I got an extractor problem.

[Cheyenne Ranger]

That's my understanding--cycle with great authority!  Otherwise gonna have extraction/ejection problems.
CR

[T. Two Dogs]

CR has got the answer. You gotta really work the lever to make the case pop out.  Otherwise, it will not go anywhere you want it to be on the next feed.  :-)

[Cuts Crooked]

AHHHRRRGGG! :?

Yes, cycling the action briskly will sometimes overcome problems like this. But a properly timed and tuned 92 should extract and eject no matter how fast or SLLLLOOOOOWWWLLLYYY it's cycled.

In this case, it's time for a new extractor and/or a little judicious work on the extractor notch. If yer not real handy with smithin' werk let a qualified smith do any werk on da notch. What's happening is that the extractor isn't getting a good grip on the case rim. It may be that the "springyness" has gone out of the extractor, thereby not keeping enuff downward pressure on the case to pull it outta there, or the tip has worn down enuff to cause the same situation.  (which I suspect because it starts happening when the gun warms up) If you bought the gun used it may have had this problem for some time and that's why the previous owner let it go. Deepening the extractor notch won't do any good of the extractor tip is worn, so hold off on trying that until you tried replacing the extractor.

Good luck pard!

[Graybeard]

My sample functions just as well slow as fast.

GB