winchester 1892 44 mag

[Craig2323]

Good afternoon
I've fallen in love with a 1892 re-barreled to 44 smith and wesson magnum. I have some concerns that this carbine will fall apart by using 44 magnum loads. It supposedly was converted sometime in the 1950's, looks almost factory new.
Have I fallen for a floosie with a lot of makup that really won't perform?
Anyone have any opinions on 1892's converted to 44 mag?
I did do a search and didn't come up with anything.
Thanks,
Craig

[gunnut69]

The 92 was commonly converted to 357 mag but I've now experience with a 44 mag conversion. My guess would be that the extra pressure over that large a case head would be too much for the 92 long term.. the problem isn't so much the design as the metalurgy at the time of manufacture. There are modern 92's and clones made in 44 mag but metalury has certainly come a long way!! I'd feed it diet high in 44 special level loads or very slithly higher and reserve the full mag loads for extreme situations...

[Rangr44]

In the late 1960's, Numrich Arms (for one) used to sell "drop-in" .44 Mag barrels, that worked best on/in .38-40 & .44-40 Model 1892's & Model 92's, since the smaller original chamberings needed the mag throat bored out, and the cartridge guides changed, to accommodate the fatter .44 case.

They were "ok" for the occasional hunter, but certainly never stood up to a steady diet of shooting with ANY modern ammo - never mind at the levels a CAS event would require.

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