magazine tube problem, 1892

[jd45]

I've got an Armi San Marco mfg'd 1892 Win. replica rifle w/24" octagon barrel in .45 Colt cal. The mag. tube works its way out of the receiver under recoil. I know where I can get an end cap that's drilled thru & thru w/a screw that goes completely thru it, to nestle into an indent in the under-side of the barrel, which will supposedly cure the problem. I can make the indent..... I have a drill press. Question is, there's some fitting required. Other than the indent....what fitting is there? Thanx for your feedback, & HAPPY NEW YEAR to all! jd45.

[gunnut69]

How does the endcap on the rifle work now?  If it has the screw but not the extension then the extension IS the fitting.  Remove the spring and mark the spot and drill a little small with a counter sunk bevel to apply a bit of force towards the receiver. What retained the magazine on the rifle from the factory?

[jd45]

The end cap that came with the gun only serves to hold the mag spring & follower, (the part that pushes on the cartridge to get it out of the mag) in the tube. I honestly can't see how the mag tube is supposed to be retained in the receiver. I have a Puma '92 that has the long screw going thru the end-cap into a countersink on the under-side of its barrel. I think the Armi San Marco's design was just incomplete. I'd really like to fix it cause it has a good 1 in 12 twist barrel on it. Well, I'm gonna send for the parts & hope for the best. jd45

[gunnut69]

Some of these tubes were retained by a small crosspin in the hanger loops. It went thru the loop and just barely caught the outer magazine tube. If the pins gone of it missed the tube that may be the problem.  I had one with a similar problem(different model though) and I fixed it by very slightly enlarging the hole in the hanger until the hole acught the mag tube.  A pin driven into the hole then locked the two together just fine..  Of course that was a different model..

[jd45]

Thanx for jogging my memory. That cross pin, which is less than a sixteenth of an inch in diameter, I believe, was , as you said, barely able to catch a spot on the tube......totally not effective. It looks like they made a hacksaw-cut crosswise on the tube, & peeled back a little bit of material in the hope it would bump up against the pin to keep the tube from jumping out of the receiver. Problem is, it didn't work. I think I'm gonna send the rifle down to Steve Young in Port Arthur, Texas, & have him fix it & install a Williams Fool-Proof receiver sight & new front sight. That should make it a real good deer rifle, with warm .45 Colt loads. jd45.

[gunnut69]

I totally agree and am not sure of my memory.  The pin retaining the outer tube is quite a common thing in the 22 rimfire world but a warmly loaded 45 Colt with a mag full of ammo would be a whole nother ballgame.  Doesn't sound like a difficult fix.. and would be a nice little rifle.. kind of a 45-70 short!

[jd45]

I like your characterization of this as 45-70 short! There's a wide range of stoked-up handloads for the .45 Colt, including heavy-weight cast recipes that should work real well in this gun with its 1" in 12" twist Clerke barrel, (so says Mike Venturino), that will make it a real thumper for deer & especially hog! Thanx, Gunnut69, for your insights, and good shooting!jd45.

[jd45]

Speaking of running warm loads thru this gun, I've been told by a 'smith at AWA Guns, who bought out Armi San Marco, that the receiver on this rifle is a casting, not a forging. Now I just put a magnet on it & it stuck to it........does this mean it's at least made of steel, rather than iron, or would a magnet stick to iron,as well? Anyway, I would keep the warm hunting loads under 30,000cup.........you think I'm safe at this level & shouldn't worry about the gun standing up to this? Thanx for the feedback. jd45.

[gunnut69]

Castings if correctly done are every bit as strong as a forging.  There may be a grain flow advantage but it would indeed be small.  Ruger builds most of it's rifles from casting, even the excewllant M77 and No.1.  The problem is that 30,000 PSI doesn't necessarily tell the whole story.  The much larger caseheaad of the 45Colt round will transmit more energy to the bolt than save a 32-20 or even a 44WCF.  The thickness of the receiver walls or rather their thiness will be the limiting factor.  Don't over do a good thing..  The big colt in a rifle would be plenty even limited to faactory loads and I'd bet the rifle would survive more than that.  Still for general shooting I'd keep it factory level with just a few for the hunting field..  Perhaps a nice cast bullet load.  Probably would produce the 'blood rope' that Elmer Keith spoke of so often...