Winchester Model 1892 44-40 Bore diameter

[banjo3006]

I have a friend that wants me to load some ammo for his rifle, however I noticed in my manual it recommends slugging the bore to make sure it is .429 not .427. Unfortunately I dont have rifle available to do this. Were any of this particular rifle the .427 bore size or was it just some other rifles/pistols. Thanks for any answers.

[LONGTOM]

As far as I know all of the older Winchesters in 44-40 were .427.
There might be a little various way but that is what they were suppose to be.



LONGTOM

[banjo3006]

Would it be safe to load the .429 Nosler 240gr JHP in this rifle, will be using H4227.

[Mikey]

No!  If you intend to use a .429 diameter bullet then slug the bore before you do so to determine if you can safely use a .429 diameter bullet or if you must use one of .427 diameter or even smaller.

My old Lyman manual lists the range of diameters from .425 - .429.  The groove diameter on the rifle used in the testing was .432 but only .426 on the revolver, so for safety sake, slug the bore and then use bullets of proper diameter.  jmtcw.

[LONGTOM]

I am no expert on the 1892s.
My interest lies with the 1873s but the issues are the same as far as shooting jacketed bullets in a rifle made primarily for lead.  

I don't think it would really be unsafe to do it but most folks will tell you to stick to lead bullets.
How old of a gun is it?
Do you know when it was manufactured?
The reason I ask is while Winchester did load some jacketed bullets in 44-40 in their high speed ammo back in the early days the bulk of all ammo for the old guns is soft lead.
To be honest the lead bullets will do just as good of a job as the jacketed ones will for game.
The 44-40 is not a hot loaded round and as such lead usually preforms better out of a rifle with out undue wear or stress on the firearm.
I have never shot a 92 but I have shot jacketed bullets out of my 1873 with no ill effects but they were light target loads.
Of course the 73 is not near as strong as the 92.
The bottom line is I would suggest you stick with lead.
Why chance wreaking a nice old leaver action when lead will do the same job with out any problems.



LONGTOM