Printable View
Any opinions on these for cast and low powered jacketed loads fellas? Found one nearby for sale. I know the B92's were nicely finished guns, but also heard the twist in the 44 mag was 1:38 and the bores as large as .432 or so. Id like to run some heavier cast bullets and jacketed slugs in the 1100-1200fps level and thinking that slow twist and bore may present challenges to both. Any thoughts?
They are great rifles as long as you use big enough bullets.
Might be the best of the modern lever guns ,certainly above the average presented today.
Mine shoots my cast .430 as well as .432 bullets. Say 2" @ 50.
https://youtu.be/WMolqxSGrDY
Some of the issues with cast are inherent in all 44 mag rifles. It’s because SAAMI has different 44 mag specs for rifles and pistols. SAAMI rifle chambers in 44 mag have larger groove diameters, a slower twist and long throat. The B92’s in 44 mag are fitted with shallow multi groove rifling that is similar to Marlin’s microgroove rifling.
On top of this most cast bullet moulds made by the large mould manufacturers cater for pistol users, ie bullets normally drop at 0.430”. The Browning and most other 44 mag rifles will likely slug 0.431/0.432”, so accuracy potential is not off to a good start if using ‘normal’ moulds.
It is possible to get your 44 mag rifles to work with cast but you generally need fatter bullets and in the case of rifles with shallow rifling, a slightly harder alloy to grip that shallow rifling properly. Suppliers like NOE and Accurate Molds can supply 44 moulds in larger sizes required for rifles or you can modify existing moulds to cast larger pills or use powder coating to increase the diameter. There are a number of ways to skin a cat.
In my B92 300gr cast loads are about as accurate as jacketed bullet loads. Low velocity is fine but you will be much happier with the results if you use large diameter pills and bullet designs that function in leverguns ie RNFP, WFN and TC styles.
All 44 mags have very generous bores.
The Browning Lever Actions are superior. I have a Model 53 32-20 and had a 44. They are better than any of the Italian or Brazilian copies, and for that matter, most Winchesters. I can not guarantee the accuracy, but when new, the fit and finish were impeccable.
I have a 16 ga Citori, a mod 53 32/20, and an 1873 short rifle in 357. All have excellent fit and finish and in my opinion also, are superior to any Italian or Brazilian guns that I have handled in that respect. I can't imagine that the mod 92 would be different. I don't know about the twist and or bore dia tho for the .44.
My opinion is: I wish I had mine back! Aside from that, I used the old Keith 245 grain bullet in mine. Needed to be seated deep to work through the action but shot well. Works well in the S. American guns that I have now also but they ain't Brownings!
I run a 260 gr in my Win AE 94 trapper it really like that weight bullet jacketed or cast