I picked up two 92's a week ago. One is a wedding present for a family member and her new hubbie that both shoot cowboy action events with me. The other I bought for a friend who is going to be paying me back when she gets back into town.
I'm doing the slicking up work on both. Spring kit and general de-burring and some slight modifications as required.
What I found when I opened these two up was fairly startling. Both had seem some amount of hand fitting and polishing already. Most of the little things I was going to do where already done. And some were done to a far greater degree than I would have thought to try.
Here's a list of what I found;
- The chambers were deeply relieved on the lower edge of the mouth to allow the cartridges to not jam up as they enter the chamber at an angle. I'd done this same sort of relieving on my own and one other gun but not as far in as these two.
- The cartridge guides were polished neatly to let the casing rims slide more smoothly through the guides that lift the head of the cartridge up and into line with the chamber.
- The extractor spring collar is chamfered so it doesn't catch on the transition on the shaft of the extractor. I'd come up with the idea for this on my own and the second rifle and here it is already done now instead of just simply cut faces on the collar.
Fit and finish inside for the parts was clean other than the heel on the bolt that rubs against the hammer when cocking the lever. That required some considerable stoning and some rubberized abrasive wheel work to shine those up. That was the ony downside.
The exterior finish was smooth and workmanlike on the metal but not the nice glossy polish that I got on mine when I bought it some 5 years ago.
The wood fit just fine, not perfect but good enough. The downside is the cloudy and muddy looking finish on the wood. I've stripped away much of it with some paint stripper but I still had to sand the last of it which seemed to be resistant to the stripper. I've already put on the first coat of oil mixed with some stain so it stays neatly clear without becoming muddy again. It's the first time I've tried this and it won't be the last time I use this method. The colour came up nicely without being overpowering. And being a mix the pigment of the stain doesn't cover up the wood grain too much.
Mind you this isn't highly figured stuff. In fact it's got a downright boring look to the grain. But this oil and stain mixture at least is making the most of what is there instead of just covering it up with mud as they did at the factory.
I'll post pictures when I take them tomorrow of the wood both "just stripped" and looking dull and lifeless and the other stock that I stained earlier tonight. I think you'll agree that it looks better than the stock finish. But you'll also see that it's no Turkish walnut.
All in all I wasn't sure what to expect due to the reports I'd read from others. But other than the dull and very plain looking wood both of the rifles are built just fine and the quality of the machining is very good. Better than I expected in fact. Then add to this the detail polishing I found and these things are suddenly a real treat and an excellent value.
I'll post up pictures of the newly refinished stock and the muddy looking factory finish tomorrow when I can take the pictures outside so it shows the colours more naturally.
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Originally Posted by BCRider
And yes, even if mine were not my cowboy action rifle it would still have an honorable and frequently used place in my collection. 
