Browning 92's

[FISH4BUGS]

I am still looking for that 1st lever rifle in 357 or 44. Somehow I got to looking at the Browning 92's. Are they worth the money? I know Browning has the reputation for high quality, but it is THAT high to justify the price being asked for these ($750 seems to be about asking price for NIB).
Thanks!

[45 2.1]

The 357 version is. I've never got to own the 44 version, yet.

[mtngunr]

Based on my B53 experience, would say you'd have to go to an original Winchester to (maybe) exceed the Browning in quality....mainly, the Winchester might be better because it doesn't say "Japan" on the barrel, but I doubt I could find a Winchester that will outshoot my B53....my experience with Italian guns has never had me saying that they were equal to originals, especially with internal machining and parts, but that experience is limited to repro muzzleloaders and revolvers....it seems most the Italian guns are up about the same price as the Browning, which makes the Browning a better deal, (again, in my opinion)....with the exchange rate being so poor on the Euro, the Italian guns are absurdly expensive, and have been for the last several years.....two or three years back, you could get a higher grade B53 NIB for $700 or less, now many are asking close to $1000 for the same gun....the less dressy B92 went for significantly less than the B53, but apparently it is also rising......sigh......they have finally been discovered, it seems.....

[McLintock]

I've got the B92 in .44 Mag, using it extensively in Cowboy Action matches for almost ten years now. Not as fast shooting as my '73 but much more John Wayne like. It's never had a hiccup or any problems and as others have said, it's right there next to a Winchester in my book. If you watch the Cowboy Action forums you can probably find a used one for much less than that 700 dollars NIB price, particularly if you put out a thread about wanting one.
McLintock

[Jack Stanley]

I had a 92 in .357 once , while it was a nice rifle the prices they command aren't for everyone . I did like the quality level on mine and managed to keep it long enough to come out of the deal ok .

Jack

[Bass Ackward]

I own a Browning B92 in 44 Mag. So does my father. Finely machined and finished, fast and smooth as glass. Fairly accurate too, if you stay with bullets below 280 grains as they are a 38 twist. (measured) They appear to be microgroove because of all the lands, but the rifling height is a full .004 tall. Works great with lead, again if you stay below 280 grains.

Replaced the Buckhorn though with a notched ladder like the Winchesters had. Had the sight made and slotted for 44 Mag, 240 gr factory ballistics. It seems fairly close out to 200 yards that I have tried it.

[mtngunr]

Just a bit of further meandering on the subject of "Brownchesters", as a friend of mine calls them....that friend is a real Winchester fan, owns quite a few vintage ones and knows the guns extremely well, as only a collector could...and he loves his Browning....quite frankly, they ain't makin' them no more......what with the Winchester name being owned by USRAC, USRAC being owned by the same multinational coglomerate that owns Browning, and the current state of liability lawsuits in this country, combined with USRAC spending the last years of Winchester production adding rebounding hammers and tang safeties to already numerous changes made to the line since 1964, I consider it pretty unlikely that you'll ever see a Browning or Winchester branded gun ever made again without some sort of serious design change incorporating safeties.....doubly so since the nicer Winchesters to come down the pipe towards the end came from the same Miroku who made the Brownings, and Miroku might have some misgivings due to the possibility of suits in the US were they ever to export a gun sans safeties, as that would be removing a known functional safety, and some lawyers could have a field day with that fact.....and although it might be a Brownchester, it's actually a gun design from the desk of Saint John Moses, and I find the Browning name on the gun more than fitting.....finally, as the prices are showing, I think the discontinued Browning will continue to appreciate in value at a rate which should out-strip most other lever-actions, aside from Winchesters, as the gun is out of print, quality is high, and total production numbers are much lower than many competitors......

[Four Fingers of Death]

I had one in 357, lovely rifle, should have kept it, but really it didn't feed most boolits I had and was a bit cantankerous and when the foresight assembly came off in the middle of a string, we parted company. My el cheapo used Rossi, however has never missed a beat, I cannot recommend them too highly. The pic in my avitar is it in full swing. It sort of goes against the grain shooting a 357, but it is such asweet rifle.