1892 rebuild

[Old-Win]

I found a pretty nice 1892 Winchester in 38-40 and am going to have it rebarreled in either 38-40 or 44-40. This will be for shooting out to 200yds. Barrel choice is the GM small lever gun barrels with a 36" twist in the .44 or 40" twist in the .38.
Do any of you have knowledge or advice on either caliber? Is one more accurate than the other? Is there much of a wind advantage in the .44 over the .38 with its slightly heavier bullet? Finally, are any of you using the Starline brass which is advertised as having slightly thicker brass in the neck? Your experiences would be gratly appreciated. Bob

[Reg]

You might want to take a second look at it. If it really is "pretty nice" do you really want to rebarrel it. There are lots of junkers out there. If it is a nice gun it would be a crying shame to mess with it. Remember, we do not "own" these guns but rather are temporary custodians.

:popcorn:

[Old-Win]

Reg, the action is nice but the barrel was chopped to 19" along with a shortened mag tube and forearm so it is a definite candidate for what I want to do. Bob

[Larry Gibson]

Those twists pretty much restrict you to 180 and 200 gr bullets. If you are shooting smokeless powder loads I would suggest a faster twist, especially if going 44-40.

Larry Gibson

[JMtoolman]

I rebarreled a 44/40 with a blank. It has a 1 in 24 in twist, shoots like a lazer! I always thought the slower twist barrels might be a bit more of a problem to get to shoot great. The toolman.

[runfiverun]

the slower twists do limit your boolit weight choices,
it was also done for powder fouling.
pretty smart fellows we had back then.
if i were doing a 44-40 i would speed up the twist to a 1-20.
then i could use 240 gr boolits with it.

[excess650]

the slower twists do limit your boolit weight choices,
it was also done for powder fouling.
pretty smart fellows we had back then.
if i were doing a 44-40 i would speed up the twist to a 1-20.
then i could use 240 gr boolits with it.

Marlin's 1-38" twist for their 44 magnum 1894s is due to the fact that their old 44-40s were 1-38". A quicker twist would make it easier to stabilize 240gr in a 44-40.

[LtFrankDrebbin]

I would stick with 38-40 only because they're less common. Would like to get one for myself oneday.

[Old-Win]

JM, who's barrel did you use to get the 24" twist. Has anybody shot both calibers and did you see much of a difference? Thanks.

[lbaize3]

I do not own one, but there was a recent video post of a gentleman shooting a 44-40 at steel pigs at (I think) two hundred meters. He did not miss a one. It was an awesome demonstration of that caliber's accuracy in a lever action rifle. (wish I could shoot that well...)