Model 1892 Winchester

[terryt]

Hi:

I am considering the purchase of a Model 1892 Winchester Rifle (24 inch barrel) in 25-20.

Have any of you had experience with this model and caliber. I had been thinking about getting a .22 Hornet until I saw this.

Thanks,

Terry

[wch]

Lots of experience with 25-20, lots of experience with Model 1892, but that rifle was a 32-20.
The 25-20 is a fun caliber, cast bullets do well, pb or gc; it was the go-to small game and varmint gun until the 22 Hornet arrived on the scene.
Reloading is easy and cheap with cast bullets, there are some jacketed bullets available, though not many. Your biggest problem, at times, will be finding brass to reload.
Your major concern should be just what do you want to use the rifle for?
25-20 is more expensive to shoot, likely more expensive cost for components unless you contemplate shooting mostly jacketed bullets in the Hornet.
The Model 1892 is a wonderful little rifle, accurate (within reason), reliable and fast handling. Many bores were ruined by corrosive ammunition so be sure to check that carefully.

[454PB]

My Dad gave me a 92 with octagon barrel when I was about 14 years old. I shot it quite a bit in the following 40 years, then gifted it to my daughter.

Mine had an awful looking bore, badly pitted, but still shot very well. Towards the end of my possession of it, I used some cast gas checked boolits that I bought at a gun show, and it shot those even better. Though I used a lot of my own handloads, I never did cast for it myself.

From a strictly practical point of view, the Hornet is probably a better cartridge for distances over about 75 yards.

[Uncle Jimbo]

Love my 25-20, not a Winchester 92, but a Marlin 1894. Have been reloading for it for several years. The hardest part is finding and keep brass. I load them with a CCI 550 primer, 8 gr. IMR4227 and a 85gr. Misier* (or how ever you spell it.) lead bullet.

* Bought a 1000 of them before I started casting. Down to about 300, when they gone at that time I will start making my own.

[Reg]

The 92 is a great little rifle and a ton of fun to shoot and the 25-20 cartridge cannot be beat but yes, brass can sometimes be a problem. If you get it I highly recommend you load up. Until the start of cowboy action shooting, 25-20 brass was almost impossible to find and pricy to boot.
Hornet brass tends to more available and quite often at a slightly better price but there are complaints that the standard Hornet will show streaching after a few shots and there are those who say the thin necks can be difficult to load . I think both cases require you handle them with a bit of care.
The 92 while reasonably accurate, for what it is, generally will be out shot by a Hornet, in quite a few cases. There again, a lot of Hornets are made on more solid actions leading to generally better accuracy.
In a lot of cases, you are not comparing apples to apples but both cartridges are a lot of fun to play with each in it's own right.

:coffee:

[UBER7MM]

The 25-20 is a lot of fun to shoot. A kick like a 22LR and the feel of a lever gun. The older 92s have a 1:14 twist. Newer Win 92s have a 1:13 twist, designed for the 86 grain bullet. Most store bought loaded ammo is 86 grain, and expensive. IMHO 1:14 twist guns prefer the 60 grain bullets. Your pet load experimentation may vary.

The cartridges look like mini 30-30s. There's not much difference in powder weight between minimum and maximum loads. You can make 25-20s out of necking up and trimming 218 Bee cases, but 32-20 cases are a bit short.

With cast bullet reduced loads and proper care, your Win 92 in 25-20 should last several life times. Your cases will last many many reloads too.


Good shooting,

[terryt]

Hi All:

Thanks for the feedback.

Terryt

[LtFrankDrebbin]

My 92 25/20 is my favorite, have a ball with it both on the range and in the feild.
Cheap to reload and just fun to shoot every time.
Had hornets in the past, have respect for the caliber just never taken to it.
For small game the 25/20 is hard to beat, if not cant be beat.

There is a big thread over on Marlin Owners Forum Reloading well worth a look at, its got the 25/20 very well covered now.

[358wcf]

Go ahead!- Make the Leap- ditch that small-bore 25-25 and get a 32-20!
You will be so glad you did -
It can do anything the 25 cal can do, and so much more- at no greater cost- so easy to load for, and those larger 110-115gr boolits are so easy to cast, and stretch a pound of lead so far, you will think you've gone to casting heaven! Powder lasts forever a 6 grains per charge!
That 25-20 will forever be trying to be a kid's rifle, competing with the 22 rimfires- a 32-20 is a real man's rifle, and can take real game (within reason, of course!), just don't try something stupid-
My current 32wcf is a Browning 53 repeater, a high quality rifle that will keep the grandkids happy in years to come. I'm gathering components right now to build it a companion single shot rifle for some 150 yard fun in the alfalfa fields north of here.
Small game rifles are far and few between today- Look at the Ballard Arms website and see what I mean with their ROOK & RABBIT model- heaven on earth in my humble opinion- if you must, it can be had in 25-20, just bring your wallet, gents!

Just an old Gent rambling-
Chuck
358wcf [smilie=1:[smilie=1:[smilie=1:

[Uncle Jimbo]

That 25-20 will forever be trying to be a kid's rifle, competing with the 22 rimfires-


Guess I will forever be trying to be the little kid, even at 63 years of age. Because I love my 25-20. :wink:

[atr]

I shoot the 25-20 in my savage 340 and I love that caliber. Fun to shoot, and easy to reload.
I have not found any trouble getting brass.

[Char-Gar]

I have not been without a 25-20 for the past 50 years and I was grown before I got my first one. Today I have a Winchester 92 levergun and a Remington 25 pumpgun in 25-20.

For any game smaller than deer, the 25-20 is plenty of rifle. I have killed coyote, bobcat, javelina, porcupine, armadillos and many rabbits with the caliber. It is an ideal farm and ranch rifle.

I have killed a deer with the 25-20 and although it was a quick one shot kill, I would not recommend it for deer. Neither would I recommend the 32-20 for deer. Both are to light.

I like the 32-20 having owned a number over the years. These days I only have that caliber in handguns (Colt Army Special and Smith and Wesson M&P). About the only reason I would prefer a 32-20 rifle over a 25-20 rifle is if I also owned a handgun in that caliber.

I have used only one 25-20 load these many years. Lyman 257312 a gas check cast bullet that will weigh 85 grains in Linotype and 90 grains in ACWW. The powder charge is 9 grains of 4227 powder.

This load has proved very accurate in every rifle I fired it in and deadly on game.

The 25-20 was not designed nor intended to be a kids rifle. It was the premier varmint caliber before the advent of the 22 Hornet and continued to be the premier small game rifle as it was better suited to that task than the Hornet.

It is still today as good today, as it every was, for it's intended purposes, plus it is a ton of fun to shoot.

[smokeywolf]

32-20, 25-20 and 218 Bee are all great varmint calibers.
Saw my father shoot a vulture at about 60 yards with the 218 Bee. That bird looked like it had been cleaned out by a surgeon.

Sounds like Char-Gar's got a spot-on load for the 25-20.

32-20 is the parent case for 25-20 and 218 Bee.

smokeywolf

[Boerrancher]

Several years ago I built a bolt action 25-20. I cut up an old 95 Mauser action to shorten it, and rebuilt the magazine and follower to accommodate the short rimmed shell. I love that little gun. The nice thing about mine is that I can shoot the 87gr Sierra BTHP out of it which turns it into a long range (120 yard) killer. I would much rather have one in an olde timey lever gun but poor folks have poor way.

Best wishes,

Joe

[rbuck351]

The 92Win and 25/20 is my most favorite small game gun and I have both the 25/20 and the 32/20. I cast a lyman 257415 which comes out about 73grs with lube and check. It shoots about 1 1/2" at 100yds at 1980fps using a couple of different powders. I have had no problem finding cases. If Rossi would start building one in 25/20 or better yet 256Win I would have one of the first to hit the store. I think I'm going to rebarrel my 32/20 to 256W. Store bought ammo is expensive and hard to find but reloading, casting and making my own checks makes for 6 or 7 cents per shot and a 125yd + small game rifle.

[Boerrancher]

I forgot to add in my first post I am seriously considering taking on of my Rossi M-92's and rebarreling it to a 25-20. I may do it this winter depending on the bank account looks, after Taxes.

Best wishes,

Joe

[27judge]

I have one willed to me by my grandfather some 60 years back when i was 14 in 32-20.Ishot it for many years and then had it rechambered to 357 mag by Bain and Davis out on the west coast. IT still shoots real good and ill give it to my son one day .But i sure wish i had kept it in 32-20 and checked out cast bullets in it.When i was more active in groundhog hunting i put many away walking the hedgerows of MD and PA. tks for your time KEn

[Four Fingers of Death]

After reading this post recently , I dug mine out today and took it to the range. It is a saddle ring carbine with full length mag tube, 1908 or 1910 made, can't remember, as I have a few 1892s. I only had some factory ammo with 80odd grain bullets. I have absolutely no idea where these came from, they just materialised in my giant ammo locker,complete with an MTM plastic box a few years ago????

Shot pretty well. I have a heap of TL boolits moulded up and LLA'd, so i will have to give it a run with cast next week. Nice little rifle.

I also gave my 44/40 92 Winchester a run. This is a really odd rifle. It is a rifle length round barrel, 24" and it is a bit heavy. It has a half mag, like most of the old ones that came to Australia. It looks well worn and crappy on the outside with a heavy patina, but the original barrel is excellent, must have been stored with grease in the barrel. I ain't complaining though it works a treat!

[9.3X62AL]

FFOD--

I've had similar things happen to me, sir. If you have enough ammo in stock--and leave in the dark for extended periods of time--it will start to reproduce on its own.

I'm another fan of the Winchester hyphenated WCF rounds, with rifles and/or revolvers in 25-20, 32-20, and 44-40 chamberings. Specific to the 25-20, it is a very affordable caliber to reload for--esp. if you cast your own boolits to feed it. Mine are both Marlins--a 1989-made Model 1894 and a pre-1930 Model 27-S slide action. I have 3 mould designs that will feed these critters (and my other quarter-bore fusils)--Lymans #257312 (88 gr. FN/GC) and #257420 (72gr. FN/GC) and the RCBS 85 gr. Cowboy plainbase flatnose. The gas-checked boolits are about a "dead heat" accuracy-wise to some pretty impressive velocities (1700 and 1900 FPS respectively), and the plain-base holds up in both the 25-20 and the 250 Savage to 1350-1400 FPS; both use 1-14" twists. Are these "Kid's Rifles"? Sure! Are they "reloadable rimfires"? They are that, and much more. About the only edge the 17 HMR has over the high-velocity 25-20 is accuracy at 150 yards--there's a LOT MORE energy remaining, for darn sure.

The 22 Hornet IN A GOOD RIFLE is a bit more caliber with better long-range accuracy than the 25-20. I had a Ruger 77RH at the same time I had both 25-20s......the Ruger left, the 25-20s stayed on. I still have the Hornet die set, and might get around to filling that hole in the gun safe with a CZ-527 one of these days--mostly to try cast boolits in the Hornet bolter. Yes, I am a glutton for punishment.

[Four Fingers of Death]

The Hornet is a fascinating cartridge. I don't currently have a Hornet, but am trying to resist buying one, I will see how I go loading the 222 down to Hornet velocities.

I like the Winchesters, but wold love a Marlin in the 32/20 and 25/20 so that I can fit a low powered scope I can still use the open sights at teh range and on decent sized targets, but it is getting a bit difficult to use on small furry critters. The 25/20 has been D&T'd for a reciever sight, this will be my next move,I am reluctant to D&T the originals.

[9.3X62AL]

I hear ya, FFOD. The 1989-series 94CL in 25-20 came from the factory D&T for both scope mounts atop the receiver and for aperture sights on the receiver sidewall. I mounted a Lyman #66 thereon, and I like its work. The 2004-made 94CCL in 32-20 has the scope mount D&T, but the sidewall is not. I have debated about getting a Skinner sight set for this critter, but I cut my teeth on open irons in general and buckhorns like this rifle came with in particular, so I can make the system work for me. These probably aren't as precise as an aperture set, but my hit rate on varmints with the 25-20 and the 32-20 doesn't vary much--so from a practical viewpoint I'm not sure the difference matters a whole lot. I am loath to put an optical sight on any levergun, other than for load testing. The whole premise seems like mounting a camper shell on a Porsche to me.

[Four Fingers of Death]

If I filed the rear groove a bit wider, I would be ok, but I am reluctant to attack an original near enough 100yr old or older set of sights with a file. The 25/20 is fair game, it is the oldest 92 I own, but has been refinished, re-barrelled and has non original sights. The sights onit are pretty useable as they are and it is the only one I'd feel comfortable about altering, lol. Nowwwww! My Rossi 44Mag with it's invisible notch is about to suffer an attack of file-itus!

[Idaho Mule]

I don't have a 1892 in 25-20 but my brother does. I do have an 1892 in 32-20 as well as a Marlin 1894 CL in 32-20 and I can personally say they are awsome little guns to shoot. My family and I take many, many Boone and Crocket class ground squirrels with these carbines and a few 32-20 handguns every spring here in north Idaho. One of these days I figure on beating up my brother and taking possession of that 25-20 and giving it a proper home. Not really, he is a mechanical engineer by trade and insists on having it properly checked out by a competent gunsmith before shooting it. I personally know that it is just fine, but it belongs to him (actually his wife) so I have to abide by his rule there.

[terryt]

Hi All:

Thanks for all the info.

Terryt

[rbuck351]

For those of us that can't see well any more a scope is just about a must if we want to keep shooting despite their looks on a lever gun. While rummaging through a local gun store I found several mounts for the old Bushnell Phantom pistol scope, a couple of which are for the Win 92/94. These replace the rear sight and require no D&T. Even though my 1921 M92 has a weak barrel, it will still shoot 1 3/4" or so @ 100yds with cast. I can't do that with out the scope.

[9.3X62AL]

Cataract surgery on my right eye largely restored my ability to use open or aperture irons with good effect. I am most thankful for that restoration.

[terryt]

Hi All:

Thanks for all the info.


Terrryt