Fast twist .44 barrel for B92

[Old School Big Bore]

I want to rebarrel my B92 with a cut-rifling barrel with a faster twist and maybe a shade larger diameter. Can anyone recommend a smith who works on '92s? All I can find surfing around are Marlin specialists. Any info appreciated.

[Old School Big Bore]

Anyone know a good levergun smith who works on '92s?

[fecmech]

A reline with a faster twist by John Taylor might be the least expensive way to go.

[missionary5155]

Greetings
I have had several projects done by John Taylor and will also recommend him.
MIke in Peru

[Nobade]

Brownells sells Shilen blanks that would work well for this, I have never checked the dimensions of the barrel threads on one of those rifles but they may be metric so your 'smith would need to have the ability to cut them. Otherwise it's no big deal to make a barrel for it. If you can do a Marlin you can do a '92 easier since they don't have square threads.

-Nobade

[Old School Big Bore]

Thanks, guys for the great info...I don't want to line it due to a couple of factors, mainly that I want a bit heavier profile, within the limits of the width of the receiver, ability to bore out the barrel band, fitting the forend, clearance between barrel and mag tube, etc, and I don't care about preserving markings, it's a shooter and I want it to be a bit more SERIOUS of a shooter. I want to get the twist down to somewhere between 10" and 14" instead of the retarded 38" it has now, and have cast-friendly rifling instead of the micro-groove type. Brownells generally only has 'standard' twist barrels but by buying direct from the makers you can get much faster/slower rates. Still searching for a Winchester-savvy smith.

[Nrut]

Old School Big Bore,
Might check on leverguns if you haven't already:
http://www.levergunscommunity.com/index.php?sid=d7f04c9bf0f74084371f4e17dddd95bf
Also check with Steve's Guns..
He is a Rossi 92 specialist..
Don't know if he is a machinist, but if he isn't he may know someone who is...

Please post the particulars of your project when you get started..
Should be interesting..

Thanks

[JFE]

I've often thought about re barrelling mine to 45LC, but after persisting over a long time, I have finally worked out how to make it work with cast bullets.

The slow twist isn't the issue, it's the combination of shallow rifling, large groove diameter and long throat. A cut rifle barrel with a tighter groove diameter would be sweet, but I would try to get the chamber reamed with a short throat too.

The standard throat for a 44M in rifles is about .22" and with cartridges that feed through the action, the bullets are a long way from reaching the rifling. With a shorter throat you will likely have to trim loads somewhat, but I think the accuracy improvement would be worth it.

[JFE]

I missed your comment about the twist rate you are looking at. FWIW I managed to stabilize 300 gr cast and get them to shoot accurately with the stock 38" twist. If you were going to opt for a faster twist for shooting cast bullets accurately, I would suggest a twist not much faster than 1 in 20". This is about the twist rate used in most 44M handguns.

[John Taylor]

McGowen has barrel blanks with 1 in 18 or 1 in 24". They can also match the profile of your barrel and thread for the action but they do not have the 44-40 chamber reamer. I do custom cut rifle barrels sometimes but I'm backed up a bunch right now. You might also try http://www.deltagunshop.com/ or http://cutrifle.com/. I don't think Steve's guns does machine work but he is the best on 92s.

[Old School Big Bore]

Thanks again, guys. Nrut, thanks for mentioning Steve. I looked him up and already sent him an email. And he's right here in God's Country! John, thanks for the Delta and cut rifle links - I want to stay .44 mag, not .44-40. JFE, my go-to bullet is the Keith, and one of the first things I did to this B92 was to cut the stop on the lifter back to allow the Keith in a mag case to feed. I would definitely specify the chamber to be Keith and 305 WFN friendly; if it couldn't handle both I'd go with the Keith. This is a great site and I really appreciate all the super input.

[Old School Big Bore]

OK, the Lee 305 WFN loads to the same COAL as the Keith, but part of that fat nose hits the upper chamber wall on the way up, and I'm wondering if it's usual to relieve the rim guides to let the rim rise a bit earlier to set the cartridge a bit more level. It looks like it only needs a smidge.

[John Taylor]

OK, the Lee 305 WFN loads to the same COAL as the Keith, but part of that fat nose hits the upper chamber wall on the way up, and I'm wondering if it's usual to relieve the rim guides to let the rim rise a bit earlier to set the cartridge a bit more level. It looks like it only needs a smidge.

It would also require a little welding. Just cutting it back will not raise the rim sooner.

[bigted]

wow ... great post. I am following this one with interest.

[blackhawk44]

Talk to your gunsmith when ready, but I believe that you will find that a twist of about 1 turn in 20" will be as fast as need.

[beagle]

I built a M1894 Marlin .44 Mag with a 1-20 twist Douglas. Worked well with longer, heavier bullets but not with the Kieths or lighter. The 1-24 might be all right but probably a 1-26 would be optimum. The .44 Mag sucks as a cast gun as us lead pourers tend to want to shoot 200-320 grain bullets in them with accuracy. Just ain't happening from my experiences with half a dozen .44 Mag rifles./beagle

[felix]

Yep, Beagle is right on. ... felix

[Old School Big Bore]

John - have you altered the rim guides on any 92s to level out WFNs? Where would the welding be, I'm guessing to raise the floor of the lifter? Maybe sweating a wedge there?

[Old School Big Bore]

Have any Browning shooters had any work done by Steve's Guns? He answered my first email pretty quickly but misread my question and plugged his big loop lever (which I need about like I need a saddle ring with a cool little leather thong, chrome reverse rims and fuzzy dice) and Rossi work in his reply. I'm still trying to get an answer as to whether he'll work on Brownings.