My "new" made-in-1897 model 92 carbine.

[dikman]

Finally got it a few days ago, so just stripped it down. The woodwork is varnished so stripped that off and oiled it. The hammer, unfortunately, has part of the sear engagement (think that's the right terminology?) broken off. It still works, but figuring that this one will be getting most of the use I swapped the hammer from my (1911) '92. I'll have to try and get a replacement at some point. There are a couple of splits in the wood, right where it meets the receiver, so I reinforced them on the inside with some epoxy, but left the outside alone. The tube magazine is virtually bright metal, all the coating has long since gone, but considering its age it's probably not bad overall. I took out the cartridge pusher in the mag and coated it in Hi-Tek Zombie Green, the theory being that when we shoot a match at the end the Range Officer has to check the magazine is empty, so this way he can more easily see the pusher. Also fitted a tang-mounted peep sight.

Now I just have to wait for better weather (too hot!) and try it out :bigsmyl2:.

[Mike in Reedley]

Cool, what caliber? How about a pic?

[Frank46]

Funny thing about 1892's. They made so many yet except for some high end dealers at gun shows I've never had the chance to handle one. And they are sure proud of them as well. Frank

[dikman]

Oops :oops: - .44-40, what else?:grin: I'll see if I can take a pic that does it justice.
I'm not an aficionado, as such, but I now have three Winchesters (in .44-40) and there is an indefinable something in owning genuine old Winchesters. (Maybe I'm just a snob at heart? :lol:).

[Ballistics in Scotland]

The original finish would have been varnish, but it is frequently about all gone, even in rifles in presentable condition, and oil finish would be more appropriate than someone else's over-thick varnishing.

You could have the original hammer notch built up with welding. While there are hardfacing welding rods, mild steel case-hardened after filing nearly to shape should be fine. Another technique with some guns is to cut a notch and silver solder a piece of small high speed steel square toolbit in place. That will remain hard through the silver soldering process. The trouble with Winchesters is that there is a half-cock notch which, while not quite so critical, needs to be hard too.

My button-magazine .32-40 94 came from an Australian auction, and there is indeed something about these early rifles that is quite different from the modern factory rifles. I think (unless there were others) I argued the .32-40 onto the British government's list of antiques which can be owned or acquired totally without legal controls. Unfortunately that applies to no chambering of the 92, a delightfully smooth action which keeps rather more of the genius of Browning. I can imagine him saying "Who made the rule that says the lever has to have a pivot point in the receiver?"

[dikman]

Thanks Ballistics, I had thought of welding the hammer and shaping the weld, so it looks like it might be a viable option (a quick search for hammers indicates they might be in short supply!!). I figured it had been re-varnished at some point, as it looked too good, and feel happier with the oil finish which should get better with more handling.

My other '92 is also a button mag with a long hexagonal barrel (there seems to have been more button mags sent to Australia than anywhere else), while my '94 is a carbine model with a very good bore, but unfortunately it suffers from the known issue of not cycling pistol rounds fast. This means it's useless for Single Action stuff, more's the pity. But I still like it.

[clum553946]

Homestead Parts may have the hammer

[clum553946]

Oops :oops: - .44-40, what else?:grin: I'll see if I can take a pic that does it justice.
I'm not an aficionado, as such, but I now have three Winchesters (in .44-40) and there is an indefinable something in owning genuine old Winchesters. (Maybe I'm just a snob at heart? :lol:).

I don't think you're a snob but maybe an addict! Lol

[Ballistics in Scotland]

If you build up the hammer notch with weld which isn't self-hardening, you can try the fit by assembling it, but you mustn't pull the trigger under mainspring tension, even once, before case-hardening, as that can spoil the edge. If you imagine the flat surface of that notch extended backwards, it must pass through the hammer axis of rotation, or a fraction higher. If it passes under the action, it increases the chances that the trigger will jar off someday.

We hear of people doing this job with self-hardening hardfacing welding alloys, but I only know of it as hearsay. I don't know if they are hard enough, or not too brittle. They are also likely to be hard to find. I'd use mild weld and a modern case-hardening compound.

[dikman]

Homestead parts had nil stock when I looked.
One of the guys in my club does gunsmithing/repairs, so I might run the problem past him. I don't think I would try using a self-hardening weld, as I can see real problems in trying to shape it.
The notch is still 1/2 there, so the remaining part can be used as a guide to the shape required. Thanks for the advice, Ballistics.

[dikman]

Ok, panic over! Turns out it's the "safe" notch that's damaged, not the actual hammer release bit so I'm not going to worry about it (the potential to do more damage is too great!). Also tried the gun today - nice!!. For $400, me happy :bigsmyl2:.