Winchester 92 Feeding problems

[Washington1331]

I've been scratching my head on this one for quite some time. Back in 2017, my darling wife surprised me with an antique Winchester 1892 which was manufactured in 1897 in 32WCF.

I brought it to the range once, and had fouling issues with holy black that with the help of this forum I was able to figure out... more lube... who would figure?

One issue that I thought that I had figured out was a magazine tube feeding issue. I ordered some parts, and then real life got in the way. Since its the holidays, and I finally have time to devote to this project again... I broke out the parts this evening made my swaps and low and behold I have the same damn problem. I replaced the tired old spring with a wolf mag tube spring.

The issue that I'm still having is that when I cycle the lever down the cartridge is ejected from the mag tube onto the follower. (Good to go, right?) When I complete the full downward stroke of the loading lever the follower springs up and the cartridge in nearly ejected from the action. Gingerly cycling the action normally results with a jam because the cartridge was thrown up higher than the chamber mouth... With a good cycle of the lever, I've actually had rounds that flipped in the loading stroke and wound up backwards in the action, or ejected completely from the gun.

So it doesn't appear to be a mag tube spring issue. Luckily it was only 6 bucks. My only other thought is that there is an issue with the cartridge guides? Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

[indian joe]

I've been scratching my head on this one for quite some time. Back in 2017, my darling wife surprised me with an antique Winchester 1892 which was manufactured in 1897 in 32WCF.

I brought it to the range once, and had fouling issues with holy black that with the help of this forum I was able to figure out... more lube... who would figure?

One issue that I thought that I had figured out was a magazine tube feeding issue. I ordered some parts, and then real life got in the way. Since its the holidays, and I finally have time to devote to this project again... I broke out the parts this evening made my swaps and low and behold I have the same damn problem. I replaced the tired old spring with a wolf mag tube spring.

The issue that I'm still having is that when I cycle the lever down the cartridge is ejected from the mag tube onto the follower. (Good to go, right?) When I complete the full downward stroke of the loading lever the follower springs up and the cartridge in nearly ejected from the action. Gingerly cycling the action normally results with a jam because the cartridge was thrown up higher than the chamber mouth... With a good cycle of the lever, I've actually had rounds that flipped in the loading stroke and wound up backwards in the action, or ejected completely from the gun.

So it doesn't appear to be a mag tube spring issue. Luckily it was only 6 bucks. My only other thought is that there is an issue with the cartridge guides? Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

In a 32/20 There supposed to be two little tits on the cartridge guides that prevent the round flipping up

252177 point of the arrow just behind the rim guide slot

252178 see what its doing - case can NOT elevate up and jam the action

You might get away with this by shimming behind the offside (RH) cartridge guide ---shimming the left hand side guide is problematic as you are then changing the relationship of the magazine cutoff and its spring.
Another tip - dont full length resize your fired brass if it will chamber without - that little bit of case expansion might help.

If those lumps are gone altogether then sometime in the past "Bubba" has done an action job on this gun and a well directed jab with a mig welder and some judicious filing is required to un bubba it (tricky, delicate work)

The larger calibre 92's dont have this feature - it was an adptation to allow function of the smaller cartridges and you will see two little grooves cut in the lower "wings" of the bolt that allow it to clear these lumps on the cartridge guides.

A good 92 is a slick piece of machinery but the tolerances are fine and EVERY little bump and projection inside it is there for a specific purpose. Dont change anything until you figure out how it works.

[John Taylor]

New set of feed rails will fix it. http://homesteadparts.com/shopcart/pid_1378.htm
http://homesteadparts.com/shopcart/pid_1528.htm
You might also try Steves gunz https://stevesgunz.com/

[Washington1331]

Thanks for the pictures and parts info. This is what I’m seeing inside my action.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191201/2396d735ed7f237e8991f055612aa38c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191201/409a0bc7042c414684a660d4747c5d2a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191201/d9d9956ffc75c26547b271047235bcd3.jpg

I think that part of the problem is that there are some patina spots that may be hanging up the cartridge sliding far enough back. So I may need to get in there and polish some things. Or perhaps it would be smarter to pay someone who knows what they are doing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[John Taylor]

Looks like the little "tits" are warn away. Some one good with a tig torch and a little filing can fix it.

[indian joe]

Looks like the little "tits" are warn away. Some one good with a tig torch and a little filing can fix it.

John --it also looks like the end is gone off the magazine stopper on front end of the left feed rail ?? RH feed rail dont look right to me either looks like its just sitting in there not located in its groove properly??? Maybe my eyes playin tricks??

[John Taylor]

John --it also looks like the end is gone off the magazine stopper on front end of the left feed rail ?? RH feed rail dont look right to me either looks like its just sitting in there not located in its groove properly??? Maybe my eyes playin tricks??

Does look like the spring for the cartridge stop is broken or not there.

[Washington1331]

So if I'm following correctly, I'll be needing new cartridge guides (right & left), and the associated springs. I've been meaning to replace both, and have been lurking Homestead parts for quite sometime, but it seems they are always out of stock. I have located a business out of Maine who manufactures replacement parts. Has anyone done business with Winchesterbob.com?

Are there any other parts that I should be considering in this order? Or should I just give up and bring it to a gunsmith?

Thanks again.

[JMtoolman]

I fixed one for my brother a number of years ago. It was converted to a 218 bee, and it had major feeding problems. It would pop up vertical when working the lever. It had been that way for fifty years, and was very frustrating to use. I remove the two pieces that controlled the cartridge guides on each side. I can't remember for sure, but I think the pins in the guides are drilled through each half. I think I used a punch to move them out a bit further. A bit of polishing on the cutouts that guides the rims, along the pins soon had them working like new. The pins keep the cartridge from rising to fast and they stay lined up with the barrel Best of luck, the toolman