Help choosing antique.

I think the Swiss and swede are more accurate than french. Also... no need to keep an empty chamber french and swede do for sure. They have hammer that retracts when trigger is released. I'm pretty sure the Swiss does as well.
 
I read somewhere in the past that the reason the French Mle 1892 revolvers never seem to shoot as well as should be expected is that the Mle. 1892 shares the same rifling pattern and dimensions of the 8mm Fusil Lebel rifle to share production equipment, revealing the French to be more concerned about tooling costs and setup than accuracy as to them it was only meant to be a point blank range weapon. So yes the longer and heavier bullets should shoot better!
 
Thank you for this bit of information, as it took me trial and error to figure it out, but it was fun.

mkrnel said:
I read somewhere in the past that the reason the French Mle 1892 revolvers never seem to shoot as well as should be expected is that the Mle. 1892 shares the same rifling pattern and dimensions of the 8mm Fusil Lebel rifle to share production equipment, revealing the French to be more concerned about tooling costs and setup than accuracy as to them it was only meant to be a point blank range weapon. So yes the longer and heavier bullets should shoot better!
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The reason that some heavier .323" cast bullets might work better is because: .323" is undersize for (most?) of these revolvers; the heavier bullet generates higher peak pressure and this obturates the bullet base so that it actually grips the rifling.

Most of the M92 i've ever checked had a groove diameter of .326-.327", a couple were larger. I have heard about M92 revolvers that have .323" bores but I haven't seen one that tight myself. Using the right diameter bullets to start with will likely help accuracy.

I get my best accuracy from a warmly loaded 110-115 gr bullets gr and have done well with bullets as light as 90 gr - BUT - all the bullets I used were sized to .327" or .330". My experiments with the heavier bullets didn't show any improvement over the lighter ones. The fiocchi stuff was quite dismal in every pistol i tried it in, but given that there seems to be some variance in bore dimensions then it might work OK in a different revolver.

COTW had (amongst it's many errors) the 8mm Lebel Revolver bullet listed as .323" for years and I think this probably caused some of the confusion.
 
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jethunter said:
You might need to use the right diameter bullets to start with if you want better accuracy in a M92. I get good accuracy from 110 gr and have done well with bullets as light as 90 gr - BUT - all the bullets I used were sized to .327". My experiments with the heavier bullets didn't show any improvements over the lighter ones. The fiocchi stuff is undersized in all my revolvers. Also, apparently there is some variance in the bore sizes of the revolvers themselves.

COTW had (amongst it's many errors) the 8mm Lebel Revolver bullet listed as .323" for years and I think this probably caused some of the confusion.

The reason that some heavier .323" cast bullets might work better is because: .323" is undersize for (most?) of these revolvers; the heavier bullet generates higher peak pressure and this obturates the bullet base so that it actually grips the rifling.

Every M92 i've ever checked had a groove diameter of .327-.328" . I have heard about M92 revolvers that have .323" bores but I haven't seen one for myself.
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Good info, and I have used some of your bullets in my M1892 and they shot well too, but my excellent condition M1892 was never as tight a grouper as my Swiss and Swede Antique revolvers!

There probably is quiet a variance in French M1892 bores as they were mass produced (350,000) for WW1, manufacturing them from 1892 till about 1924 and many had been refitted with new barrels with later dates on the barrels than the revolvers actual manufacture date! Plus the fact that the CIP drawings show a 8.05mm or .317 diameter bullet as standard for this cartridge does not help with accuracy -

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...and that's why we should always slug the bore on these old revolvers. If your bullet doesn't fit - then it likely won't shoot as well as it could. Sart with a bullet that fits and you're already ahead of most people. :)
 
Well, my 1882 Swiss arrived yesterday. My first antique, and all I can say is "Wow!" Love the fit and finish, the balance is great, interesting design features, it's a work of art! I wish they made firearms with that much care today. Can't wait to shoot it!
 
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jes said:
Well, my 1882 Swiss arrived yesterday. My first antique, and all I can say is "Wow!" Love the fit and finish, the balance is great, interesting design features, it's a work of art! I wish they made firearms with that much care today. Can't wait to shoot it!
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Can anyone tell me what size frame the Swiss 1882 would be comparable to? For example, would it be similar to a S&W J or K frame? Thanks in advance.
 
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