1892 win 218 bee

[freebore]

Hello

I would appreciate for any Winchester nutz to chime in here.I just got a model 1892 from my brother a gun I never knew he had ,it is in about 80 % looks excellent with curved butt-stock. The caliber is apparently 218 bee ,I say this because there are no barrel markings yet it appears to be all original he told me it is an 218 bee because he shot it many times. The serial number according to Winchester says it is 1919 ,yet the 218 was introduced in 1938 ''What Gives'' also it has a chrome loading gate the action is strong and flawless.

Can anyone tell me if this is original ? Is this chrome or nickel loading gate something often seen ,the gun has a 20 inch thick barrel.I can find very little info on the 1892 model ,thanks

It also appears Prophet River has factory ammo at $ 99 per 50 rounds ouch !

I got some loading dies crimping dies and shell holder yet no brass to be had anywhere info on this will also be appreciated

thanks

Ken

 

[kamlooky]

If you ever pull the fore wood off, pull the mag tube off too.
Under the barrel where it goes into the receiver is a bit of a flat spot.
The caliber should be there as well as a date/year or two numbers to indicate
the year.
See krit hide away for info.
If the barrel has been replaced by Winchester, the smith's initials should be
stamped there as well.

 

[guntech]

I have never seen an original factory Winchester where the barrel did not have the caliber stamped on it. I am sure it is a made up rifle, not original.

 

[zywina]

There is 10 fakes to 1 orig. when it comes to a true original 218 bee in a 92, my friend who is a huge WINNIE collector told me always to steer clear as a collectable, but if the price is right, buy it as a shooter!
Words to live bye!!!
I had one of the Browning model 53's in 218 bee, bought new in the mid 90's for close to $800, traded it for a CNo7, then even sold that in a purge! Wish I had a Sako L46 in 218bee or a BRNO ZKW 465 in a bee(very very rare!)

I wish anyone with a Cooper model 38 in a bee to let us know what kind of accuracy they are getting?

If you can post pictures of the 1892 Bee that you have most would love to see it, especially any barrel marking, very important!

cheers dale Z!

 

[Matt74]

No barrel marking equals replacement barrel, but wouldn't that be fun to shoot! Cool caliber. Even mail order barrels from the factory have factory markings on them.
Matt

 

[trevj]

I got some loading dies crimping dies and shell holder yet no brass to be had anywhere info on this will also be appreciated

thanks

Ken

Brass is available. .218 Bee, 25-20 Win, and 32-20 Win, are all based off the same case.
You should be able to just resize 25-20 cases but you may want to anneal the necks. 32-20 cases anneal then run them up through a reduction die. The die does not have to be complicated, just a round hole and a bit of a radius leading in to it to squeeze down the neck. Drill press, countersink, and some wet or dry sandpaper to make.
I'd try annealing a case neck and straight running it through the die, but the case walls are pretty light weight.

Prophet River had 32-20 brass at around $30/100 listed.

Cheers
Trev

 

[Goldenlakepete]

I think you should make a chamber casting before anything else. Some rifles that have been rebarreled have also been converted to the Improved version of the .218 Bee. Years ago I bought a Savage Model 23 bolt action from Ellwood Epps when they were in Clinton and the barrel had been sleeved and rechambered to Epps' improved version of the .218 Bee.