Anyone else shooting French M92 Revolver?

jethunter

jethunter

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I've been shooting an antique French Ordinance Model 1892 revolver (sometimes called 8mm Lebel Revolver) for a while now. I wasn't sure about the 8mm chambering, but turns out components and dies were easy to get and the cartridge is easy to load. This is a very well made little revolver with precision forging and machining evident on every piece. It compares favourably with medium frame colt and S&W double action revolvers from the same period.

There are a couple things peculiar about this revolver:
1. The cylinder swings out to the right for loading, which is the opposite of most (all?) revolvers.
2. I was initially concerned (scared the crap out of me) that indexing / lockup appeared less than good, until i discovered that activation of the trigger (firing) precisely indexes and locks the cylinder, a type of mechanism I've never encountered before. It works well.

I've been using Unique powder, and 110 gr cast bullets from Tallman. My first load attempt put 4/5 shots in the black on a 1.5 inch bullseye at 25 ft. It doesn't happen very often that the first load you try is regulated to the sights. My mild(ish) reloads are moving at 800 fps with little noticeable recoil. I haven't done any bench shooting to measure absolute accuracy, but the sights are quite good so it might be respectable at modest distances. I'll have to try that next outing.

Is anyone shooting these revolvers, and if so what is your experiences with them?
 
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Iron Duke said:
I am waiting patiently for the RCBS dies from Epps. How much Unique are you using?
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2.5 gr Unique /110 Gr Tallman Industries cast bullet. I worked this load up to 3.0 gr Unique. There are some variances in bore and chamber dimensions in thhese old guns, 2.5 gr Unique is a mild starting load, work it up in 0.1 gr steps from there.

I ordered dies straight from Hornady USA. About $110 including shipping, but arrived in 10 days.
 
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Are the rcbs dies a custom job or do they have a part number? I just ordered the hornady set directly from them but apparently its out of stock and could take a month or so.
 
I use 2.7 gr. Bullseye and a 330 diameter fmj bullet my dies are CH4D but they are not carbide it is one of my favorite little guns to shoot .. The only problem with the fmjs is that you have to give them a good crimp they are so slippery that ignition is not always good otherwise
 
DEZ said:
I use 2.7 gr. Bullseye and a 330 diameter fmj bullet my dies are CH4D but they are not carbide it is one of my favorite little guns to shoot .. The only problem with the fmjs is that you have to give them a good crimp they are so slippery that ignition is not always good otherwise
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Are those FMJs the 100 gr bullets that Grafs has on their site, or did you get them someplace else? I'd like to try them sometime.
 
They are 100gr I got them from Gads custom cartridges he probably got them from Grafs
 
I read that the cylinder swings to the right, as the revolver was held in the left hand. The right hand was for a sword. Officers of that peroid were supposed to direct their men, and only fight in an emergencey.
 
Yeah, battle doctrine was different 115 years ago. The officers were issued revolvers so they could shoot cowards and deserters more so than the enemy.
 
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gregs5190 said:
Anyone making a bullet mold for that currently? I picked one of those up recently and haven't got a clue on how to load it. Can I use 32-20 dies? I have a set of those.
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NEI is making a .330 mold for it you may be able to use 32-20 dies but the cases usualyfire form( expand) quite a bit .
 
gregs5190 said:
Who is NEI? I'd like to geta mold and 8mm revolver dies
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neihandtools.com the dies I have are ch-4d You can get them from buffalo arms or straight from ch-4-d Iff I remember right it is mold #97 .330 116gr bevel base .
 
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gregs5190 said:
Who is NEI? I'd like to geta mold and 8mm revolver dies
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You can get mold a from NEI.

You can buy cast bullets and cases from Tallman Industries here in Canada. www tallmanindustries.ca He's a good guy and a regular member here on CGN.

For dies you need to buy 8mm Lebel Revolver dies. You can use 32-20 BRASS, but do not use 32-20 dies or you are asking for split cases. I bought mine direct from Hornady online. I think RCBS makes them too, but they are very expensive. Epps can probably order dies in for you.
 
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One nagging problem I've had, my Hornady dies don't seem to reduce the case enough. I actually had to run the case into the seating die BEFORE seating the bullet, just to put a bit of crimp on the case mouth and prevent the bullet from dropping right in. Still, the odd bullet would slide forward on recoil and tie up the gun. SACRÉ BLEU!! Anyway, I now size the cases in a 7.62 Nagant revolver die, and I knurled the bullets by rolling them with a coarse file. Now, I have no problems. Ils ne passeront pas!!
 
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