Anyone familiar with Chiappa 1892 actions?

josquin

josquin

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I recently treated myself to a Chiappa Alaskan 12” Takedown in .357 Mag. and am generally pretty impressed with it. After spending some wet-weather time changing out the red FO sight for green, enlarging the aperture to .154 and installing sling swivels, I decided to run some dummy rounds through it before heading out to the range for the first time on Friday but have run into a feeding/loading gate issue.

The first round loads OK, but subsequent ones are often very hard to get into the gate. At first I thought might be due to loading 180gn WFN (Missouri Bullet “Pugnose”), these perhaps being a tad too long to negotiate the angle into the mag tube, but 158 gn. Hornady XTP have the same problem. (All in virgin Starline nickel-plated brass.) After much scratching of the head and a fair bit of bad language, it seems that the angled inside of loading gate is having trouble pushing the rim of the preceding cartridge forward properly to allow the next one to be loaded. I can usually make the gate move by using the rear end of a Sharpie marker, but this is hardly ideal!

Not the best pic but shows the general idea. Part of the gate is obscured by the guide rail above:

View attachment 237134

Now this is a brand new rifle and one expects perhaps some roughness which will wear off, but the action is really slick otherwise and as far as I can see the inside surface of the loading gate is pretty well polished. I’m familiar with Marlin levers but not the 1892 action, so I’m a bit leery of disassembling it although I have the appropriate fine abrasives (up to 2500 grit W&D, chromium dioxide polish etc. ) to bring the surface up to a mirror finish. Has anyone else had a problem like this? I should mention that once loaded, all rounds feed and eject perfectly.
 
Hmmm... no one's chipped in here?

A little more experimenting indicates that I have to push the rounds in past the front edge of the loading gate cutout, not just far enough that the gate closes, which is a bit hard on the first finger. Don't have to do this on my Marlin 1894, so it looks like I may need to invest in some fiunger cots!
 
Mine was the same. Strong spring on the loading gate. It smoothed out with use.

Use the nose of the next and subsequent cartridges to push rim of the proceeding cartridge all the way in.

For the last cartridge you may have to use your pinky finger to push it all the way in.

By all means get some fiunger cots if you want.
 
stampede said:
Use the nose of the next and subsequent cartridges to push rim of the proceeding cartridge in.
Click to expand...

The problem has been that the gate has been hanging up on the rim/base of the preceding cartridge and won't allow me to even get the nose of the next round in unless I use my pinky finger to push the preceding round in beyond the opening. I suspect that the cartridges may be snagging at the entrance to the mag. tube even though there is a polished guide to help. The preceding round is sitting parallel to the bore, as one would expect prior to being lifted into place for the bolt to chamber, but when it is pushed forward by the action of the gate as the next round is inserted, it sometimes doesn't want to budge. I should also mention that I not using SWC bullets (whose sharp shoulder might catch), but properly crimped WFN (Missouri Bullets) and Hornady XTP.

Finger cots it is for now. :)
 
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Have a taylor/chiappa alaskan td in 44 mag.
My handload using h110/w296 and the 265 gr hornady round nose cycle like sh!t thru a seagull.
The bullet (designed for 444 marlin velocities) doesn’t expand but at .429/.430 cal doesn’t really have to.
Nice tight ‘one big ragged hole’ groups @ 50 yds.
Those skinner sights are excellent.
Compared to the rossi 92s I’ve owned it was slick out of the box with no grinding, fitting, deburring, polishing needed to make it function smoothly and dependably and NO pig tail safety on the bolt or rebounding hammers, tang safety or any lawyer nonsense.
 
torontogungal said:
Have a taylor/chiappa alaskan td in 44 mag.
My handload using h110/w296 and the 265 gr hornady round nose cycle like sh!t thru a seagull.
The bullet (designed for 444 marlin velocities) doesn’t expand but at .429/.430 cal doesn’t really have to.
Nice tight ‘one big ragged hole’ groups @ 50 yds.
Those skinner sights are excellent.
Compared to the rossi 92s I’ve owned it was slick out of the box with no grinding, fitting, deburring, polishing needed to make it function smoothly and dependably and NO pig tail safety on the bolt or rebounding hammers, tang safety or any lawyer nonsense.
Click to expand...

Yup... only heard good things about them, and the action on mine is "STOS" (Slicker Than Owl-S**t, which I'm told is what shotshell reloading mfr. Ponsness--Warren's lube name means).

But in the meantime, I still have this loading problem...

BTW, if you're a member of 24-Hr Campfire, there's a guy on the Lever Action section asking about your very rifle.

I used 21.9 gr of H-110 behind that bullet (do you mean a Hornady 265gr FP?) in my Marlin 1894 to shoot a black bear who was chomping on one of my neighbour's alpacas in the wee hours of the morning several years ago. Worked like a charm. I recall asking Hornady about expansion velocity of they 265 gn. and I think they said around 1500 fps., but it was a number of years ago. I think it might have been doing about 1500 from my 20" barrel.

I subsequently tested the 265/H110 and 240 XTP over 23gr of 110 in wet newsprint with 1/2" ply every 600 pages and my notes say both expanded to about 5/8" and stopped at the last board. A Bullet Barn RNFP hard cast over 20 gr. of 2400 sailed clear through everything and for all I know, may still be going.

View attachment 237513
 
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I have a Rossi '92 in 44 Mag. I just leave the rim sticking out, hold it there with my thumb and push another round in, again leaving the rim out. I repeat until the mag is full. I only push the last round home. I did remove the sharp edges around the loading gate with "tools", to keep the leaking to a minimum. I sold my other Rossi '92 in 44-40, it was also worked best using the follow the leader technique. I also trim a few coils off the magazine spring. I take out the plug, and cut off the spring so there is about 4" sticking out, with the spring totally slack. The bigger cartridges are somewhat easier to feed.

BTW, Rossi rifles are crudely made, the sharp edges around the loading gate can easily slice fingers, thus initiating the leakage, bandage routine. Try not to leak into the rifle, if not cleaned up the leakage initiates the rust cycle fairly quickly.
 
nitro-express said:
I have a Rossi '92 in 44 Mag, and your "fix" is what works best. I just leave the rim sticking out, hold it there with my thumb and push another round in, again leaving the rim out. I repeat until the mag is full. I only push the last round home. I did remove the sharp edges around the loading gate with "tools", to keep the leaking to a minimum. I sold my other Rossi '92 in 44-40, it was also worked best using the follow the leader technique. I also trim a few coils off the magazine spring. I take out the plug, and cut off the spring so there is about 4" sticking out, with the spring totally slack. The bigger cartridges are somewhat easier to feed.

BTW, Rossi rifles are crudely made, the sharp edges around the loading gate can easily slice fingers, thus initiating the leakage, bandage routine. Try not to leak into the rifle, if not cleaned up the leakage initiates the rust cycle fairly quickly.
Click to expand...

I've heard this about Rossi but that they can be slicked up pretty nicely if one spends enough time on them. The Chiappa, OTOH. is very well finished. Your loading technique sounds like it may help and a careful application of a ceramic "file" will take the sharp-ish edges off the loading gate opening. But I need to look into whatever may be hanging up the casea at the mouth end, too. Just "one of theose darned learning experiences" I guess.
 
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The loading technique (as described by Stampede and Nitro) of pinch holding the last cartridge with the left hand fingers as the right hand pushes in the next round is key.
 
Can-down said:
The loading technique (as described by Stampede and Nitro) of pinch holding the last cartridge with the left hand fingers as the right hand pushes in the next round is key.
Click to expand...

OK, I'll give it a shot. I've only been familiar with my Marlins (1894 & 1895) which don't seem to need this technique. :)
 
josquin said:
OK, I'll give it a shot. I've only been familiar with my Marlins (1894 & 1895) which don't seem to need this technique. :)
Click to expand...

It's not "needed" on many guns but once you get in the habit of doing it it works smoother in all side loading tube fed guns.
 
josquin said:
Yup... only heard good things about them, and the action on mine is "STOS" (Slicker Than Owl-S**t, which I'm told is what shotshell reloading mfr. Ponsness--Warren's lube name means).

But in the meantime, I still have this loading problem...

BTW, if you're a member of 24-Hr Campfire, there's a guy on the Lever Action section asking about your very rifle.

I used 21.9 gr of H-110 behind that bullet (do you mean a Hornady 265gr FP?) in my Marlin 1894 to shoot a black bear who was chomping on one of my neighbour's alpacas in the wee hours of the morning several years ago. Worked like a charm. I recall asking Hornady about expansion velocity of they 265 gn. and I think they said around 1500 fps., but it was a number of years ago. I think it might have been doing about 1500 from my 20" barrel.

I subsequently tested the 265/H110 and 240 XTP over 23gr of 110 in wet newsprint with 1/2" ply every 600 pages and my notes say both expanded to about 5/8" and stopped at the last board. A Bullet Barn RNFP hard cast over 20 gr. of 2400 sailed clear through everything and for all I know, may still be going.

View attachment 237513
Click to expand...

Hornady 265 gr FP (part #4300).
Owned 1 other ‘blue’ Chiappa 92 carbine (20” bbl) in 44 mag that I sold.
It functioned smoothly out of the box with no problems.
I sold it for more than I paid for it in favor of buying another gun.
Everything’s for sale if the price is right.

* I dropped Rossi as a brand because Br#####h won’t provide spare parts if they break and they’re more trouble than they’re worth.
 
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I have a Chiappa 1892 carbine in 45 colt. I took the loading gate out (1 screw) and worked the spring a little and then re-installed it. Much easier. Know that your finger (or the next round) must fully push the ammo into the tube. Sticking it part way in won't ever work on any 1892, regardless of brand. I load 300 grain bullets for up to 1.700" of OAL.
 
A couple of my Rossi 92s had stiff loading gates.
I took them apart and filed the edges of the flat spring that closes the loading gate to make it weaker.
Don’t file too much metal off.
You can smooth the edges of the loading port with fine sandpaper or a jewellers file.
File/sand just enough to solve the problem.
Don’t go hog wild. Metal doesn’t grow back and a sloppy gate is worse than a stiff gate.
 
You can even manipulate the loading gate with the lever down/bolt back if you have a skinny enough finger. Push the load ramp down and work the gate flap back and forth by hand a bit and it'll loosen some tension.
 
Thanks, everyone. I've had it out to the range once now and I'm getting the hang of loading it. The gate spring is actually OK as it turns out. I'll be working on some loads for it with 158gr XTP/2400. and Bullet Barn RNFP. I also have some Missouri Bullet Co. 180 Pugnose (WFN) I might play with. The latter might be good in my .357 rebored Martini Cadet as well. The only "serious" use for the Chiappa might be to deal with the odd predatory coyote.
 
I have a Chiappa 44 mag carbine, untouched. Works quite nicely. My Rossi .357 got a work over and is slicker.
 
kjohn said:
I have a Chiappa 44 mag carbine, untouched. Works quite nicely. My Rossi .357 got a work over and is slicker.
Click to expand...

Oddly, when I was chatting with Peter Riedel at Rusty Wood (who lives close by) a couple of days ago, he said that he'd seen more problems with the Chiappas than Rossis. Apparently parts are also unavailable for Chiappa due to ITAR regs (as opposed to Rossi/Brazetech, who I understand won't supply parts period, even to gunsmiths.) I find this surprising but he certainly knows these actions extremely well. I could have probably got a Rossi and spent a few hours slicking it up and spent less; the TD feature isn't actually that important to me and in any case, removing the butt stock screw would allow the gun to be broken down pretty easily, but I have the Chiappa now and am happy with it.

I'd love to be able to get mine out in the bush for some informal plinking, but due to a bunh of a**holes who were shooting up TVs etc. and leaving all sorts of garbage up the FS roads here, everything has a 400m exclusion zone around it now and any remaining spots are virtually inaccessible.
 
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