Operating pressure 38/40 m92 rifle

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RIFLE, not pistol/rifle cowboy...Does anyone know the max operating pressure of the 92 win? I'm guessing it in at 20,000,but I wouldnt mind hearing something more definate than my guesstimation
 
The 92 design is like a mini 1886 design, and has plenty of strength to handle 25,000 psi. Possibly even a bit more, but hot loads will "loosen" the action up over time. I personally wouldn't push the 44-40 or the 38-40, since they work best at the velocities they originally generated 1200-1450 fps. Regards, Eagleye.
 
In years gone by, there were just a ton of 92's in 44-40, in good shape that were rechambered to 44 Rem Mag. ( IIRC, the barrel came of, was shortened by one thread, rethreaded ahead, then chambered to 44 Mag and refitted.

Shot one a lot, with both factory and reloads, with no problems, and regret parting with it.

Industry average pressure for the 44 Rem Mag. is 36,000 psi rifle or pistol.

25 gr. of Winchester 296 is said to give 1800 fps for a 240 gr. jacketed bullet in a 20" barrel while remaining within that pressure limit.
 
A few considerations. The .38-40 brass may not be designed for hot loads, unlike .44 Mag. cases, for example. Some .44 Mag. conversions which used original barrels wound up with swollen chambers. The firing pin may be too large in diameter and/or too loose a fit in the boltface for higher pressures. The 92 action is inherently quite strong. You should be able to find SAAMI specs. for chamber pressure with the .38-40.
 
The 38-40 rifle suffers in a way, to the same extent as the 45-70. A good '86 for istance, can stand considerably more pressure than a Trapdoor Springfield - so can the '92 stand more than the '73 - or various pistols it was once chambered for. Factory loads are thus kept to a max. of 14,000 C.U.P. ( the 44-40 to 13,000 CUP)

The 92's are indeed much stronger ( and one of the reasons Winchester did at one time load a high velocity 38-40 load for them ... but these same loads were bad news when used in old pistols ... so they dropped the HV loading ! )

38-40 brass has a pretty thin neck, so you have to take care to avoid crumpled cases, and it's best to separate bullet seating & crimping as two steps. Obviously 38-40 brass is not as robust as 44 Rem Mag brass,

No swollen chamber on my '92 after several hundred 44 Mag. loads.
More confidence in the 92 rifle than in the 38-40 brass. Like the man said, start on the low side and work up cautiously while looking for pressure signs.
I would expect case splitting & hard extraction before flattened primers, but one can never be sure....
 
beretta boy said:
The 38-40 rifle suffers in a way, to the same extent as the 45-70. A good '86 for istance, can stand considerably more pressure than a Trapdoor Springfield
QUOTE]

True enough. The amount of 45/70 rifles out there confined to trapdoor pressures is probably a percentile so low it can't be measured yet it governs most of what we do. Good loads tend to be the victim of the dumb dumb factor in a lot of cases
Click to expand...
 
I only know of one Win. 92 that ended up a basket case after the .44mag. treatment and it was manufactured pre 1900. I have put very hot loads thrue both .38-40 and .44-40 92`s (post 1900) with with no damage to the rifles, But dont expect those thin walled case,s to last more than a couple of re-loads. There was a very good Gunsmith in my erea back in the 80`s that converted a lot of Win. 92`s and a few Rem. 14 1/2 pump rifles to .44mag. and .357mag. with good results. .45-90:)
 
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