rebarrel a win 1892 44-40

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mbogo3

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I'm beginning to question the sanity of having a 1892 24 hex 44-40 re barrelled.The factory barrel has no rifling left otherwise the rest of the gun is tight and slick.I guess the value as is compared to resurrecting a shooter and hunting gun.I have a new threaded barrel with all the cuts[mag tube and rear sight] and threaded.Hopefully indexing it won't be a nightmare.Slow rust blued,i'll leave the rest of the gun with it's original patina.Any smiths you can recommend for the job ?
 
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Can it be rebored/rechambered to a slightly different round? Or maybe a liner installed? I am just thinking of ways to keep the original barrel on the gun yet make it now usable. I hope some gunsmiths chime in here. I am super curious as to what caliber options are out there if a rebore is an option. 44-40 is not exactly a long round. Is the action sized for only a round this length or is there wiggle room for a sliggtly longer round? Tagging this thread
 
Checked into re-lining and they won't do the Win 92 44-40's.......not enough metal apparently.Win 73's in 44-40 can be re-lined.Yes 8 sided so octagon excuse the insomnia.More concerned about ruining collector value but I guess I can keep the old barrel to sell with the gun when Its time to pass it on.
 
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IMHO, a liner in the original clambering would be nicer. The octagon barrel allows lots of metal for boring out, while retaining the original appearance and parts.
Depends on the year and condition if it has collector value, whether doing anything is worthwhile. The other option if it isnt particularly valuable or sentimental is to smoothbore it and load snake loads or round balls for shyts and giggles.
 
mbogo3 said:
Checked into re-lining and they won't do the 44-40's.......not enough metal apparently.Yes 8 sided so octagon excuse the insomnia.More concerned about ruining collector value but I guess I can keep the old barrel to sell with the gun when Its time to pass it on.
Click to expand...

Theres the specs on Brownells 44-40 liner. Measure your barrel and see what the difference is.

44-40; .428" groove diameter, .590" (15cm) O.D., 1-25 twist, 25" (63cm) long
 
You could quite likely have it bored and chambered for 45 Long Colt. They seem to work quite nicely in a 92.
Anything you do to it will negate any collector value it may have, including relining it, reboring it or changing the barrel.
 
Got my barrel today and the slow rust blue looks nice........ marked 44WCF now just need a smith experienced with lever guns for an install.
 
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What part of the country you in?
Thats some seriously fast turn around time for having the barrel arrive, dropped off and a phone call to come get it.
Look forward to a picture or two and the range report.
Congrats,
Rob
 
I'm in Central AB/ Ron Smith the installer.......he has a soft spot for the old guns[and all the tooling] so I'm guessing it's a labor of love in particular the 44-40
 
Can you tell us the barrel cost and the installation cost ? I have had many old Winchesters relinned to keep the original barrel in place.
 
The smith charged me $100 as the barrel must have indexed pretty close without much fooling around.
 
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Did this include moving the sights over too?

Need some photos and maybe a target or two?

Would you do this again?
Looks like a $500 proposition.
 
First things first as I won't get the gun until later this afternoon so can't shoot it and I need another pic place as photobucket has greedily blocked 3rd party posting.The barrel,slow rust blued + installation is more like $700 as I already had a tired 1892 laying around.I know I could have bought a replica or a oversized barrel Marlin but it still wouldn't be a Win 92.Hopefully the button rifled barrel will shoot cast or I may have to use jacketed.The grooves measured .428.6" so .430 cast or .429 jacketed should work. I have some .429 200hr HP Gold Dots but no .430 cast just a handful of .429's .Have lots of time to develop a load for spring bear perhaps or welcoming the gophers when they come out.Will wait on buying a mold until I see if cast is an option accuracy wise.Unique and IMR 4227 have worked well in the 44-40 commemorative 94 I once had so. Problem with most .429-.430 jacketed is the cannalure is in the wrong place to keep the OAL under 1.6" as they were made for .44mag,.44 Special and .444 Marlins.Sights moved over as well .
 
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The smith said what ruined the guns was the fact after the adoption of smokeless powder they continued to use corrosive primers and a lot were used hard and put away uncleaned for decades.
 
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