The length of the 357 Max will not work in the 92 action. - Pressure too, most likely though I have not looked it up.
Good to know. Could you elaborate a bit?
Howdy
The Model 1892 Winchester was designed for the old standby WCF cartridges, 44-40, 38-40, and 32-20. Later the 25-20 and .218 Bee were added to the chamber offerings available. The 44-40, 38-40, 32-20, and 25-20 all shared the same maximum overall cartridge length (funny thing about that) of 1.592. The length of the carrier and the amount of movement of the bolt were designed around that maximum overall cartridge length.
Winchester never chambered the '92 for 357 Magnum, and production had ceased before the 44 Magnum was developed. But it was quite common to rechamber and sleeve a 32-20 Model 1892 to 357 Magnum, I have seen several of them over the years.
Enter the modern era and the 1892 has been chambered for 357 Magnum (maximum overall cartridge length 1.590), 45 Colt (maximum overall cartridge length 1.600), and 44 Magnum (maximum overall cartridge length 1.610).
I don't own a Rossi 1892. I was lucky enough to win one in a raffle a bunch of years ago, but I sold it to help pay for my Henry without ever having fired it. However I do own 2 original Winchester Model 1892s, both chambered for 44-40.
Here is a photo of a 44-40 round on the carrier of one of my 92's, rising up about to enter the chamber. I don't own anything chambered for 357 Maximum either, but with a maximum overall cartridge length of 1.990 (that's almost 2 inches) the bolt on my Winchesters simply will not open enough for a cartridge that long. I suspect the same would be true of a Rossi.
The maximum overall cartridge length for .454 Casull is 1.770. I dunno if the Puma version of the '92 chambered for this cartridge has a longer frame, but my old '92 will open far enough for a cartridge of that length.
Just my thoughts, but the design doesn't seem to be something that should really be pushed hard. I believe that it comes in .44 magnum, but I don't think that this should be pushed to the limit with .45 colt. May not end badly, but it may push it to the point after a few years that the specs loosen up.
Rossi chambers their version of the '92 for 44 Mag. They use the same basic frame for their .357, 45 Colt, and 44 Mag versions. If the gun will stand up to regular use with 44 Mag, and it will, why would it not stand up to the same pressure levels with 45 Colt?
The Model 1892, patented by John Browning in 1891, was basically a scaled down version of his larger, Model 1886 Winchester. The Model 1892 was lighter, stronger, and less expensive to produce than the earlier Model 1873 Winchester. The use of modern steels has made the 1892 rifle even stronger than it was when John Browning first designed it. Puma chambered it for the 454 Casull with a SAMMI maximum pressure of 65,000 psi. That is more Maximum pressure than the 44 Mag (36,000 psi) and the 357 Mag (35,000 psi). According to my Speer manual, 357 Maximum has a SAAMI maximum pressure of 48,000 CUP, but it looks like it will not fit in the action of a '92.
