Winchester 1892

T

tote4570

New member
I was over at my wifes grandparents house today, and her grandpa showed me a levergun in .38 WCF. It has a hex barrel, and the markings on the side looked kinda like 1936. Can anyone elaborate?
 
I bet the barrel is octagonal, not hexagonal.

Markings that look like 1936 on the side of what?

Pictures will sure help.
 
The factory didn't put the date of manufacture on that gun. What looks like 1936 is probably the caliber marking, though I can't think of any that would look like a date.

Jim
 
Markings on the side of what?

The barrel? The receiver?

I believe that all Model 92s had the serial number stamped on the bottom of the gun ahead of the lever, and never on the side plate, but I'm not 100% sure about that.
 
The caliber marking is on the receiver, and the other information which may be a patent date is on the barrel.
 
He said it is .38-40 but the receiver is stamped .38WCF. He said he used to deer hunt with it, but it became inaccurate. I looked down the barrel and the rifling looks ok.
 
Very strange.
MY 1892 has the caliber and company markings on the barrel, make and model on the top tang behind the hammer, and the serial number on the bottom front of the receiver. There is no marking whatsoever on the side of the gun.

Can you not provide pictures? This chit-chat is not getting us very far.

.38WCF and .38-40 are the same cartridge, just that Marlin and others did not want to put the abbreviation for Winchester Center Fire on their guns.
 
dont have any pics. I may be mistaken about where the markings are.
He said he took it to a smith about 15 years ago to see if he could get it to shoot better. The smith said he would need a new barrel. I could see rifling inside. I dont know how deep the rifling grooves are from factory, but I have looked at some newer guns and it does not look that deep. Could it be that it only needs cleaning. It looked as though there was a good bit of lead build up.
 
You could be right. He said he shot at a deer that was pretty close, and missed it. The rifle will probably not be fixed, but i was trying to find a value for it. There is some buildup on the stock that may be from some grip tape. But it is in about 80% condition.
 
Those were not rifled as deeply as more modern arms - as they were made directly after the transition from BP to smokeless factory loads in those cartirdges.

The accuracy issues could be from leading, muzzle crown wear/damage, or other issues - like it may not even be sighted-in/zeroed.

The tape residue can be GENTLY removed with hot/soapy water and/or a commercial product named Goo (glue) Be Gone, available at hobby/craft stores.

Untouched/original condition specimens, in the two larger chamberings (.38-40/.38WCF and .44-40/.44WCF) commonly change hands in 85% condition for around $1K-$1500.

.
 
Shooting jacketed bullets would not wear out the rifling. The main enemy of those rifle barrels was rust, caused by corrosive primers. If not cleaned immediately after shooting, the lands soon rusted away and the barrel became useless.
 
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