Winchester Model 1892 357 Magnum

The self-contained centerfire cartridge coming into use in the mid-1870s was revolutionary, especially to those accustomed to working with single-shot firearms. Further, in 1875, Colt Firearms finally chambered the Single Action Army revolver in 44-40 (aka 44 WCF), thus allowing their handgun to use ammunition compatible with the famous 1873 Winchester rifle. But the 1873 Colt pistols still only carried five shots (usually, for safety’s sake), and they were slow to reload, even with cartridges. Effective range was also limited. A short-barreled rifle chambered in the same round fixed many of those shortcomings. Capacity was greater, plus the longer barrel and sight radius made them easier to shoot accurately. The carbine-length barrel also makes more efficient use of the powder in the pistol cartridge, pushing the bullets to higher velocities, which translated into more knockdown power and longer effective range.

Most of us don’t ride the Great Plains while we are worried about an Indian attack, but we do have other threats to deal with. Semi-autos work great, but they are not allowed in a number of states. One of the best self-defense alternatives we’ve seen, no matter your state of residence, is a carbine-length lever-action rifle. It occurred to us that the 357 Magnum round might benefit a lot from the extended barrel length of a carbine, so we lined up two rifles, old and new, chambered in 357 Magnum. Once again, we had access to an older Marlin 1894, and we were really interested to find out if the Micro-Groove rifling once used on Marlin 1894s really delivered the poor performance with cast bullets we’ve read about for years. This is a “JM” marked rifle (pre-Remington), also pre-safety, with the Micro-Groove rifling noted above. The price on Gunbroker.com reflected the scarcity of the early versions, showing current prices to be in the $1200 range.

Our modern selection is the Model 1892 Short Rifle from Winchester, $1500. Sporting a 20-inch barrel along with polished metal, crescent buttplate and original buckhorn sights, we wondered how velocity readings from the slightly longer barrel would compare with the original Marlin. 

We also wondered about the 357 Magnum’s velocity differences between the two carbines and an Old West-style handgun, so we borrowed a Custom Shop 3rd Generation Colt SAA. With a 5.5-inch polished barrel, fitted cylinders for both 38 Special and 357 Magnum, color case-hardened frame and hammer, buffalo bone grips, and an Alan Harton trigger job, this revolver is a joy to behold, much less shoot. But shoot it we did. The modern Colt revolver was shot to test for comparative velocity numbers only. 

With all modern-manufacture firearms, we could use modern rounds across the board, so we picked Cor-Bon’s 125-grain DPX, Winchester 158-grain JHP, and Doubletap’s 180-grain Hardcast rounds. Here’s what we found.

Winchester Model 1892

$1500

Gun Tests grade: B+

Your personal requirements should make choosing between these two obvious. Both rifles handled and shot well. The Winchester can’t accept an optical sight, but if you want a beautiful, modern version of a classic, buy it.

For those of us who will admit that they like to watch Western movies while handling a period-correct firearm, the Winchester Model 1892 is one of your top choices. Especially if you’re a John Wayne fan. Whether the plot was set in the 1840s as in The Comancheros, just after the War Between the States with The Undefeated or 1909 as claimed in Big Jake, the Duke was carrying a Model 92 Winchester. We thought we should do no less in our review of lever guns.

Design credit goes to John Moses Browning. With his 1886 version, he had already improved the Model 1873 Winchester to give it enough strength to handle powerful cartridges like the 45-70 all the way through the 50-110. The required mass also left the rifle with a weight over 9 pounds. When the early Marlin firearms company came out with a handier, lighter design, Browning claimed that he could design something better for Winchester in less than a month, or it was free. Using the principles developed for the 1886, Browning sized things down and had his rifle in about two weeks. Originally chambered in 32-30, 38-40, 44-40 and 25-20 (with 44-40 being the most popular variant), Winchester sold more than 1 million of these rifles before production was stopped to ramp up for military orders in World War II. 

Chiappa and Rossi now also make clones of the ’92, but the Winchester version is the queen of the crop. Our sample was made by Miroku in Japan. The finish looks to us like that of a hand-polished rifle you might have grabbed off the rack 60 years ago. The specs say the rifle has a “brushed polish” blue, but we find that description to be something of an oxymoron. Though not the deep blue of a 40-year-old Colt Python, the efforts they have made to achieve a quality look in the rifle are obvious. The 20-inch round barrel has a nicely recessed crown. They even took the time to time the slot in the end cap of the magazine to 12 o’clock. Front and rear sights are both dovetailed into the barrel, allowing them to be adjusted for windage. The front sight has a large brass bead at the top of the post, making it very visible. The body of the sight post has been serrated, further increasing the contrast of the front sight. The rear sight is a buckhorn, but different than the Marlin’s. The center gap between the “horns” is lower and seems to frame the sight bead better than that of the Marlin. If you want the absolute best visibility, choose the Marlin and some type of optical sight. If you want the best sights while maintaining the traditional look, go with the Winchester.

The Winchester 1886’s action was known for its strength, and while the ’92 is a scaled-down version, it is no slouch. The lever lifts twin locking bars that extend through slots in the bolt when closed. The action is suitable for cartridges in the 44 Magnum realm, so our 357 Magnum is well protected. Being of new manufacture, the Winchester has a safety, though not the crossbolt we would normally expect. This Model 92 has a tang safety that keeps the hammer from contacting the firing pin. The hammer still stops just short of the half-cock notch when the safety is engaged. The hammer can still swing forward, and it is a little spooky the first time you engage the safety then hear something go “click” on trigger press. That said, the arrangement also allows the lever to be operated while the safety is engaged. Remember that the only way these lever guns can be unloaded is through the chamber, so we liked the concept of the safety. 

The action also gave us a couple of complaints. The lever operated smoothly, perhaps a bit more smoothly than our vintage Marlin. At the same time, the action is open at the top. This can let more foreign debris into the action and also removes the ability to mount an optic of some kind on the action. The open-top action brings a couple of benefits, though. If we had had a misfeed, it might well be easier to remedy from the top. We also noted that the extractors and ejectors lifted the empties almost straight up. That coupled with the center-mounted lever and a tang safety made the Model 92 a very good choice for the left-handers in the crowd.

We took a long look at videos on disassembling a Model 92 and decided to leave it alone. For those acquainted with the procedure, we didn’t see anything impossible, just note that it requires more than a simple field strip. 

Wood-to-metal fit was great on the fore end, with the lines flowing smoothly into the narrow hand guard. The fit of the buttstock to the receiver was great, though there was a wooden lip projecting above the tang. We would have liked that sanded down. Wood grain and finish on the stock was beautiful, and execution for the fit on the crescent buttplate was perfect. Our model did not come with any sling-swivel studs, so we fixed that shortcoming with a Galco Universal Carry Sling ($89).

The Winchester 92’s longer barrel showed a greater increase in velocity versus the 357 Magnum cartridge in the Colt Single Action at 44%, 56%, and 47% respectively for the Cor-Bon, Winchester, and Doubletap loads — often 100 fps more than the Marlin. The increase with the Doubletap ammo was pushing 1900 fps and 1400 foot-pounds.

The Winchester shot both the Cor-Bon and the Winchester ammo as well as or better than did the Marlin, with the 92 recording a best three-shot group of 0.67 inch at 50 yards.

That said, the Doubletap hard-cast load was a bit of a problem in the Winchester. The bolt did not want to go completely into battery, though we realize that this was a long-for-caliber bullet at 180 grains. 

Our Team Said: We did not pick a winner in this test, believing that the requirements of the shooter would make the individual’s pick obvious. Both rifles handled and shot well. If the shooter is looking to mount optics, we think the Marlin would be the better choice. If the shooter wants the beautiful looks of a classic rifle that also shoots well, we would go with the Winchester. 

We conducted our tests at American Shooting Centers in Houston. At 50 yards, we fired multiple three-shot groups for accuracy from a well-sandbagged Caldwell TackDriver Pro Rest from Brownells (100-027-023, $49), further supported by a large rear bag, heavy from Tab Gear (TabGear.com, $34).

Written and photographed by Joe Woolley, using evaluations from Gun Tests Team members. GT