What is your preferred 92 clone cartridge?

[Aggiecubpilot]

I'm tempted by another 20" 92. Either will go the Rossi route and customize it or save up some pennies and try to get a Browning/Winchester. This will be a working on the ranch rifle.

Given the use parameter of general utility, snake, hog and walkabout deer rifle, what caliber do you like? I always wanted a 44-40 but now question its practicality of use in comparison to 44 special/mag. To further complicate things, my Single Action is in 357. What is a fellow to do haha.

Thanks to one and all!

[Canuck Bob]

I own a 92 in 32-20. Unless fooling around with older cartridges is fun for you I would buy the 45 Colt, 44 Mag, or 357 Mag with deer and hogs in your sights.

I have no direct hunting experience with the 357 in a rifle but if it is a decent hog/deer killer that is the route I would go. You can shoot a lot cheaply without the heavier recoil. I've never hunted hogs but it seems some of them can get nasty. I do know a 300 lb sow can be outright dangerous in a pen. If that was a common problem the big bores are great.

However, the more I shoot the less fuss I want. Quieter ammo, cheap cast bullets that don't weigh 300gr per bullet, and moderate recoil are my favorite choices. Did I mention cheap, if not let me repeat cheap as a requirement!

I love my 32-20 but it is not a working gun so fussing over odd bullet sizes and cases is part of the fun. More than once I've wished it was a 357 when I see all the component choices and thier prices at the gun shop.

[Hobie]

I bought a .45 Colt.

[M. M. Wright]

If you go with the Browning 92, it will have to be the 44 Mag since they did not make this one in 44-40. Saw a very nice Browning at the Grand National gun show in Tulsa yesterday for $650 in 44 MAG. I really like the 44-40, and have hot-rodded it in the 92 for deer hunting using the 200 grain XTP bullet and H-110. I won't say how much but I have to be very careful with such loads since I have 73s and old SAAs around that I don't want them shot in.

[rbertalotto]

45LC...........


1892 Rossi Take Down





Articles about them here:
www.rvbprecision.com

[COSteve]

Both my Rossis (20" carbine and 24" rifle) are 357mag. They also go with my SA Uberti in 357mag. Love the caliber. Easy to reload, inexpensive bullets available, load from mild to wild without issue because the Rossis have strong actions.

[rjohns94]

to uncomplicate, get a .357 to match your sidearm if the complication is similarity of ammo. Can't go wrong with that caliber. Otherwise, what caliber do you like? you can go as big as 480 Ruger. I currently have settled on the .44 mag. The .45 Colt is an excellent choice as is .357. Then there is the 454/45colt option also.

[Booger Bill]

I have a browning 92 in 44 mag and a rossi in 357. I prefer the 357. More practical, less recoil and good nuff.

[jlchucker]

I've got Rossi's in 44 mag and 357. If I had to choose only one, for the purposes you describe, it would be the 357, and I'd either make it over according to the Nate Kiowa Jones video, or send it to Nate for his slickup job. By the way--when I bought mine a while back, an old gunsmith buddy with lots of experience on original 92's did mine over. When I saw Nate's video, it turns out that my gunsmith (who's old enough to scorn computers and had never seen Nate's video) had done pretty much the same steps as Nate depicts. My 357 is the 16 inch version, and It's a handy little truck. I mostly use Lee 125 gr FP boolits in it, but it shoots 158 gr FP's and semiwaddcutters just as well. The trick would be finding a source that still has this gun in stock. They seem to all be sold out right now.

[2X22]

From mice to moose.

The .44

[two bit okie]

My 16"rossi is a 44 mag, which I usually have loaded with mouse phart loads, and in the bag a box of 320 gr bear loads. I cast 200 gr and 240 and 250 and the afore mentioned 320. gun is light, handy, and shoots straight enough for close quarters defense against two or four legged predators.

[O.S.O.K.]

Well, my favorite is 44 Mag. As mentioned and as-is pretty obvious, it's very versitile.

And it would provide you with the perfect excuse to get a Ruger 44 Speical flat top to go with

You could stick with 44 Special loads which would serve your needs very well both in the revolver and the carbine. Something like 19 Grains of H110 under a 250 Keith for around 1100 fps from the revolver and 1350 from the carbine for everything other than plinking. Even the mid-level 900 fps revolver/1100 fps carbine loads with that bullet will handle the deer and hog hunting...

For economy, go with the .357 Mag. I wouldn't hesitate one second on using that for hog and deer as well - if just comes up short on the bigger stuff. But it elk or moose aren't on the slate, then no worries!

And with light loads, this would be a little better suited for small game hunting.

[rossim92]

rossim92 in .357 magnum , the sidekick is a taylor smokewagon saa in same caliber

[Pete44ru]

I dunno................. IF I was gonna do a custom Model 92 again, I'd rebarrel a .357 to .25 cal, and chamber it for the .256 Win Mag - a sorta modern .25-20 magnum.

Brass is easily formed from .357, but I also dunno 'bout bullets. CorBon ? . .

.

[.45colt]

"Given the use parameter of general utility, snake, hog and walkabout deer rifle"
The .357 magnum is it. ammo comes in all flavors and it and .38 special is everywhere. one of the best things about it in a lever is that You can hand it to Your Wife or a Kid with .38's and watch the Fun.

[bdhold]

.357 is fun to play with.
You can get flat-nosed lead from 110-gr up to 180-gr.
Jacketed HP from 90-gr. up to 180-gr.
The Hornady rubber points.
And though you can't stack them in your lever magazine, you can single-shoot .35 caliber spitzer

As COSteve has pointed out before, .357 is almost identical to shooting a 38-40.

[AJMD429]

Man, they're ALL good...

I like in the 92 carbines being able to use the same rounds in a pistol, and the same bullets in a heavier 'rifle' cartridge, so that rules out the .45 Colt (unless you get a custom .452" bore .45-70 rifle). Both the .44 Mag and .444 Marlin are .430" and both the .357 Mag and .35 Remington are .358", so one of those would get my nod. The .44-40 supposedly feeds better than the .44 Mag (which feeds fine in mine), but I don't know about 'rifle' rounds using the same bullets. .32-20 would be another excellent choice, but heavier 'rifle' rounds are again not as straightforward or easy to find.

Cartridge-wise, the .45 Colt, .32-20, and a .22 LR would be the bees knees to do it 'all', but COSteve has it right in that you can load .357 Mag to do much of what the .45 Colt and .32-20 do, though with a bit more lead expense, the same would apply to the .44 Mag or even the .45 Colt I guess for that matter.

If you have a .357 Pistol already, I'd stick with the .357 Magnum, BUT someday plan on a big-bore. Maybe go really wild and get a .480 Ruger in the Rossi 92...

[Malamute]

I like 44 mag. I have a Miroku 92 in 45 Colt I'd be happy to swap barrels for a 44 mag factory barrel. I'm just more investd in the 44 round and it's more practical for me.

[Booger Bill]

Pete, I have been thinking about this for a long time. I once had a ruger hawkeye and fell in love with theat 256 cartridge. I then had a martini built up in it. Stupidly sold both to finace a divorice. I still have a TC contender with a barrel in it, dies and ammo.
I have seen a winchester 92 in one, a real sweetheart! Of course people will point out the pointed bullets against primers in the magazine, but I aint worried about it, and if I was I would go yo a RN. They dont kick, and unless you slam the butt down on a rock, I wont worry about it. They are flat shooting, no recoil and should be accurate.
EDIT: As said I like the 357 over 44 mag. The 44 mag doesnt like 44 specials in my browning 92. They jam. I dont buy the argument well, the 44 is better for elk etc. Everyone of us that is going to hunt elk, bear or whatever already owns a rifle for it, 7mm, 30/06, 300 H&H or whatever,----right? .357 is a sweetheart to shoot compared to the 44 mag in the light 92. I know, I got both!

[rusty gunns]

I bought a .45 Colt.

I bought one of the Pumas in 45 colt / 454. I load "nice hot" 45 colts for it with gas checks. It loads and fires anything you put on it.

For a work gun, you could have it handy with say 4 or 5 45 colts of any power range in the tube, and a stock pad with 454's in the loops.

If you need the 454's, just slip three or four into the loading gate.

If you do decide on this gun, just make sure it is one of the more recent manufactured ones. The older ones had a pin holding the magazine tube that would shear causing the tube to come back on recoil and cause a feeding malfunction. They solved that with the new ones with a tube threaded into the frame.

Also, the point of aim of 45 vs 454 is different, so you should be acquainted with both.

But I have to say, if you want a 45/70 in a small package, that 454 will make you take notice (glad it comes with a but pad).

The large magazine tube definately takes away from the lovely lines of the 92, but a $400 gun that will do all you need should at least be on the short list.

But if you still like the 44/40's I also have a puma in that calaber. It will take 240 gr .430 Kieth style bullets and you can load it very hot.

But for work, Hobie called it ... 45 colt. I add the 454. Small and potent.

[J Miller]

When is dead, not dead enough?


I am a big bore fan, but not necessarily a magnum fan. Many years ago I fell in lust with the .45 Colt. It can be loaded to standard pressures and do 90% of what needs to be done. Or loaded up to higher performance levels and finish the job.

For years I asked the question: why doesn't anyone make a lever gun chambered for the .45 Colt? Then in 85 Winchester did and I snagged one the next year. Short of hunting dynosoars or eliefants it can do anything that needs doing.

So to answer the question: My 92 clone cartridge of choice is the .45 Colt.

Joe

[JBledsoe]

.

I have 357, 44-40, 44 Mag, and 45 Colt in Marlins and Winchesters. The 357 is my truck/walk around gun. The 357/38 Spec. is more fun to shoot, cost less to shoot, and is much quieter. For a truck gun I would get a used Rossi or whatever is cheaper and not beat up a high dollar Browning.

[Griff]

My mdl 92 Rossis are in .357 & .45 Colt. I like 'em both. Either can do a LOT more than most folks give 'em credit for. (Well, most folks other'n those here)!!

Since you already have a handgun in .357, I'd pair it up. Although I generally go for a rifle cartridge when I'm packing a handgun to boot. Works for me... YMMV.

[southfork]

I got the biggest bore '92 that I could find, although it dosn't have the highest pressure and hardest kick. It's a Puma 1892 clone in .480 Ruger. I figure that I can shoot 400 grain bullets at over 1200 FPS and kill pret near anything, or load them down to 900 FPS for a pleasant plinking session. Either way, 400 grains of lead does make an impression on what ever you hit. I don't think the bigger magazine tube diameter detracts form the 1892's looks at all.

[Ysabel Kid]

.45 Colt!

[kaschi]

I vote 44-40.

[buckeyeshooter]

mine is 44-40

[Aggiecubpilot]

Well I love the 357 like so many of you do. I have a Rossi and my dad has a Browning that has spent all it's life in a saddle scabbard with finish wear to show for it, but that's the spirit of the thing ya know? I enjoy my Rossi but it is heavier than the Browning, shorter in length of pull, and I'm having no trouble with accuracy so long as it's fired single shot. Our SAA's like the 125 Speer soft point but my rifle won't feed it. I have bought some narrower hollow points to try.

Since I wanted something a bit different, I thought it might be cool to take a newer Rossi carbine and make an extra lightweight carbine out of it with Steve's bolt peep in the safety hole. I'd drill lightening holes into the stock and chop down the magazine to 1/2 length or so since I don't need but five or six shots.

Can anybody give me some feedback on 16" carbines compared to the 20" for accuracy? Any noticeable sacrifice?

You can't have just one 92 right?

Thanks for the great feedback everybody!

[rodeo kid]

I have 1 24" stainless Rossi in .357 and enjoy it. Goes fine with my USFA Rodeo II in brushed nickel. God Bless.

[AJMD429]

Of course, there's always the ones that 'could be'. . .

• .32-20
  .32 H&R
  .327 Fed Mag

There are a few Marlin 1894's out there in the first two cartridges, but that's pretty much the only thing you can find...