By Duane Thomas
There are two sorts of malfunctions that typically occur in the Winchester Model 92, a lever-action “rifle” chambered for pistol cartridges. They both relate to cartridge overall length. These are (1) failures to feed, (2) double-feeds, i.e. two cartridges coming out of the magazine tube instead of one.
The Winchester Model 1892 (a.k.a. Model 92) was originally chambered for four different pistol cartridges, the .44-40 (always the most popular), .38-40, .32.-20 and .25-20. Typical cartridge overall lengths (granted this can vary slightly given different bullets and manufacturers) breaks down into two groups, the .44-40/.38-40 and the .32-20/.25-20. The classic OAL for the .44-40 and .38-40 is approximately 1.59 inches (40.39mm). For .32-20 and .25-20 it’s approximately 1.55 inches (39.37mm).
This is important. If we let the OAL of a cartridge to be used in a Winchester Model 92 get up above 1.59″ – in other words, up into the 1.6s – the bullet tip begins to rub on the frame, under the feed ramp, which will not allow the shell lifter to smoothly operate. At best this adds a definite hitch to the lever stroke; at worst the round will not feed at all.
Now, on to double-feeding, i.e. two cartridges coming out of the magazine tube at the same time, instead of one. This is a mess, since you wind up with one cartridge on top of the shell lifter, one below it. The one below it prevents the lever from moving to the rear and the action closing. The gun is out-of-action until we can get that cartidge out of there. At this point a lot of people will start sticking a knife blade down into the action, past the top cartridge, past the shell lifter, trying to push the bottom cartridge back forward into the magazine tube. The problem with this is, even if you can get the cartridge back into the mag tube, in front of the cartridge stop so it will stay there, the moment you try to close the action, that cartridge will just pop out under the shell lifter again.
I find it works much better to just remove the retaining screw holding the magazine tube cap in place, remove the cap then the magazine spring, at which point you can just pour the offending cartridge – and any other rounds currently in-gun – out through the now-open front of the tube.
This is all hugely irritating. So, how to avoid it in the first place? While the issue of failures to feed is caused by over-long cartridges, double-feeding is caused by too-short cartridges. Generally, this problem begins to manifest when the OAL of the cartridge falls below about 1.50 inches (38.1mm).
What prevents more than one cartridges from coming out of a Model 92’s magazine tube at a time is a piece of metal called a cartridge stop. The cartridge stop prevents rounds from leaving the mag tube, and is pushed out of the way when we cycle the lever, allowing a round to slip out of the mag tube, onto the shell lifter, then the cartridge stop pops back into place, preventing the next cartridge from exiting the tube. In order for this to occur, the operation has to be properly timed. In other words, after a cartridge has exited the mag tube, it requires a certain amount of time for the cartridge stop to move back into position to prevent the next cartridge from exiting right behind it. If a cartridge exits too fast because it’s shorter than what the gun was designed to work with, a second cartridge can exit the mag tube, right behind the first, before the cartridge stop can move back into place to stop it. Double-feeds can be caused by a bent or worn cartridge stop, but typically the culprit is cartridges purchased, or assembled on a loading machine, with an unacceptably short OAL.
As failures to feed can be caused by cartridge OALs too long, over 1.59″ (in other words, in the 1.6s), double-feeds are typically caused by cartridges too short, below 1.50″ (in other words, in the 1.4s or even shorter).
So, my advice, if handloading ammunition to work in a Winchester Model 92, set your OAL at 1.55″. Every loading machine will give a variation in OAL of one or even a few thou between cartridges, and setting the OAL right in the middle of the acceptable range gives you the maximum latitude to avoid failures to feed due to overly-long cartridges, and double-feeds due to overly-short ones.
