1892 Winchester

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Alamosa Bill

New member
I’ve just acquired an 92 made in 1894, it looks in good shape with a decent bore but……I tried it today with my reloads of 35 and 40 grains of Swiss 3, with a 200 gr BP bullet and home made lube and it was all over the place.
Is Swiss 3 the right grade powder, I’m in UK and there’s not a lot of choice. Also should the bullet be soft or hard lead?
I slugged the bore and it measures 429.5-430, do I need a 431 mould
as I am using a Lee 429 now and they drop from 427.5 to 432? That may be my melting as I’m fairly new to this BP antique game.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
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ligonierbill

New member
Are you loading your bullets "as cast", or do you have a sizing die ("Lubrisizer")? What lube are you using? In general, you would like a cast bullet to be 0.001 larger than the bore. Also, are you alloying your lead? A common mix is 20:1 Pb:Sn. Harder than pure lead. Your powder should be fine. Good luck!
 
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Alamosa Bill

New member
It’s 44-40 and I’ve cast just lead, so do l need harder bullets? Also what Swiss powder.? Oh yes when they did hit they were round holes.
 
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ligonierbill

New member
Let me first share my experience. I do shoot 44-40, but in replicas that have the "standard" 0.427 bore. But I also shoot an original 1892 (made in 1892) in 38-40. This rifle takes a 0.401 bullet, and I have some commercial cast with a proprietary coating and my cast bullets from a 0.401 brass mold (should have bought oversize, but I'm fairly new to this too) that I run through a Lyman Lubrisizer 0.401 die with SPG lube. They shoot "OK", maybe 3" at 50 yards. I do notice they do a little better with a black powder substitute than with the 35 gr GOEX FFg I load. I measure that by volume and load through a brass drop tube.

When casting, make sure you are at a good temperature and that you heat your mold before starting. I like about 680 F (360 C). You should get less variation than you are now. Mine is specified at 180 gr, but I get a consistent 174. Lube should be mostly in the grooves. If it's elsewhere, wipe it off with a rag. Lube is important, but if your homemade is from a recognized recipe, you should be OK.
 
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Jim Watson

New member
I am using a Lee 429 now and they drop from 427.5 to 432?
Click to expand...

They ought to be a lot closer to the same diameter.
Bill's 20:1 is not a hard alloy, you should not need hard lead for BP.
What is in your lube?
 
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Alamosa Bill

New member
50% beeswax 40% lard 10% lanolin. I dipped my bullets which gets the lube everywhere but is only goes in the grooves once I seat the bullet and wipe excess off.
When I wire brushed after a few shots loads of black dust comes out and no matter how much I clean at the range the bore remains dirty. I cleaned it when I got home and it comes up nice.
I wonder if I should wipe every shot, I do with my sharps 45-70 and that’s a Pedersoli repro.
 
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Alamosa Bill

New member
Nor me but my mates got a repro Rossi and he says it’s the same?

Would the chamber have worn that much?

Just experimenting I can fit 4 heads in and still chamber a round, weird or what?
 
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