Setting the standard: Winchester's Model 1892 perfected the pistol-caliber lever action

Guns Magazine, Nov, 2005 by Mike Venturino

Most Accommodating

The late 1800s were a glorious time for gun buyers, simply because you could order any number of optional features and even the biggest gun makers would be happy to accommodate you. Model 1892s could be had with shotgun-style buttstocks, capped in steel or hard rubber, pistol grip buttstocks, extra heavy, extra light, extra short or extra long barrels, half round/half octagon barrels, partial length magazine tubes, fancy woods, checkering, engraving, set triggers and on and on. By the 1890s, Winchester even offered take-down lever guns, but comparatively speaking they were enormously expensive. Takedown Model 1892s sold for a whopping $25.

When the Model 1892 was introduced it was chambered for the .44 WCF, .38 WCF and .32 WCF cartridges. Today we call those rounds .44-40, .38-40, and .32-20, but it's worth noting that Winchester never stamped their firearms like that. They always used the WCF moniker. In 1895 Winchester added the .25-20 WCF to the pot, and then all the way in the 1930s even made some Model 1892s in 218 Bee caliber. Despite my known weakness for haunting gun shows I have never seen a single Model 1892. 218 Bee. Here's that exception I mentioned above. For some reason when Winchester made Model 1892 carbines in .38 or .44 caliber they put a second steel band around magazine tube and barrel out near the muzzle. When the carbine was made in .25 or .32 caliber they omitted that second barrel band.

Size Confusion

If all these caliber markings begin to sound confusing to some uninitiated lost soul reading this article let me make things a bit more clear. The .25-20 WCF was just the .32 WCF case necked down, and the .218 Bee was just the .25-20 WCF necked down again. The same was true of the bigger bores: the .38 WCF was only the .44 WCF case necked down. Let me help some more; the .38 WCF was in no way a .38 caliber. It used .400"/.401" bullets. And it really wasn't a .38-40 either because Winchester's own 1899 catalog said it was loaded with 38 grains of black powder, which is what the "40" in the name is supposed to stand for. While we're at it let's take a shot at the .44 WCF too. It wasn't a .44, but actually in the beginning was a ".425" because that's the size of bullets it was first loaded with. Later they were increased to .427". I think cartridge designers and namers were escapees from asylums for the logic impaired! Many still are.

What about the much vaunted strength of the Model 1892? Back in its heyday perhaps that counted for something. Today it means little. How's that? In the earlier years of the 20th century the ammo makers put out some special "high velocity" .38-40 and .44-40 loads, which were never meant to be fired in handguns or old long guns like the Model 1873. Old reloading manuals even had special "1892 sections" for super hot loads. For instance, it wasn't uncommon for manuals to list loads that would drive 200-grain .44 bullets 2,000 fps. That meant the .44-40 actually had more muzzle energy than a .30-30. What those old manuals did not mention was that such loads were very hard on the guns. Extended use of them would cause the steels used in the bolts to compress resulting in excessive headspace. Also, the relatively thin brass used in .44-40 factory loads would separate after a firing or two at such high pressures. I was a little more adventurous (or stupid) in my youth, so take my word for it. Those separated cases are a bugger to get out of chambers!