Straight Wall 92's ; Browning B92 44mag

[348win]

Got me heart set on a 30-30.......but will a Browning 92 in 44 magnum fill the need "for now"

I really enjoy the round belly one hand carry on "92" based model or 1886/71 model......
(Model 94 and 64 are flat/square bottom w chamfered edges)

Idk if the 44 mag is too much for the wife and teenage boy, but they are available and so is ammo.

Who's out there owns a Browning 92, and how's it shoot 240's
How's it FEED

Some of my buddies say the 30-30 is in another class and is a better feeder. I tend to agree.
I don't want to go out there w a rainbow trajectory and high recoil, and something that don't feed reliably.


Do you guys bag deer inside 150 yard w authority or is the drop too much on a 240 in 44 cal.

[tray]

A lot depends on what load you use. With factory loads, they feed fine. With Keith design bullets they can be (some not all) sketchy on feeding. With the other designs and jacketed bullets they seem to feed fine. As to recoil, that depend on powder charge and bullet weight. I had a hunting load of 24 grains of 4227 under a 240 grain jacketed hollow point that was accurate and fed fine but would kick the liven snot out of me. With a 200 grain or maybe 220 grain it has a flatter trajectory and kicks less. A regular load of say 21 grains of 4227 under a 240 grain bullet would more than likely be fine. Mostly, it's the curved steel butt plate. A flat shotgun style butt plate would help. Add in a recoil pad and I see no problem. They are light and easy to swing guns and very strong actions. A lot of bang for the buck. I went to a Marlin because of the choice to have a padded butt stock. If I were choosing for a woman and boy to be included in the use, I would opt for a 357 or 25-35 caliber. Easy on recoil and accurate. Or, I would down load the ammunition to something they could shoot without developing a flinch. These guns in 44 magnum are good out to 150 or so yards without a lot of drop. I've owned two of the 92s. I now have two Marlins.

[348win]

I was thinking

240gr Hornady XTP
Speer 240gr or 270gr

My thoughts go back to Muzzleloader rifles.....and sabotted bullets. Think a 240gr XTP 44 or 250gr ish 45 is the norm.....and they kick

So "kick the living snot out of me" sounds bout right!
Hahahah

[348win]

Agreed

A 25-35 or reduced load 30-30 are tops on my radar

Kid already shoots the small pistol caliber rifles.

[TedH]

I think the B92 would suit your needs just fine. If some of your people find the recoil of 44 mag ammo objectionable, you can always down-load them or shoot 44 spl for practice. Personally, I don't think my B92 kicks bad at all given the steel butt plate.
I bought mine from a local Pawn Shop in "well used" condition. It had a problem feeding just about anything without hanging up the nose of the bullet in the chamber mouth. After a little investigation, I determined the lifter was bringing up the cartridge too high. A little modification to the right cartridge guide got it to stop at a better place, and now everything feeds good.
My favorite load is the .431" JFP from Zero Bullet Co. It's a big fat flat nose soft point, and it shoots very accurately with a full charge of H110 and holds together like a much more expensive bullet. It's all I'd ever need from this little carbine.

[GunnyMack]

I was thinking

240gr Hornady XTP
Speer 240gr or 270gr

My thoughts go back to Muzzleloader rifles.....and sabotted bullets. Think a 240gr XTP 44 or 250gr ish 45 is the norm.....and they kick



So "kick the living snot out of me" sounds bout right!
Hahahah

Yes muzzle loaders use 240s-300grain saboted but they also use 100-150grs of black powder/substitute. That's where the recoil comes in.
My Ruger 44 carbine is a gentle push but it is a gas operated and some recoil energy is used up. My Henry 41 mag is a little more obnoxious but no where near what my muzzle loader with 2 50gr 777 pellets and a 300gr .44 bullet is!

[Scott Tschirhart]

I find the recoil of a .44 Magnum in a light carbine to be relatively mild but I think my .30-30 is easier on the shooter.

[1851Colt]

FWIW my 1980-manufactured B-92 has had no issues with feeding each of the factory-loaded 44mag and 44special I have tried as long as I cycle the action with some authority. Next I will try some hand loads with Hornady 225 gr. FTX over VihtaVouri N105 powder.

[LeverGunner]

I have a current production Winchester 92 in 44 Magnum, and I have a Winchester 94 30-30 from 1971. My 92 is a rifle with 24" barrel and shotgun butt, and the 94 is a traditional carbine with shotgun butt.

The 94 of course is lighter and easier to carry being it's a carbine. Both are comfortable to carry at the receiver.

The 92 is limited on length as to what will feed with 1.630 being the max that will reliably feed. However, it will feed semi-wadcutters just fine. Lee's 429-214-SWC and C429-240-SWC feed in magnum brass. RCBS' 44-250-K will not feed in magnum brass due to length but feeds just fine in special brass.

The main bullet I shoot is Ranch Dog's TLC432-265-RF with W296 powder. It has recoil in the heavier gun equivalent to a factory 30-30 out of the carbine.

With specials or light magnums, the 44 is pretty easy to shoot and still offers a lot of punch.

The 44 Magnum downloads easier than a 30-30 does in my opinion. Easier in the sense that I've gotten good accuracy with lighter loads whereas with my 30-30, at least with rifle powders, it didn't care for starting loads and prefers loads similar to factory power.

If I had to pick one gun, using only full power loads, it'd be the 30-30. If I was going to make reduced/lighter loads I'd pick the 44 Magnum.

[Grizz]

I have a current production Winchester 92 in 44 Magnum, and I have a Winchester 94 30-30 from 1971. My 92 is a rifle with 24" barrel and shotgun butt, and the 94 is a traditional carbine with shotgun butt.

The 94 of course is lighter and easier to carry being it's a carbine. Both are comfortable to carry at the receiver.

The 92 is limited on length as to what will feed with 1.630 being the max that will reliably feed. However, it will feed semi-wadcutters just fine. Lee's 429-214-SWC and C429-240-SWC feed in magnum brass. RCBS' 44-250-K will not feed in magnum brass due to length but feeds just fine in special brass.

The main bullet I shoot is Ranch Dog's TLC432-265-RF with W296 powder. It has recoil in the heavier gun equivalent to a factory 30-30 out of the carbine.

With specials or light magnums, the 44 is pretty easy to shoot and still offers a lot of punch.

The 44 Magnum downloads easier than a 30-30 does in my opinion. Easier in the sense that I've gotten good accuracy with lighter loads whereas with my 30-30, at least with rifle powders, it didn't care for starting loads and prefers loads similar to factory power.

If I had to pick one gun, using only full power loads, it'd be the 30-30. If I was going to make reduced/lighter loads I'd pick the 44 Magnum.

interesting bullet. i have a ranch dog 432405 mold but have not made any bullets with it. i doubt it will feed thru a 44 mag carbine. but fits my redhawk.

about the 30-30, i've read you can shoot round ball for a squib load. i haven't shot mine for years, but would like to try the round ball load.

about recoil, my son shot first deer with a marlin 44 mag when he weighed less than a hundred pounds, neither of us thought there was any significant recoil. some folks shoulder a levergun the way they shoot ARs, but a proper hold and stance helps a lot to mitigate recoil.

and lastly, i have a project B92 with a stuck barrel that i need to resuscitate, maybe i can plug the bottom of the RD mold for shorter bullets.

[AJMD429]

.
I tend to think you might wind up with MORE than one levergun eventually, so I'd START with a 357 Magnum. It is plenty for practical needs unless you need to hunt game larger than whitetail or more than 100 yards away. It is so much easier to learn to shoot WELL that shot placement becomes better, and for wives or kids, a KEY feature is that if the gun is FUN to shoot (like 357 Mag leverguns always are), instead of more intimidating, they will want to shoot MORE, versus tending to find excuses to avoid the noise and blast and recoil of the heavier-to-heft 44 Magnum or long-action leverguns.

Of all the guns I've let other people shoot, my little 357 Mag leverguns (Marlin and Rossi) are the two that nearly everyone says "Wow - this is awesome, I have to get one of these...!" Cheap to shoot, and if you reload (357/38 is one of the easiest to reload - can use a Lee Loader kit to do it) and use light cast loads, your brass lasts forever. Of course like you can use 44 Special in a 44 Mag, you can also use 38 Special in a 357 Mag, for two-tiered power levels.

I'm betting that if you have a family with a 357 Mag levergun, it will see LOTS of use by all members, or at least far more use than any other chambering would have.

Now your are right, at least if you hunt and don't keep your shots under 100 yards, or want to hunt game larger than whitetail, so at some point you may indeed find it hasn't the "reach" you want, and you'll be after a 30-30, 35 Remington, 375 Winchester, 444 Marlin, or 45-70. But in the meantime, you'll have developed a wife and kid(s) who love to shoot the 357 Mag, and who will go shooting WITH you, so things get way more fun.

Then if you don't already have one, you'll wind up getting a 22 LR of course....

Pretty soon you'll have a whole "family" of leverguns...

[348win]

We have the 22lr lever

And 32-20 lever covered now

And 348win.....NOT for beginners! Or lightweights.

That 30-30 is right there in the middle especially w reduced loads, and powder that won't give "loud" report and muzzle flash.

[AJMD429]

We have the 22lr lever

And 32-20 lever covered now

And 348win.....NOT for beginners! Or lightweights.

That 30-30 is right there in the middle especially w reduced loads, and powder that won't give "loud" report and muzzle flash.

Well now that is a great spread of leverguns for sure - and does cover the bases.

I've thought that with my 22 LR, 32-20, and 500 S&W I could really cover ALL the hunting, target shooting, and protection needs I'd normally use a levergun for.
That leaves the long-action stuff like 30-30, 348, 375, 444, etc. OR go way different and get a BLR or Henry Long Ranger in 243 Winchester or some such cartridge...

So after hearing you have a 32-20......which meets most of the 357 Mag goals, especially on the lower power end, I think a 30-30 would be worth considering. The 243 or other pointy-bullet guns like the BLR or Henry would be cool, but definitely won't be 'mild' in the noise-department.

So yeah - 30-30 is kind of a 'classic' you probably need to add to the herd. You could do the 35 Rem or 375 Win, but 30-30 would likely be much more practical.

A 30-30 was one of the last chamberings I added to my levergun herd, which was funny, since it is kind of THE prototypic levergun cartridge. I still don't shoot mine as much as I should.

[JFE]

I have two B-92’s, one in 44mag and another in 357 Mag.

The actions are identical and are as close to the originals as you can get. In case you’re not aware SAAMI has different 44 mag specs for pistols and rifles. If you cast your own you can get around the larger groove diameter. If you handload you can load down the 44 but its rainbow trajectory probably limits it to 125 yards. It can kill at longer range but hitting is more difficult. It can be made to shoot just fine but mine is not as accurate as the 357.

The 357 is a surprise package. There’s only 1 SAAMI spec for the 357. Mine shoots superbly with light or full power loads. Powders like Lil’Gun really wake up the cartridge in a rifle. With light loads it’s very pleasant to shoot. A few weeks back I had a couple of young kids fighting over who was going to use the rifle. I was using 125gr cast pills over fast burning powder for about 1400 fps.

Another cartridge you should consider is the 375 Winchester. It’s very underrated. Capable of 200 yards shots if your eyes are still sharp. It can be downloaded to light 38 specs or loaded heavily to take large game.

[Sarge]

If I was starting over I would definitely go with the 360 Buckhammer. Plenty of wallop on the top end and it would easily duplicate cast bullet 38 Special on the low end. Brass is easily reformed from 30-30.