I have an 1892 Wichester 32 with a 20 inch Octagon barrel an...

I have an 1892 Wichester 32 with a 20 inch Octagon barrel and short cartridge tube. It is stamped U.S. on the left front lower side of the receiver. Can you tell me anything about this? I have never seen the U.S. stamp on one of these.

Jim

Can you send me a photo of the marking? I have never heard of that on a Model 1892.

2bit

2-bit,
I am not a member. How do I send a photo. My e-mail is This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . If you could send me an e-mail, I could reply with a photo.

Jim,

Can you give me the serial number for the rifle? Also send me a photo of the entire rifle please. I did notice that the wood has been sanded in the past. The wood is much lower than the metal at the receiver junction. It should be just a bit above the metal surface.


Thanks
2bit

Jim,

I have submitted this to a number of fellow collectors with a ton more experience than me and the feeling is it is not original U.S. government. Typical stamping would have been done with a single die and this is obviously different letters since they are not correctly aligned. Thanks a lot for your effort with the photos.

I'll let you know if I hear differently.

2bit

Jim,

A bit more of their reasoning.

"There were no U.S. orders that I am aware of, and it is especially doubtful that the goverment would have ever ordered any firearms in the diminutive 32-20 cartridge, or with a special order feature (configuration), i.e. the 1/2 mag.

The letter stamps used by the government (Springfield Armory) were individual stamps, but they never stamped a period after the "U" and the "S", and as early as WW I, the "U S" stamped marks were accompanied by a flaming ordnance bomb stamp."

Hope it helps
2bit

I was told by a fellow at Cabelas that the Army allowed the personel to buy their own weapons if they did not want to use the Army issue. He said they had a company fund that the soldiers could draw a portion of the cost from and then they were allowed to pay that back when they were discherged and take the weapons home with them. He has seen this on other rifles, but it was the first time that he had seen it on a Winchester 1892. Does that sound reasonable?

Jim,

Not according to my father.
A retired Full Colonel with 45 years of service in the Army.

And let's try this line of poor logic. Who is going to cary a hundred year old rifle that nobody else has the ammunition for? So when you run out of all the bullets you can carry it is useless. Wouldn't be my choice of a weapon.

This just might be more plausible. Somebody buys a junker Model 1892 for $150 and stamps U.S. on it then buffs off most of the finish and cooks up a story about rare government issue so he can sell it for $1000. Trust me it happens. Along with "Indian rifles", lost one of a thousand Model 1873s and all kinds of fakes and lies. The forgery and fake markets are very real and sneaky and some are so good it takes an EXPERT to know what is correct. I know guys who take off stocks to look at the pattern in the wood where it was cut to fit the receiver so as to tell if it was cut with the type of mills that Winchester used or modern tools.

It's a old Winchester with who knows what stories it might tell. But it does not look like a military issue rifle.

2bit

2bit

And about Cabelas. Buy your bass lures there but I wouldn't bet my life on what they tell you in the gun room. I had one guy try to tell me he could smell the difference of a cold blued gun. Hell, I can see the difference. Or maybe, it was his BS he was smelling. The yhave buyers who go to gun shows and buy guns then put thenm in the store with at least 30% markups.

You had better know your stuff when you shop there.

2bit

No doubt, I would never buy a gun from the Cabelas Gun Library. Way overpriced. But, I do not think the person (a great friend) that sold this gun to me was trying to pull anything. I bought it for $250.00 and it is a riot to shoot. The ammo is very cheap at ammodirect.com. About $25.00 per box of 50. The only thing plausible to me about the Military story is that I have no doubt that the Military was able to buy weapons for less than the general public. My father bought me a Winchester 22 through the military when he was in the Navy in the early 1950's. As for ammo, there was plenty of Winchester 32 WCF ammo in the early 1900's. As you know, it was popular for rifles and revolvers. You sound kind of bitter, like maybe you or someone you know has been ripped off by one of these shiesters. But please don't fret for me. I know enough not to be taken for a ride. Thanks for the feedback.

Jim,

Not bitter at all. Just want people to know what is out there and the stories that are told t ojustify something. That's all. Enjoy your rifle. Yes they are lots of fun to shoot and hunt with.

Take care
2bit

2bit, I am sorry if I seemed harsh. You have been a great help to me. Now I have another question. What size should the bore at the end of the rifle be? I can see good lands and grooves in the barrel, but The bullets don't seem to be making good contact with the barrel. A couple of times the bullet seemed to stike the target sideways and sometimes The accuracy is really bad. Either I got some undersized bullets or I have and oversized bore. I have not been able to retrieve a fired bullet to check for rifling. Can you help or tell me where I can find such info.
Jim A

Jim,

If the bore were so bad that the bullets were going downrange side ways you would definitely be able to tell by looking at it.

Any chance that your 'sometimes occurence' is the fact that two bullets holes overlap? You might try a dozen individual targets with one or two rounds apiece. They can be just plain paper or shopping bags with a black dot drawn on them.

If you still have problems I would call around to find a GOOD gunsmith and they can measure the internal diameter of the bore. Reloading fanatics do this to match there bullet sizes where they are interested in thousandths of an inch differences.

You might also try different brands of ammo. There are actually slight differences and also jacketted vs non will shoot differently. Slightly higher velocity ammo will actually cause the lead to expand just ever so much so that it fills the barrel better.

Read this post in another forum I am in to see a similar problem with a .44 cal 1892. http://www.winchestercollector.org/forum/viewtopic.php? t=2974


Good luck
2bit

2-bit,
Looks like it is a common problem for these old rifles. Thanks again for your help.
Jim

Jim

not for all of them. I have 7 1892s and the bores are perfect and they shoot very well. It just sounds like yours has been shot a lot.
2bit