1892 Winchester Pawn Shop

[Grenadier]

Picked up a 38/40 1892 Winchester at lunch today. I traced the serial and found out it was made in 1893. It has a 24" octagonal barrel and a very nice bore. The finish is nice but does have some freckling.



I am happy!

[Silver Creek Slim]

Congrats.

Slim

[Bruce W Sims]

Any thoughts about taking to a range?

Best Wishes,

Bruce

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[Coal Creek Griff]

Nice find. I'm looking forward to the... PICTURES. 

CC Griff

[Grenadier]

I'd like to fire it but ammo for it seems to be like hunting for a wooly mammoth in my area. 

[Trailrider]

I'd like to fire it but ammo for it seems to be like hunting for a wooly mammoth in my area. 

Push comes to shove, you might have to resort to handloading! If you can't find .38-40 brass, you can always size down .44-40 cases. Just go slow, as both cartridges have mighty thin walls, especially near the neck and mouth!

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

There is an RCBS cowboy mould, with a crimp groove at the correct spot. (For a desperation load try a few .40 auto lead bullets.)

The technology is out there but you need to find it.

Here is the original bullet from Lyman; http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/bullet-casting/mould-details.php?entryID=17

Lee .401 bullets don't have a crimp groove except the Tumble-Lube one but I'm not sure it will leave you with the correct overall length?

[Grenadier]

At this point, I am not so desperate to shoot it. I'd like to figure out if it is a piece for collecting before I invest in dies, brass and molds. It's not likely to be a piece that I would shoot very often anyways.

[Bruce W Sims]

Makes sense....

For myself, I have stepped back from poking around in pawn shops. Its not that I don't
think that a person can't find some "gold" in them thar cases. I just wonder about what
lies behind the good looks. Some time back I stumbled onto a COLT "Python" at a pawn
shop. Now, I'm no expert but even I could see that someone had beat the life outta
that piece. Still it WAS a jen-u-whine COLT Python and I'm sure someone would grab just
to say they had one. I still visit Pawn Shops now and again, but usually with the mind set
that they can be the last resting place for artifacts accrued bad past choices. Just sayin....

Best Wishes,

Bruce

[Grenadier]

 We all have our vices and pawn shops are my vice 

[Grenadier]

Well, I found a box of ammo at a podunk gunshop. $54 for a box of Winchester soft points 

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]