One owner of the new '92 thought his retaining ring was soldered on to the barrel which makes sense by the look of the '73's. Also the end screw is not threaded into the barrel on his '922 just threaded into the mag tube end cap. The end is a unthreaded post that goes into the barrel.
Originally Posted by forward_observer
Just a minor correction. The slot that the forward magazine ring/hanger fits in is not really a true dovetailed slot although it's referred to as one--at least on the model 73 and 92. The slot that is machined in the bottom of the barrel is in fact cut elliptically.......
I don't believe that is the case on the newest Miroku '73s. Anyone pulled their mag tube and forearm off to check how they are attached?
If I were to guess I'd say the new Miroku does not have an attachment of the barrel retainer ring to the barrel and the pin only positions the ring on the mag tube. The screw threaded into the barrel is doing the actual retaining of the mag tube. Easy to check if that is correct. Remove the mag end cap screw and slightly bend the mag tube downward. If you can see air between barrel and retaining ring it is a fiction fit and no dovetail on the barrel. A stronger way to attach a mag tube, which at times Winchester used (as has Miroku) was threading the mag tube into the receiver and then using the end cap screw to stabilize the tube at the end.
Reason I am asking is, if the barrel is not milled for the retaining ring any of these guns would be a easy conversion to a half mag gun. Only thing showing would be the mag tube end cap retaining screw which could easily be filled with an appropriate and almost invisible set screw/plug.
If the bottom of the barrel is milled like a typical Winchester or Uberti then the conversion to a half mag gun is too obvious.