Winchester Model 1892
Winchester Model 1892 | |
---|---|
Production history | |
Designer | John Browning |
Manufacturer | Winchester Repeating Arms Company |
Produced | 1892–1945 |
No. built | 1,007,608 |
Specifications | |
Caliber |
|
Action | Lever action |
Feed system | 9 to 12 rounds |
The Winchester Model 1892 was a
History
When asked by Winchester to design an improved lever action to compete with a recent Marlin offering, John Browning said he would have the prototype completed in under a month or it would be free. Within two weeks, Browning had a functioning prototype of the '92.
The Winchester Models 53 (1924) and 65 (1933) were relabeled Model 1892s. Admiral
The original Winchester company made 1,007,608 Model 1892 rifles. The Depression greatly affected sales of the Winchester '92, and at the start of World War II, Winchester dropped production when it retooled for the war effort. Production was not resumed after the war. Model '92 manufacture was resumed in the 1970s by Amadeo Rossi in Brazil; more recently by Chiappa Firearms, an Italian factory; by Browning in Japan; and by Winchester in Japan. In its modern form, using updated materials and production techniques, the Model 1892's action is strong enough to chamber high-pressure handgun rounds, such as .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum, and .454 Casull. Despite being designed for smaller cartridges, the 1892's dual forward locking-block action is actually stronger than Browning's rear-locked Model 1894.[6]
Modern copies
Garate, Anitua y Cia of Eibar, Spain copied the Model 1892 as
Winchester ended production of the Model 1892 in 1941; however, arms manufacturers such as
Winchester produced limited numbers of the Model 1892 in 1997. In November, 2006, Winchester announced the Model 1892 John Wayne 100th Anniversary Rifle, chambered in Win 44–40. Since then, Winchester has offered several versions of the Model 1892. In early 2012, Winchester produced a limited number of Large Loop Carbines in 4 calibers; .44 Magnum, .357 Magnum, .44-40 (44 WCF) and .45 Colt.
The Rifleman's Winchester Model 1892
Westerns were popular when the television show The Rifleman premiered in 1958, and producers tried to find gimmicks to distinguish one show from another. The Rifleman's gimmick was a modified Winchester Model 1892 rifle, with a large ring lever drilled and tapped for a set screw. The lever design allowed him to cock the rifle by spinning it around his hand. In addition, the screw could be positioned to depress the trigger every time he worked the lever, allowing for rapid fire; as a result, he emptied the magazine in under five seconds during the opening credits.
The trigger-trip screw pin was used in two configurations: with the screw head turned inside (close to the trigger), or more often, outside the trigger guard with a locknut on the outside (to secure its position). In some episodes, the screw was removed when rapid-fire action was not required. When properly adjusted, the screw pulled the trigger when the lever was fully closed. The rapid-fire mechanism was originally designed to keep the program's star, Chuck Connors, from puncturing his finger with the trigger as he quickly cycled the action of the rifle.[citation needed] With this modification, Connors pulling the trigger for each shot was not necessary, so he did not have to place his finger in harm's way.
The large-loop rifle is also associated with
Mare's Leg
The
Popular culture
Although the Model 1892 made its debut after the closing of the American frontier, and the true "Guns that Won the West" were the earlier Models 1866 and 1873, it nonetheless became an icon of Western mythology through its use in hundreds of motion pictures and television shows, standing in for its older siblings. John Wayne famously carried Model '92s in dozens of films, and owned several personally, some with the distinctive oversized "loop" lever. Other notable screen '92s were those of Chuck Connors in The Rifleman and Steve McQueen in Wanted: Dead or Alive.[8]
Hollywood studios purchased the '92 in quantity because it was in regular production (until World War II), but looked sufficiently like Old West Winchesters to substitute for valuable antiques, and because in calibers .44-40 and .38-40 it could fire, together with the Colt Single Action Army "Peacemaker" revolver, the standard 5-in-1 blank cartridge. This latter practice mirrored the real cowboys, who found it convenient to carry a rifle (carbine) and a revolver chambered with the same ammunition.
See also
- Colt Lightning Carbine
- El Tigre Rifle
- The Rifleman's Rifle
- Winchester rifle
References
- ^ "Winchester Model 1892 Deluxe Takedown Edition". American Rifleman. 2009.
- ^ http://www.gunsandammo.com/content/brownings-other-rifles?page=3 [dead link]
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8329-0503-2.
- ^ "Winchester 1892". wildwestoriginals.com. 4 January 2018. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-9568529-0-8.
- ^ "45 Colt in Lever Action Rifles".
- ^ "Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Records". Cancellation No. 92053336. USPTO. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
- ISSN 1079-3690.