Paging Malamute and Lost River

[Jared]

@Malamute and @Lost River

I know y'all are pretty knowledgeable about lever guns. I saw something yesterday that's got me wanting on it bad and want to know if I'm making a mistake before I commit. It's a Browning B92, 44 Mag, every bit of 95% condition.

Is there any reason to avoid this rifle, or should I do what I really want to and add it to the safe?

Thanks in advance.

[Malamute]

An absolutely excellent quality carbine, head and shoulder better quality than any other 92 copies. They tend to be a bit fat in the bore, which can make getting cast to shoot to best potential somewhat frustrating at times (also a thing with other makes at times, like marlins), but I havent given it much thought, nor have I done any serious accuracy testing with cast. Its been fine for the closer range shooting Ive done. Jacketed loads shouldnt be any issue as to accuracy potential. My only complaint was the front edge of the receiver was a bit sharp. A small triangular ceramic stone fixed that.

I put a Lyman receiver sight on mine, had to drill and tap the receiver. Didnt have to change the front sight, which is good, because its a fixed stud with integral blade, silver soldered to the barrel. put a bit of bright orange fingernail polish on it and its very good in dusky conditions.

The barrel bands are aluminum. This annoys some, I got over it. When I installed a sling, I used a slightly different attachment method than simply drilling and tapping the fore end band like I had done on Winchesters. I inletted a knurled nut in the wood under the band for the stud to screw into, its about bomb proof.

I had a Ruger ring base silver soldered to the side of the mag tube for a light mount. I used an older Surefire 6P light in a Ruger ring. Its very clean without much protrusion when the light is off the gun. The only other change Id do is cut it down to 17" barrel.

I think all in all, they are better made and materials quality than the original Winchester 92s.

[Jared]

An absolutely excellent quality carbine, head and shoulder better quality than any other 92 copies. They tend to be a bit fat in the bore, which can make getting cast to shoot to best potential somewhat frustrating at times (also a thing with other makes at times, like marlins), but I havent given it much thought, nor have I done any serious accuracy testing with cast. Its been fine for the closer range shooting Ive done. Jacketed loads shouldnt be any issue as to accuracy potential. My only complaint was the front edge of the receiver was a bit sharp. A small triangular ceramic stone fixed that.

I put a Lyman receiver sight on mine, had to drill and tap the receiver. Didnt have to change the front sight, which is good, because its a fixed stud with integral blade, silver soldered to the barrel. put a bit of bright orange fingernail polish on it and its very good in dusky conditions.

The barrel bands are aluminum. This annoys some, I got over it. When I installed a sling, I used a slightly different attachment method than simply drilling and tapping the fore end band like I had done on Winchesters. I inletted a knurled nut in the wood under the band for the stud to screw into, its about bomb proof.

I had a Ruger ring base silver soldered to the side of the mag tube for a light mount. I used an older Surefire 6P light in a Ruger ring. Its very clean without much protrusion when the light is off the gun. The only other change Id do is cut it down to 17" barrel.

I think all in all, they are better made and materials quality than the original Winchester 92s.

Thank you. Didn't help my wallet any, but I'm glad to hear this all the same

[Lost River]

Browning pistol caliber levers are not an area that I have a really extensive knowledge base, so I will refrain from giving advice about this particular matter. Malamute definitely knows his stuff, as is evident from his post, so I will sit back and learn along with others. Never too old to do so.

[Jared]

I brought it home today. I found out that Browning has a way to determine the year the rifle is.made, so I checked. This B92 and I were both born in the same year. How about that.

Like me, it's got a couple little scars. There's a nick in the left side of the stock and another one near the toe. Overall though, it's in great shape. Actually, it's in better shape than me.