She's an 1892 38-40 that was born in 1904. I load 180 grain boolits and 37 grains of FFg on a Winchester Tong tool from the 1880's. Anymore this is the most fulfillment out of the hobby that I can get. I have every intention of hunting with this gun this season.

My reloading "press".

very cool

I like it

Nice!

Moosemike, a fine diversion indeed. Many enjoyable workings of the lever ahead.

good deal hope you get it bloody

That is too sweet!
That oughta knock the snot out of a deer!

Excellent!!!!

Thanks everybody.

Awesome! I’ll be looking for pics this November 😉

I believe it was in his essays from Round River that Aldo Leopold wrote that in order for a hobby to be a successful one, it has to be not economically feasible, non-conformist and cannot be prescribed to you; meaning the desire to do something that goes against the grain and you will not make money on has to come from within.

I suppose hunting with a weapon that yields a sort of self imposed limitation falls within that area. Kudos, it’s much more about than about the latest wizz-bang, etc.

Love my 1886, 33 WCF. Proud to see another vintage Winchester put to good use! I’ve posted a few pics of deer taken with mine...hope you do the same this fall.

Good luck Mike.

Jerry

I killed a doe with my 38-40 last year. It’s fun to use 100 year old guns.

Thanks guys. I've always been partial to leverguns but also used bolts and pumps because they're the most practical and give me the greatest chance for success. At the same time though I believe the lever is the action I've killed the most game with. When I was very young I was obsessed with leverguns and as I get older I find myself reverting to that. The amazing thing is my eyes at age 44 still see irons about as clearly as they did when I was young so I figure I need to hunt with this stuff while I can still see the sights.

Love leverguns and have 5, but my eyes don't care for irons. I still use them at the ragne but when an animal is downrange I prefer glass optics.

Good luck on your hunt this fall. Nice vintage rifle.

Pretty cool moosemike

There was an article / story in a Gun Digest ( from maybe the 1970's?) That was about a youngster from Michigan going out for a camping deer hunt. Maybe from around 1900 era setting. He round his horse " Pontiac" and went hunted a bear with a more experienced hunter (Harry) that carried a 45-70.

The youngster's rifle, a Winchester 1892, in 38-40, shooting 180 grain lead home cast bullets lubed with tallow and beeswax, over black powder. I think he wrote his mom either cast the bullets or loaded the rounds.

I remember that story fondly ( though I obviously forgot a lot of it). Hope you can find it. It would compliment your rifle and hunting intentions. I think you would enjoy it. I was a youngster when I read it. I thought of myself in the role of the young man in the story. Loved the sense of Independence he had. Yes, he got a nice buck with that rig on that trip.

It was a good read.

PS.
Found the article. 1974 Gun Digest (28th edition, yellow cover with 2 Ruger Super Blackhawks on the cover).

"Whitetailed deer with Black Powder". (pp 269-273) by Jack McPhee.

Just read it again. Still a good read.

Really cool rifle and fun to load with old tools. I would like to see 44 again though. I have over 20 years on that though. Show us some pictures when you get that game. Packy

Thank you. I will find that Gun Digest. It's easy to remember being my birth year.

You got that right. I'm 69 y o and only need reading glasses BUT that makes rear sights BLURRY !!

I was 45 in 1994 when I got my FIRST pair of readers. Everyone is different but Use em while you can.


OTOH, I can STILL use irons on a handgun........it's at arms length.

Again, Good Luck


Jerry

Thanks Jerry. Glad to hear it hasn't messed up your handgunning.

Moose, what alloy and lube are you using?

BTW, having too much fun is still legal!

As I have gotten older, what I am hunting with and who I am hunting with has become much more important than any trophy. I had a couple of rifles this past year that I wanted to take a deer with because both were favorite rifles that took me years and no small amount of luck to come up with. I will always remember the days hunting with those rifles when easy shots were passed up as well as the days when the deer was taken.
Spending time in the woods on a hunt with a rifle like your Winchester 92 would add some very valuable memories, and the success of the hunt would be certain... whether or not game was taken.

Right now I'm running soft lead from Desperado bullets and they come pre lubed. Now barrel leading is an issue with these so I'm going to order hard cast and I'm going to have to figure out what lube to get. Interestingly I loaded up some Hornady 180 XTP's intended for the 10mm and I used blackpowder. Turns out the gun absolutely loves them. Much more accurate than with soft cast. So I think it's really going to like hard cast.

This is where I'm getting too with my hunting as well.

As an aside, I can remember my Grandfather taking his 1894 Marlin 38-40 to Bear Camp one year. That's a cool memory. He tied a rope on it for a sling. That was a nice gun but I didn't end up with it my Uncle did.

Very cool, thanks for sharing.