The smokeless LEVER ACTION that got away returns!

✪
✪
Gun Test
The smokeless LEVER ACTION that got away returns!
By Mike Beliveau
EMFHART FORD
1892
.44-40
The Hartford ’92 was tested with both
Winchester and Black Hills smokeless
factory ammunition. The rifle showed
a definite preference for lighter
bullets and higher velocity.
The Model 1892 became
the quintessential cowboy rifle
in movies and on television.
HEN I
WAS A
COLL
back in
EGE S
the 197
TUDE
0s, I wa
NT
whose o
s engag
ld Yank
ed to a
e
g
e
ir
family o
l
two-ma
wned a
n sawm
small,
il
l
o
p
eration.
sawmill
As a pa
operatio
a huge
rt of th
n, her fa
tract of
e
m
m
il
a
y
ture for
a
ls
certainly
o
o
w
e
n
s
t
e
la
d
nd. The
desirab
le in he
young la
to prov
r own r
dy was
ide acce
ight, bu
s
s
t her ab
to some
nothing
ility
prime h
to dimin
unting
ish her
ground
appeal.
I suppo
did
se that h
er famil
since 16
y
had bee
76 after
n on th
they wh
at land
during
ipped th
King Ph
e
N
a
r
il
r
li
a
g
p
a
s
n
W
s
they did
ett India
ar. And,
n’t thro
ns
like all g
w much
o
o
d
Y
old stuff
ankees,
a
w
a
y
.
S
around
o there
her hom
was lots
by far w
of neat
estead.
as a Win
B
u
t
m
c
y
hester 1
fa
v
o
This wa
r
ite artif
892 rifle
s a fullact
chambe
sized rif
red in .4
rel and
le
w
ith a 24
4
a Lyma
4
0
.
-inch o
n tang s
ctagon
action I
ight. It
bar’ve ever
was the
shot. It
smooth
was awfu
est lever
lly prett
y too.
✪
66 GUNS OF THE OLD WEST
✪
Background photo by Mr. Quigley
GUNS OF THE OLD WEST
67
EMF HARTFORD 1892 .44-40
(Above) The color casehardening on the receiver exhibits good coverage with muted colors.
(Below) The EMF Hartford ’92 was selected
as the companion rifle to author’s 1890
Remingtons in his smokeless powder battery.
68 GUNS OF THE OLD WEST
honest, oil-finished American Walnut. It
looks the way a gunstock ought to look.
My memory of Rossi ’92s was that they
all had stocks that were less than impressive.
When I saw the new ‘92s I assumed that
EMF must have provided Rossi with a supply of walnut to stock their offerings. But
the folks at EMF have told me that Rossi
still uses Brazilian hardwood on their guns.
However, EMF insists that Rossi use only
premium wood with the look and color of
walnut on rifles destined to sell under EMF’s
banner. Whatever they are doing, it works.
The stock gets two thumbs up.
(Left) The Hartford ’92 is equipped with an excellent semi-buckhorn rear sight
I also like the color casehardening on the
that is drift adjustable for windage and step adjustable for elevation.
receiver. The colors are subdued, which is the
(Right) EMF’s Brazilian import has a safety mechanism mounted on the rifle’s bolt.
way I like them on a rifle. The coverage of
this has been a great excuse to set up a $5,000 bonus if he could produce a proto- color is much better than you’ll find on the
whole new battery of shooting irons. And you type in two months. Browning told him to majority of Italian offerings. Except for the
should never miss an opportunity to exercise make it $20,000 and he’d have it in a month. blued bolt, all the metal south of the barrel is
color casehardened. My gun has the 24-inch
a really good excuse to buy new guns.
And that’s just what happened.
I selected a pair of 1890 Remington
The 1892 model was a huge success for octagonal barrel with a full-length magazine
revolvers as my smokeless handguns because Winchester. Over a 49-year production run tube. The flats are moderately well polished,
their 1890 designation makes them the clos- they sold over one million of the little rifles. and the barrel and magazine tube both wear
est in time to the smokeless powder era. As with its predecessor, the 1873, the ’92 a modern hot blue finish. The sights are
Using that criterion I should have opted for Winchester was chambered for all the 19th excellent. The front sight is a very easy to
an 1894 Marlin as my smokeless rifle, but the century’s dual use cartridges, the .44-40, see wide blade, which is undercut to reduce
urge to recapture a bit of my youth by shoot- .38-40 and .32-20. Because of the inherent glare. The rear sight is a well-designed, steping a ’92 again had been growing in me.
strength of Browning’s design, modern era adjustable, semi-buckhorn. The fine sightEven discounting my adolescent infat- copies of the ’92 have even been chambered ing notch is square cut and allows plenty of
uation with the ’92, I’d still have had a for the .44 Mag. And that’s a round you’d daylight around the front blade. The sight
yen for one. They are neat little shooters. never want to fire in a toggle link action picture is very easy to acquire.
Essentially ‘92s are dainty versions of the like the Winchester 1873.
The EMF ’92 has a safety mounted on
1886 Winchester. In the ’86 Winchester, John
the rear of the bolt. Personally, I could live
Browning solved the seemingly insurmount- Gun Details
without it. I prefer my ‘92s just as John
able hurdle of producing a lever action
There are a number of things I like very Browning designed them, but our governrifle that could handle the .45-70 cartridge much about this rifle. First on this list by a ment feels we have to be protected from
without having a receiver that was the size mile is the stock wood. That’s not because ourselves. The safety is easy to use. It’s a
and weight of a blacksmith’s anvil. Browning it’s some fancy piece of full-figured walnut. rotating lever. Turn it counter clockwise
solved that problem by combining a piv- I like this stock because it looks like plain, to go into safe mode and go clockwise to
oting feed ramp with a
make the rifle hot.
very strong twin vertical
Specifications
The ’92 has a much
locking bolt system.
shorter and lighter action than the 1873 rifle.
Thomas Bennett,
This gives the ’92 excelthe head of Winchester,
lent balance and pointwas so fond of the 1886
ability. In the rifle verrifle that, when he was
sion, it’s slightly barrel
thinking about replacheavy, which helps it
ing the 1873 model,
Caliber: .44-40
settle down for serious
he asked Browning to
Barrel: 24 inches • OA Length: 43 inches
shooting. When I first
design a replacement
Weight: 7.4 pounds • Stocks: Two piece, Brazilian hardwood
started CAS, ‘92s were
based on the ’86 design.
Sights: Drift adjustable blade front and step adjustable semi-buckhorn rear
all the rage. Real seriBennett was so hot to
Action: Lever • Finish: Blue barrel, bolt and magazine, color casehardened receiver
ous competitors shot
get the rifle he offered to
’94 Marlins and almost
pay Browning $10,000
Capacity: 10-shot • Price: $554.90
everybody else shot ‘92s.
if he delivered the rifle
That is no longer the
in three months and a
e
4/C AD
We all know that break-ups are a messy business, and unfortunately, when that young
lady and I decided not to marry, I also lost
my visitation rights with the ’92. I’ve been
carrying a torch for that rifle all these years,
and I suppose that has warped my memory
a bit. In my mind I remember that old gun
as being so smooth and lovely that none of
the modern reproductions have been able to
compete with it. So, for all this time, I haven’t
had a ’92 rifle in my gun cabinet. But 32
years is long enough to pine for a lost love. I
was finally in the market for a ’92.
You might wonder what got me so keen
to get a ’92 after all these years. The answer
is that after 10 years of shooting black powder exclusively in Cowboy Action Shooting
(CAS) matches, I decided I needed to expand
my horizons. I intended to shoot an occasional match with smokeless powder. This
was a tough decision for me, and I’m certainly
not abandoning black powder. But there are
times when my travel schedule just doesn’t
leave time for cleaning four black powder
guns after a match. So if the choice is between
shooting smokeless powder or skipping the
match, I’d rather shoot smokeless. Besides,
EMF Hartford 1892
GUNS OF THE OLD WEST
69
EMF HARTFORD 1892 .44-40
not spectacular. From a 25-yard bench rest I
averaged 2-inch groups.
Changing to 200-grain Black Hills ammo
produced a notable improvement. These
rounds clocked along at 1248 fps. That’s what
I’d expect from a .44-40 round. Accuracy was
better too. I was able to average 1-inch groups
with the Black Hills rounds from the 25-yard
bench. So I would say the ’92 has a definite preference for the lighter bullets at a zippier pace.
That’s okay because that’s my preference as well.
It kind of makes me wonder why I waited
all these years to get a ’92.
✪
The stocks on EMF’s ’92 are made of
high quality Brazilian hardwood that has
the look and feel of American walnut.
As a full-sized rifle the ‘92’s forearm is held
on with a color casehardened cap (top)
rather than a carbine barrel band.
Winchester, but after a few hundred rounds
it’s smoothing up on its own. I expect it to
keep improving as time goes on. The trigger
pull is 5.5 pounds. Even though I prefer a
3-pound trigger pull on a rifle, 5.5 pounds
is very typical of a new lever action.
Because this rifle is going to be part of my
smokeless battery, I tested it with Black Hills
and Winchester factory smokeless ammo.
Disassembling a ’92 is considerably more
complex than taking apart a model ’73. So, I
don’t plan on ever feeding black powder to
this Hartford ’92.
I started off the range test with Winchester
Cowboy ammunition. These rounds are
loaded with a 225-grain lead, round-nose,
flat point slug. They are built for CAS competition, and for that reason they are loaded
pretty mild. Through the 24-inch barrel
they turned in an average velocity of 940 feet
per second (fps). That’s surprisingly slow
for a .44-40. Accuracy was acceptable, but
i
FOR MORE j
INFORMATION
CONTACT:
EMF
1900 E Warner Ave, Ste 1-D
Dept CAS, Santa Ana, CA 92705
800-430-1310
www.emf-company.com
B/W AD
The 1892 (top) has a much shorter and
lighter receiver than the 1873 model it
replaced, despite being chambered
for the same cartridges.
case. The straight line feeding system on
1873s makes those rifles virtually jam-proof,
so they have gradually supplanted the ’92 as
the most prevalent CAS rifle.
Though a ’92 is more likely to experience
a stove-piped shell case than a ’73 due to its
angled feed ramp, jams are certainly not a
common occurrence. I didn’t have any over
several hundred rounds of shooting with
this rifle. And that angled feeding system
makes for a compact rifle that’s a joy to carry
in the woods. Though we don’t think of it in
those terms today, the model ’92 chambered
in .44-40 was a typical deer rifle in the northeast in the first half of the 20th century.
B/W AD
Shooting Impressions
At the range the EMF ’92 performed
up to my expectations. The action as it
came from the box was certainly rougher
than the action I remember on that old
70 GUNS OF THE OLD WEST
GUNS OF THE OLD WEST
71