New 92

[oldhunter]

I purchased my first and only (so far) model 92 last fall with the idea of using it to hunt whitetail. It is a new 20" round barrel in .357/.38 with the safety and factory sights. With no scope and 70 year old eyes, I discovered my limit was about 50 yards. I was lucky to have a 4 point buck walk by at about 40 yards and after one shot he ran only 20 yards before he dropped. Because of shoulder issues, this light recoiling rifle made my season very pleasant. Otherwise I would either used my 30-06 or 12 gauge and both are unpleasant to shoot until I get corrective surgury on my rotator cuff. Next step is remove the factory safety and figure out how mount a scope. This 92 is very attractive with good wood and will have a future with me.

oldhunter

[Pepe Ray]

Your on the right track, Old Hunter.
I'm glad there's someone here near my age group. We usually have similar handicaps.
I've been struggeling to find an easy way to mount a scout scope on a M92. No I'm NOT buying a new one that's all D/T'd.
I'm confident that I can jerry rig something up. In the mean time I'm having a great time with peep sights.
They are sweet heart rifles.
Pepe Ray

[phonejack]

Congrats on the deer! Would you mind sharing what bullet you used? This will help me next fall.

[oldhunter]

The bullet used was Hornady LEVERevolution 140 gr FTX. A double lung shot was a complete passthrough with a very large exit hole. Never found the bullet. Prior to deer season, this ammo using a bench at the range was consistently grouping 2 inches with the open sights at 50 yards. Also another top load is Buffalo Bore 180 gr L.F.N. that was just as accurate as the Hornady bullet. Both have stated velocity of over 1400 fps. Fun to shoot with minimal recoil. Will be more fun when I figure out how to improve the sights using some sort of scope.

oldhunter

[pricedo]

The bullet used was Hornady LEVERevolution 140 gr FTX. A double lung shot was a complete passthrough with a very large exit hole. Never found the bullet. Prior to deer season, this ammo using a bench at the range was consistently grouping 2 inches with the open sights at 50 yards. Also another top load is Buffalo Bore 180 gr L.F.N. that was just as accurate as the Hornady bullet. Both have stated velocity of over 1400 fps. Fun to shoot with minimal recoil. Will be more fun when I figure out how to improve the sights using some sort of scope.

oldhunter

Did you use the Hornady LeveRevolution factory ammo or did you hand load the bullets to make your own ammo?
I have used the LeveRevolution factory ammo in my Rossi Puma 92 .357 (140 grain FTX) & my Puma 92 in .44 Mag (225 grain FTX) as well as my Rio Grande in .30-30 Win (160 grain FTX).
Unfortunately Hornady doesn't factory load the FTX bullet in .454 Casull though Hornady makes a 225 grain FTX bullet for the .45 LC & a 250 grain FTX bullet for the 450 Bushmaster.......I'll probably have to develop & load my own .454 Casull FTX ammo for my Rossi Puma 92 in that caliber..
The FTX bullet does real good on paper.....glad to hear it's a performer on game as well.

[oldhunter]

I do not reload as I don't shoot enough to justify the cost or time spent. Just lazy and have many other interests. I have found that factory ammo today seems to be very accurate and one only needs to try several brands to determine the best for his gun. Most of my shooting is in the fall prior to hunting season when I will shoot several times a week for a few weeks until I am satisfied that if a turkey, deer or a bear shows up, that I should hit it where I need to in order to have a clean kill.

oldhunter

[pricedo]

I do not reload as I don't shoot enough to justify the cost or time spent. Just lazy and have many other interests. I have found that factory ammo today seems to be very accurate and one only needs to try several brands to determine the best for his gun. Most of my shooting is in the fall prior to hunting season when I will shoot several times a week for a few weeks until I am satisfied that if a turkey, deer or a bear shows up, that I should hit it where I need to in order to have a clean kill.

oldhunter

I don't reload much either cause factory ammo has just about caught up with hand loaded ammo in accuracy, quality and available choices.
When I shot a lot of competitive pistol I hand loaded because off the store shelf ammo at 500+ rounds a match / 2 or 3 matches a week would have kept me broke.
Years ago if you wanted to shoot premium bullets you hand loaded. Now the off the shelf selection is so good there is no real need to.
Still have a couple of older friends and relatives with oddball calibers like .300 H&H, .351SL, .32 Rem that I hand load for or else they'd have to hang up the old legacy guns they hunted a lifetime with cause factory ammo is scarce or nonexistent.
3 or 4 boxes of ammo usually lasts these old geezers at least a couple of years because their aging calcified shoulder joints don't soak up recoil like they did a generation ago.

[Jeff H]

While not everyone's cup-o'-tea, yoiu may find D/T'd holes under the rear sight and there is a forward mounted Weaver-style base available for about $13 to match those holes. Michael has done some pretty extensive testing/posting on the subject of scout scopes, and while not all that very valuable information (saved me from spending big bucks on a scope that might not do me any more good than my $35 NC Star pistol scope) wa necessarily good news for all of us, it sheds some light on some things to consider while making the decision whether/how to scope that '92.

Currently, mine wears a cheapo pistol scope which works very well at 50 yards in good light. I bought it to do load development but said development has drug on for months and am looking for the peep of my choice to affix to the reciever.

Poke around and take a look at some of the posts here on the subject. I haven't seen another resource where so much effort was expended and so much valid information was shared. Personal preferences and personal needs may take you in a direction each of the rest of us didn't take, but you at least have the opportunity to see a number of pros and cons for each alternative.

For example, while it works ok for what I am doing right now, if I wanted to use my cheapie scope in twighlight or at more than 50 yards, I would definitely have to ditch the cheap pistol scope and find another means.

[Warhawk]

Since you don't handload, I thought I might recommend a factory load that my 357 leverguns shoot well. The Federal American Eagle158 jacketed soft point .357 load shoots extremely well in all my 357 lever guns, Marlin, Rossi and Browning.