Well i just picked up a 1914 production Winchester 1892 yesterday, and it seems to be in great shape except it seems to have a short stroking problem, when I cycle the action, the hammer does not stay cocked, but instead follows the bolt closed, the only time I can get it to stay cocked is if I cycle the action VERY hard to the point that the backs of my fingers hurt.  What's wrong with it?  The sear? How do I fix it, where do i get the parts, and how much will it cost?

So it is a 1914?  You also say new, so that is confusing.  


An expert needs to look at the parts and see what is worn.  It might have crap in the action that you can't see.

Manually cock the hammer back and then push on the hammer spur.  If the hammer drops, your sear surface is shot.

New to me, 100 years old to everyone else.

Fixed it for clarity.

As mentioned in your GD post:

Spray action thoroughly with RemOil......soak overnight.........spray again.......let it drip dry........wipe it off and try again.

I've soaked old leverguns in a bucket of mineral spirits overnight and you wouldn't believe the garbage that comes out of the actions!!!

There are a bunch of guys in Cowboy Action Shooting world who know 1892's real well.

Start with a good cleaning.

NEED PICTURES OF RIFLE!!!!!!

Many shooters will clean and degrease the action in a lever gun by removing the stock and fore arm and the spraying the action thoroughly with non chlorinated brake cleaner.  That will clean a great deal of gunk out of the action and remove all the old accumulated grease.

It also removes all the protective oil as well and you then need to spray the whole action liberally with an aerosol type gun oil  like Rem Oil or Birchwood Casey's aerosol gun oil, or a pump spray delivered gun oil like CLP to restore the lubrication and rust protection throughout the action and then let it sit standing up in a bucket over night to let the excess oil drip out before you put the wood back on.  (Do not use WD-40 as it's mostly solvent with very little lubrication or rust protection once it evaporates.)

The bottom of the bolt rides over the top of the hammer to cock the gun.  This is a point of wear.  The top of the bolt needs to be built up slightly and then polished.  This part of most lever actions often suffers from lack of lubrication.

Top of the bolt or bottom?

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Hammers are face hardened to improve the wear and create a slicker feeling against other parts, while leaving the inner metal though to absorb the shock hammers experience without becoming too embrittled.

Bolts are designed to be very touch and are again face hardened but with the emphasis on the areas that engage the locking lugs or locking recesses and any surfaces that are cams used to to cock the firearm.   In that regard, if the bolt is worn to the point that it will not press the hammer back far enough to engage the sear, then it would need to be built up - but then also properly heat treated to avoid a sticky feeling action and to prevent a rapid re-occurrence of the wear.  Adding any metal at all to the bolt will require new heat treatment of the bolt, so it's not a job for the unskilled or faint of heart.

OK so I took the stock off today to see if I could spot the problem, and this is what I saw:





The bottom of the bottom tang:


I thought the hammer spring was supposed to be a coil?  Also my trigger spring is the wire type instead of the flat type, is that normal?, or was it replaced at some point?

The action works fine when the butt stock is removed, but if I put it back on, even part way it starts short stroking again, why?

I gave it some CLP, and it's working better now, I can actually cycle the action enough to get the hammer to stay back without hurting my fingers, more of a fast cycle is required now as opposed to the fast, and hard of before, but the hammer still follows the slide when the action is cycled slowly, what's wrong with it, does it just need even more oil?

Also, what is the normal trigger pull weight?  I don't have a gauge, but the trigger feels wonderful, no slack at all, and it seems to break smooth, and consistent, but only at about I'm guessing 1-2 pounds.

I tried, and the hammer is rock solid when in the cocked position.

Flat springs were the norm on the originals.  

The reproductions like the Rossi are where you'll find the newer coil spring design used for the hammer.  The trigger spring is flat on all of them, original or reproduction.

Given the disappearance of the problem when the stock is removed, and the re-occurrence when it's re-installed, I suspect there is something in the recess of the stock that is rubbing on the hammer spring when it's installed.  Look for a rub mark or mark the sides of the hammer spring with some soot from a candle, lamp black, etc and see if it leaves a mark on the inside of the stock recess when you re-install it and operate the action a few times.

Triggers pulls do not have to be heavy on a Model 92 and they can have delightful triggers.  On the Rossi Model 92s one of the things shooters commonly do is shorten the hammer spring by a couple of coils and thin the width of the trigger spring a bit to reduce the spring weights to levels closer to the original Winchester Model 92.  

But it's also possible the springs are a bit worn and not quite as strong as they need to be.  Provided the hammer spring has enough energy to fire a cartridge, I would not worry about it.  A new hammer spring or trigger spring or both would probably increase the trigger pull a bit.  

Heavier springs in a Model 92 all have an impact on how smooth it cycles as well.  A heavier ejector spring and a heavier hammer spring will both increase the resistance on the lever when you cycle the action.  The ejector spring just needs to be heavy enough to pop the case up and out of the action far enough that it does not fall back in.  On the Rossi 92, it will launch it about 6 ft in the air, and  replacement of the spring with a lighter one is a common modification given the effect it has on smoothness of the action.