Slicking up a Miroku 92?

[Doc Holloman]

I have a Miroku 92 in .38-40.  I originally picked it up for Wild Bunch (figuring power factor would make it competitive) but the last couple of matches I have noticed that the slow levering is really eating into my time, and now with the tricked out .38 73s showing up, if this gun is going to avoid becoming a safe queen, I am going  to need to up it's game.
Anyone out there slicking up the Miroku?

[Abilene]

IF it shares the issue of an overly strong ejector spring in the bolt like other brands, then replacing that will make it close easier when chambering a round. Otherwise, I'm ignorant of the Mirokus. Lightening the main spring, maybe. If you polish the locking bolts, remove NO metal.

[Doc Holloman]

I just heard from Steve at Steve's Gunz.  The issue with the rifle is the "overstrong" mainspring, which is unfortunately necessary to drive the rebounding firing pin and hammer.  To lighten up the lever it is necessary to replace the entire set of fire control components. When I was shooting against .45 Colts and .44-40s, it didn't matter much to me.  Against slick .38s, I think I need a different rifle.

[Abilene]

Save your money and just practice magazine changes.    Lots more stage time improvement that way, I'd think.   Easy advice from a guy who needs badly to practice magazine changes. 

[Coffinmaker]

Doc 

With the necessary changes to fire control parts and springs, a '92 can be very smooth and very fast indeed.  However:  No amount of tuning will render a '92 to be competitive with a tuned up .38 1873.

Follow with Abilene if you will.  Yule need a new rifle (Uberti with Short Stroke and Springs) iffin you want to run alongside the '73s.  So I agree with Abilene.  Practice up yer reloads, transitions and shotgun skills and save a bundle of bucks.

Although there is always a good reason for a NEW RIFLE!!

[Rattlesnake Slim]

I bought a new Winchester/Miroku '92 in .357 a couple of months ago. I immediately ordered Nate Kiowa Jones' DVD and spring kit for the Rossi, knowing that some tweaking of Rossi parts would be necessary.

The first thing that I noticed was that most of the work in the DVD has been done by Miroku. The carrier detent spring was as light as the one in the NKJ kit and the detent ball rides in groves in the receiver, not the cartridge guide like the Rossi. The cartridge follower is stainless, but I had to shorten the spring to get 10 .357 length rounds in the magazine. There was a sharp ledge just opposite where the rounds enter through the gate that had to be smoothed to keep from deforming the bullet nose. The ejector spring was way too strong and the NKJ replacement was a perfect replacement, I added a very little smoothing of the ejector shaft and collar that may or may not have been necessary. Again, the Miroku parts were very nice as is. The bottom of the bolt was already beveled, so all I had to do was a very little polishing. Of course the hammer spring was way too strong, but shorter than the Rossi replacement included in the kit due to the strut being shorter because of the rebounding hammer. If I remember correctly, I shortened the much lighter NKJ spring to a length in between the Miroku and Rossi length.

There is information online about substituting Ruger Vaquero springs of varying strengths, but I found it too late and the cut one seems to be working well. There is also info online about defeating the rebounding hammer. I did it and it worked, but proceed at your own risk and work slowly, replacement Miroku parts are difficult to come by.

That's about all I remember, it went very well. Only a couple of hours or so, and you'll be an expert at '92 assembly and disassembly by the time you're done. No, it's not as fast as the '73, but I'm a '92 lover and will likely sell my '73 to pay for a backup, probably a Rossi.

Shoot what you like, I'm a '92 guy through and through.

[Doc Holloman]

Oh I have a short stroked 73 in .357 (Cimarron US Marshall model) that I used to shoot for Cowboy.  I stopped shooting it a year ago when I realized I would never be able to keep up with the folks who have been shooting this for years (I've been at it for 3 years and am a "Silver Senior", which is the most populous category, at least around here) and started shooting Cody Dixon Single Shot in Cowboy Matches.  I can pull the 73 out again (although I have no back-up rifle for it)  but I think what pisses me off is that a rule change has basically made a $1500-2000 rifle pretty much obsolete for my intended purposes (actually maybe two rifles as my .38-40 Taylors 73 is almost just as obsolete.)

[Doc Holloman]

I've got a Rossi in .45 Colt that I have slicked up (to a degree) myself.  Changing the ejector spring did not eliminate the annoying catch in the last 3/8 inch of bolt closing, but I digress.  I have a another in .357 (my pistol caliber "Long Range" gun) that NKJ slicked himself .

This is what NKJ told me when I asked about swapping the hammer spring:
"The fire control parts for the Rossi is much like the original Winchester 92. The new Miroku Wins are nothing like the original.
If you reduce the hammer spring on the new ones they will probably miss fire.
The Miroku 92 has an inertia style 5-piece firing pin. Even with the hammer setting on it, this firing pin is too short to reach the primers. It requires the heavy rebounding hammer spring to slam it forward for consistent ignition and you will feel that heavy spring when levering the action.
Thanks,
Steve Young aka Nate Kiowa Jones Sass# 6765"

After I received this I found a comment he made on the SASS Wire back in 2017 to the effect that reliably fixing the stiff levering required replacing the hammer, trigger and firing pin, and their associated springs.