HI < I am new to this site. I have a 1892 winchester 44-40 John Wayne Comm. I would like to know if I can re-chamber it for a .454 Casull. And will it handle the pressure? and if so I am assuming I can also shoot .45 Colt. Any help??

It would require more than a simple re chamber, the barrel would have to be changed.. And yes 45 Colts can be fired in a 454 chamber safely. A 45 Colt with the +P loadings that are available when shot from a rifle would certainly be equal to a 454 fired from a revolver.
Your proposal would be rather costly, but possible

NO! The metallurgy of original Winchester '92s isn't up to the pressure of the .454 Casull. Many of these converted to .44 Magnum had issues with setting back the locking lugs and recesses, and the .44 operates at 15-20,000 PSI less pressure than the Casull.

He does not own an original he owns a Commemorative

I didn't pick up on the 44-40 when I scanned this post the first time. Your talking about 2 different bore sizes. The 44-40 has a smaller bore than 45 Colts or 454 Casull's. jwp hit the nail on the head you would have to have the whole barrel changed or you could drill out the bore and put in a liner. You can check those out at Brownell's.

I've done lots of 22 long rifle liners and see their offered by Brownell's in 45 caliber for straight wall cases, but though they might be fine for a low pressure cartridge such as the 45 Colt I don't think I would recommend them for the pressures a 454 makes. They are either epoxied or silver soldered in place then chambered.

As far as your rifle handling the pressure that I couldn't tell you about, I've never done much gunsmithing on lever guns.

I can't speak to the OP,not enough knowledge.

BUT...........would like to make one "small" point. With a loading like the Casull working at (up to)65,000psi,personally,I'd be very careful what firearm(action) I stuffed one of them little bombs in.

I own two .454 Casull's and I load both pretty hot. That's 'lotta power to escape somewhere other than down the bbl. -----pruhdlr

My suggestion: If you want a .454 Casull, trade or sale your .44-40 and buy a new rifle in .454. Your present rifle would not be suitable for conversion as the .454 produces a lot more chamber pressure than the .44-40 WCF. Lots of these old Winchester M-92's were chambered for the .44 Magnum. Your 1892 winchester 44-40 John Wayne Comm. is a collector's item.

From what I understand, the short answer would be no. If I remember correctly, the John Wayne was produced by Miroku in Japan and has never been chambered for a round with pressures higher than the .44 mag. The only factory produced lever in .454 is by Rossi of Brazil. Word is that they did a lot of work with the metallurgy to get it to stay together. They also made several modifications to the feed tube. The safest, simplest and least expensive route is to sell the John Wayne and buy a Rossi.

Blackhawk44 is right. Your Winchester wouldn't be able to withstand the pressure of the 454 casull magnum. Most didn't believe that Rossi could make a 92 rifle that could but they did. Keep the Winchester JW 92 and buy a Rossi made LSI 454 Puma 92 rifle. Have an action job done by someone who has a lot of experience with the Rossi 92 rifles.


GC