New Lever gun, experiences with Taylor&Co?

[DeadEye9]

Well I decided I have enough ARs for now so decided to get another lever gun. I got in touch with Taylor's &Co with the intention of ordering another 1892 based action in the form of an Alaskan take-down in .44 Mag. After browsing their products and talking with them about pricing though I went a different route. I am now the soon to be proud owner of a new Ridge Runner in .45-70 made by Chiappa. It is a Winchester 1886 style action with an 18.5" threaded barrel, synthetic rubber overmold stock and standard Tube mag. I ordered the all black version with a semi-octagonal barrel and standard loop. (Stock photo above)
I don't do much hunting with .45-70 these days, but I just love the cartridge and when I saw this particular configuration I jumped on it. I've always wanted a shorter lever gun in a powerful cartridge, hoping to one day get a Mares leg or something similar, so this was right up my alley.
Does Anyone here have some experiences, good or bad, with this brand of firearms or Taylors & Co? This is my first experience with either. I've shot one of the funky Rhino .357 Mag revolvers at the range before, but other than that I know nothing about Chiappa and have never ordered from Taylor's before today. I'm also not a lever gun Pro, I just enjoy shooting them and have a few in my collection so I'm always willing to take feedback from those more knowledgeable. Currently for lever guns I have:
Marlin 336 .30-30
Rossi R92 .45 LC
Savage 99s in .300 Savage
Savage 99 in .250 Savage
Henry Wildlife Edition .45-70
Browning BLR in .338 Win mag
I've spent most of my "rifle money" lately on AR builds and now want to get back to some beautiful wood and steel. (Although in this case more black plastic and steel haha)
As always any input/feedback is appreciated.

 

[CraigC]

I haven't ordered one yet but the new Chiappa 92's are very interesting to me because they're supposed to have a faster twist barrel that puts heavy bullets on the menu.

 

[bannockburn]

DeadEye9

No experience with Chiappa Arms but I really like the look of the "updated" Model 1886!

 

[WestKentucky]

Looks nice enough but I want walnut on my levers. Give us a range report when you put it through its paces.

 

[Hastings]

I had a Chiappa / Taylors modle 92 357mag takedown rifle for a while. Beautiful rifle to look at. Color case hardening was beautiful and it shot well, but was finicky about what ammo it would feed. I found that as interesting as the take-down feature sounded in theory, I actually didn't like it at all in practice. I couldn't help but feel that every time I broke down the rifle it would ding up the threads just a bit and eventually it would get sloppy. Maybe that's foolishness, but if you don't need the take-down option why pay for it. I guess the take-down feature makes more sense in a 45-70 since it is a cartridge you would more likely use on out-of-state hunts where the feature would be beneficial for travel.

I sold the rifle to someone locally. They were unhappy with how it fed and had a gunsmith give it a once-over. The gunsmith said it was horrible on the inside (referring to how ruff everything was). I never disassembled the rifle because I didn't want to run the risk of damaging the finish, so this was news to me but made sense given what I have heard from some owners: Beautiful exterior finish, but frequently sub-standard interior finish with lots of rough milling marks and burrs. Might be different on the 1886 models, or newer rifles, so don't go on my info alone.

Now, if I could find the same rifle in 45colt, without the takedown feature, I'd buy it and keep it even if I had to put money into spiffing up the interior. Really beautiful rifle looking and handling rifle. Love the curved steel butt-plate (also color case-hardened) and the slight sweep to the straight stock. I could take or leave the octagonal barrel. Lighter is better in my book, so round would save some weight.

Here are a bunch of pictures of the rifle. As I mentioned, I never disassembled the rifle or I would have included internal shots as well. Hope this all helps and would love to see pics if you end up getting the rifle.

 

[Ibmikey]

I have a Chiappia 92 SRC in 44-40 that i used for cowboy shooting for a number of years and many thousands of rounds of ammo. The rifle had a large loop when i bought it from Cimarron arms but I quickly changed that to a standard loop, first using an old Win 92 lever and later i ordered a case color one from the factory. In my experience the large loop was much slower than a standard.
I never have had a problem with the rifle, feeding it a steady diet of reloaded 44-40 ammo, the carbine is dead on accurate and i changed the rear sight to a Marbles full buckhorn for cowboy shooting.

 

[bannockburn]

Hastings

Not to get off track but Rossi shows that they have a Model 92 with a 20" octagonal barrel and color case hardened/blued finish in .45 Colt. I saw one at a gun show awhile back and it looked very nice though I didn't have a chance to examine it in depth. If I didn't already have a Rossi Model 92 carbine i would consider getting this particular model.

 

[Stony]

I don't have much experience with Taylors, but have found trying to get parts from them can be exasperating. I sort of get the impression that they don't know what the next shipment of parts is going to be and it's just a wait and see sort of thing. They take backorders but for some parts you'll never hear from them again. If they don't have it in stock you are just basically out of luck.

 

[Speedo66]

I don't have much experience with Taylors, but have found trying to get parts from them can be exasperating. I sort of get the impression that they don't know what the next shipment of parts is going to be and it's just a wait and see sort of thing. They take backorders but for some parts you'll never hear from them again. If they don't have it in stock you are just basically out of luck.

Taylor's no doubt gets their parts from Uberti's, who makes the gun for them, so they're stuck with Uberti's parts distribution. They probably don't have any idea when parts will arrive.

Similar parts situation for brands who sold rifles made by Rossi.

 

[Stony]

Taylor's gets guns and parts from Pietta. I was trying to get some to fit an Armi Sport musket which is made by Pietta...but no luck and not much hope. I would imagine Uberti is one of their suppliers too..

 

[roscoe]

It is a shame the taketown feature is not easier to work with. Having a 16" takedown lever rifle is my dream, but only if it really practical.

 

[Hastings]

I hope I didn't give the impression that the take-down feature was overly difficult. It's actually pretty simple to do. If the ability to break it down like that for transport is important to you, I would highly recommend one of these rifles. I didn't like the take-down process for the reasons I stated above, and I also didn't like that the take-down lever rattled a bit during normal use. Just the way it was designed I guess. My 20" M92 is short enough for my purposes without a take-down feature.

I'd encourage you to give one a try. Just check the thing over very well before you buy it if it's used. If the take-down process isn't done with care and attention to the threads I could see them getting buggered up something good in short order. If you're careful and only do it when necessary it would probably last longer than any of us.

Good luck, and please post pics if and when you get yours.

 

[Ibmikey]

Bannokburn, Since the OP was asking about Chiappia rifles i feel that with reference to your comments on Rossi rifles it should be noted there is no comparison to the workmanship of the Chiappia 1892 and the Rossi. The Italian rifle is more closely compared to an original Winchester and in fact some Winchester parts ( if not all) will interchange. The fit and finish is so much better than the Rossi that it makes the Rossi look like it is a much lesser product.
I have all three, original, Chiappia and Rossi.

 

[Acera]

Since the new gun already has a threaded barrel, you might check out the .45-70 Whisper round in it. Hopefully wait times for a can will come down, or go away completely in the next few months.

http://sskindustries.com/45-70-whisper-2/




.

 

[CraigC]

Bannokburn, Since the OP was asking about Chiappia rifles i feel that with reference to your comments on Rossi rifles it should be noted there is no comparison to the workmanship of the Chiappia 1892 and the Rossi. The Italian rifle is more closely compared to an original Winchester and in fact some Winchester parts ( if not all) will interchange. The fit and finish is so much better than the Rossi that it makes the Rossi look like it is a much lesser product.
I have all three, original, Chiappia and Rossi.

That's reassuring.

 

[35 Whelen]

Have

I don't have much experience with Taylors, but have found trying to get parts from them can be exasperating. I sort of get the impression that they don't know what the next shipment of parts is going to be and it's just a wait and see sort of thing. They take backorders but for some parts you'll never hear from them again. If they don't have it in stock you are just basically out of luck.

Have you checked with VTI Gun Parts?

35W

 

[bannockburn]

Ibmikey

Just to clarify: what I wrote about a particular Rossi rifle was directed to member Hastings and his experiences with his Chiappa Model 92. He had mentioned that he would like to find another Model 92 without the takedown feature. That's when I mentioned the Rossi as a possible alternative. My comments were not directed to the OP or had nothing to do with the overall perceived quality of Chiappa rifles as compared to Rossi rifles.

 

[Ibmikey]

No attempt to step on toes just wanted the OP to understand the Chiappia and Rossi are two very different rifles in terms of quality materials and assembly.

 

[Stony]

Have you checked with VTI Gun Parts?

Will do...thanks