I should’ve been a cowboy! As a child of the 1950’s, I grew up on a steady diet of westerns. One of my favorites was “The Rifleman” with Chuck Connors portraying Lucas McCain with his customized large loop Winchester 92. 

Ever since, I’ve had a fondness for the pistol-calibered lever guns, and when I saw the Heritage 92 lever gun at the 2024 SHOT Show I placed an order for a test and evaluation sample, chambered in .45 Colt, with a 16.5-inch barrel and large loop lever. 

All in a Name: Heritage 92 Lever Gun

If you’re not familiar, Taurus now owns the Rossi and Heritage Manufacturing companies. We’ve previously seen 92 clones with the Rossi brand on them. Laura Prieto, Taurus Media professional, explained the Old West lever guns make a better fit for the Heritage Manufacturing line, along with rimfire single-actions and shotguns. Suppressor-ready, Picatinny-railed, synthetic-stocked 92 carbines bear the Rossi name.

The Heritage 92 carbines, manufactured at their facility in Brazil, comprise very well-finished and fitted clones of the Winchester 92. My sample displays a high degree of polish, a deep black finish and really nice wood-to-metal fit. It’s a handsome carbine and on the right side of the buttstock, just above the toe, is the Heritage Manufacturing brand burned into the stock. I presume the wood walnut; it features straight and tight grain, finished with a matte sealant.

One modern concession Heritage makes to the original 92 design is the incorporation of a manual safety on the top rear of the receiver. Rotating it fully counterclockwise, covering the red dot, engages the safety, thereby mechanically blocking the firing pin. This safety can be engaged while the hammer is in its half-cock or full-cock positions.

But perhaps the most notable feature of this particular rifle is its large loop. For me it brings back memories of John Wayne in “Stagecoach” or “True Grit” or the opening credits of “The Rifleman” with Chuck Connors levering rounds unbelievably fast through his 92. It looks as cool as it is impractical! More on this later. 

History 101

At the behest of Winchester Arms, prolific gun designer John Moses Browning created a prototype of the pistol-caliber carbine in under a month. Put into production in 1892, the newest Winchester made a world of sense to the cowpoke that wanted a carbine chambered for the same round as the six-gun on his hip. Increased range and accuracy are the advantages of chambering a long gun for a pistol caliber. 

In my opinion, shorter is better for these handy little guns. I don’t see the need for a 20-24-inch rifle chambered for a pistol cartridge. If I’m going to pack this much iron, I want it to fire a heavier cartridge with the intent on using it for a long-range shot. A short rifle with iron sights in a lightweight and easy recoiling cartridge is ideal for use in a vehicle or tight hallways where heavier guns are unwieldy and where shots are under 50 yards. My Heritage 92, with its 16.5-inch barrel is only 33.20 inches long and weighs a feathery 5½ pounds. The gun balances perfectly just in front of the lever, and carrying the 92 with one hand is effortless. 

Gunsite Tested

As luck would have it, my test sample arrived shortly before I was headed to an event at Gunsite. For the uninitiated, Gunsite was founded by retired Marine Corps Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper in 1976. Starting with just 250 acres of land, Cooper’s mission was to train responsible armed citizens, as well as military and law enforcement officials. Today Gunsite is the oldest and largest, with over 3,200 acres, privately owned training facility. Its sprawling campus includes classrooms, campgrounds, multiple ranges, shoot houses and field courses. If you’re serious about training Gunsite should be at the top of your list. 

On my first day at Gunsite I set up my DOA Tactical shooting bench on the South range and sighted in the Heritage 92. Adjusting the sight involved elevating the rear buckhorn sight by utilizing the sight’s ladder mechanism. No windage correction was needed.

Aiding me in shooting small groups was the 92’s excellent trigger. My test gun’s trigger broke crisply and consistently with 3¾ pounds of pressure. The brass bead on the front sight is also helpful in defining the sight and filling the bucket portion of the buckhorn rear sight. 

Accuracy Results

Running Gunsite’s Military Crest Course

My single best 50-yard group measured under 1½ inches and was produced by a handload consisting of WW231 powder and a Laser-Cast 250-grain LRNFP bullet moving at 984 feet per second. Winchester’s Cowboy Action 250-grain LFP also produced a very nice group measuring 1.84 inches, though it is a very slow-moving bullet. I opted to use my handloads when we fired the Military Crest course. 

The term Military Crest describes the area in front of, or downhill from, the crest of a topographical feature. Troops maneuver along this area and it prevents them from being highlighted or spotted against the sky from the reverse slope. Gunsite’s Military Crest course features a rugged path through desert and Juniper scrub with steel targets set out at distances between 150 and 300 yards. The shooter not only needs to visually spot the target but also estimate the distance and apply the appropriate elevation to score a successful hit.

Using the 16-inch .45 Colt was a bit of a handicap, but I found that if I could spot my hit in the dirt, I could keep the front sight on the target and lower the bucket of the Buckhorn sight until it matched the impact spot, I could get my hits. Later we shot Gunsite’s Scrambler course, which is designed to test the shooters’ ability to use whatever available support and improvised field positions to score hits on targets out to 150 yards. At this distance, I usually just placed the front sight at the top of the target and squeezed off a shot. I don’t remember a position where it took me more than two shots to score a hit. 

Large Loop Liability

I think everyone, including me, thinks the large loop looks very cool, but it was in Gunsite’s Playhouse shoot house that I discovered it to be a liability. In terms of speed, the large loop will give you a distinct disadvantage. Our rangemaster for the Gunsite event was Lew Gosnell, a veteran Marine and career law enforcement officer in southern California.

Gosnell also happens to be the winner of the very first End of Trail match and knows a thing or three about shooting six-guns and lever rifles. In his estimation, my time between shots would have been cut in half had the carbine been fitted with a standard loop lever. So, I guess the question you have to ask yourself is do you prefer to look cool or be fast? Fortunately, Heritage offers the 92 with a standard loop, too. The 92’s short length made it handy while working through the Playhouse’s tight hallways and doorframes.

Saved Rounds: Heritage 92 Lever Gun

Over the course of two days, I managed to put 300 rounds through the Heritage 92 lever gun without a hiccup. Rounds fed smoothly from the tubular magazine and extracted and ejected without issue. The little carbine exhibited better than expected accuracy and was just plain fun to shoot. Its light weight and wonderful balance made carrying the gun easy, especially while walking the Military Crest where my concentration was better spent on my footing. Heritage Manufacturing’s clone of the famous Winchester 92 will give their owners a traditional western flavor while serving as a home or RV defense gun or all-around use truck gun.

Heritage 92 Specs

• Caliber: .45 Colt
• Operation: Lever Action
• Capacity: 8
• Overall Length: 33.20 inches
• Overall Weight: 5 1/2 pounds
• Barrel: 16.5-inch, 1:24 RH, 6 Grooves
• Stocks: Wood
• Sights: Adjustable Buckhorn Rear, Brass Bead Front
• Finish: Polished Black
• Safeties: Hammer Half-Cock, Manual Thumb Safety
• MSRP: $863.99