Light mount on Browning 92

[Malamute]

The subject was addressed in the past, I started a new thread for what I came up with. My objective was to make as clean and unobtrusive light mount as I could. The common Weaver/Picatinny bases give more widget options, but I was only interested in a basic light. I used a single base for Ruger rings. The base is more compact than other types. I had the base milled to match the mag tube diameter, and thinned to be as low profile as seemed practical, and silver soldered to the tube. I used the 9:00 position, it gives easy access to the tail button on the light, and doesn't interfere with the sling at all. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. The light shines on the front sight, I'm not sure if I like that or not (leaning towards not), but the plan is to one day shorten the barrel 3", so that may take care of it. The light is an older Surefire 6P.

[Blaine]

I wish I knew of a good light that would default to strobe mode when turned on.....

[AJMD429]

For my 'do it all' or 'go-to' guns, I've come down to my self-labeled 'Night Scout' leverguns, and the first one I made was a .357 Mag Marlin, since that's what I had available. Then I wanted a larger-hole maker for inside-the-house use for my wife, and had a .45 Colt Rossi, so I used the '92 clone' to make that one. BOTH are nice and work well day or night. I wanted to make a .44 Mag one so I'd have all the 'pistol calibers' but in the process of making one out of my old .44 Mag Marlin, I converted it to .45 Colt just because I always wanted a .45 Colt in the Marlin action (which I do like better than the Rossi/Winchester one), and came across a $100 barrel with which to do so.

So - I have used both the 1894 and the 1892 actions as my primary/utility rifles around the home/farm, and both work well. Ease and flexibility of the sight-mounting is the strength of the Marlin, plus fewer parts that seem less individually-fitted. I'll likely not wear out any of my 92's during my lifetime though (but I do dread losing a small part if and when I actually need to take one apart totally).

Here's my three 'Night Scouts':

The first one - .357 Mag Marlin 1894 - http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... =1&t=23531



The second one - .45 Colt Rossi 1892 - http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... =1&t=31062



The third one - .44 Mag (at first) Marlin 1894 - http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... =1&t=40663


The second picture is without the light attached (same light can go on any of the above). Folks snicker at the non-traditional sights and 'clumsy' light, but for ME it is far better than a night-sighted AR-15 for the kinds of varmints we deal with on the farm. A fancy EBR AR-15 with bulky night-sights would cost more than all three of these leverguns put together, and require hearing protectors if I dared actually fire it; I'm NOT going to go out to check the livestock wearing hearing protectors, and I want something light, compact, and durable, that won't shoot 2 miles if I did do the bad thing and take a poor-backstop shot and miss.

This was shot with the above .357 at midnight at 50 yards...


Without the 'light' all three setups are pretty compact and handy.

The .357's light mount just 'snaps' on and off, as it is made of plastic electric conduit.


I actually DO have a similarly-set up (for 'night' use) Ruger 10/22 that does work well when I know the only varmint I may encounter is a raccoon in the chicken-coop, but for coyotes or 2-legged predators I'd want one of the leverguns.


Again, it "looks funny" and reminds me of the geeked-out stuff you see guys set up who don't actually shoot anything but imaginary zombies, but it has accounted for many, many possums and raccoons and feral canines at ranges out to 75 yards that I encountered at night, and would never have been able to humanely eliminate (one shot kills 90% of the time, rapid followup easy if needed) with ANY other setup I've tried. The lights I use are now Lowe's building supply store bought 'Coast' brand LED ones that I lock on 'spot' instead of 'flood' (by positioning the front 30mm ring so it keeps the sliding lens forward), and at 500 lumens for the larger-bell ones, or 280 lumens for the more compact ones, they will make a raccoon easy to see at 100 yards).

While if you can afford it, I'd keep an EBR around, since they do have more 'firepower' and are definitely going to appreciate in value as trade items, your choice of an 1892-clone levergun is PERFECT for most real-world scenarios right now. As to the Marlin vs. Winchester/clone, (or don't forget Henry, Savage, Ruger, etc...), both work fine. The 92's are probably 'slicker' and the Marlins are easier to put different sights on.

[K1500]

Neat install, but you may have messed up your plan to shorten the barrel. I believe you shorten the barrel from the front and the mag tube from the back. That would #1 put your silver soldered mount well into the forend and #2 not change the distance between the light and front sight (thus it would still shine on the sight).

[AJMD429]

I wish I knew of a good light that would default to strobe mode when turned on.....

With some of them, unsoldering and resoldering a wire in the switch area might suffice. I've done it on one that alternated between 'laser' and 'flashlight' mode. If it is an internal 'chip' thing, though, you may be out of luck.

Neat install, but you may have messed up your plan to shorten the barrel. I believe you shorten the barrel from the front and the mag tube from the back. That would #1 put your silver soldered mount well into the forend and #2 not change the distance between the light and front sight (thus it would still shine on the sight).

IF you intend to still use your iron sights, having a bit of light on the front bead may not be a bad thing. I have that on my Saiga.

[Blaine]

I wish I knew of a good light that would default to strobe mode when turned on.....

With some of them, unsoldering and resoldering a wire in the switch area might suffice. I've done it on one that alternated between 'laser' and 'flashlight' mode. If it is an internal 'chip' thing, though, you may be out of luck.

Neat install, but you may have messed up your plan to shorten the barrel. I believe you shorten the barrel from the front and the mag tube from the back. That would #1 put your silver soldered mount well into the forend and #2 not change the distance between the light and front sight (thus it would still shine on the sight).

IF you intend to still use your iron sights, having a bit of light on the front bead may not be a bad thing. I have that on my Saiga.

If "I" took it apart, it would never work again.... My friends intervene if they think I'm about to pick up tools....

[AJMD429]

If "I" took it apart, it would never work again.... My friends intervene if they think I'm about to pick up tools....

Same here - it's always good to have friends to keep you from hurting yourself. I once completely destroyed a probably-easily-fixable washing machine by trying to fix it myself. . .

[Blaine]

https://www.nebotools.com/prod_details. ... 274&cid=26

I've had a couple of their cheaper, less powerful models for a few years.....I highly recommend them. This new one had a selector switch so you can start out in Strobe Mode without cycling through 4 other modes.....

[Malamute]

Neat install, but you may have messed up your plan to shorten the barrel. I believe you shorten the barrel from the front and the mag tube from the back. That would #1 put your silver soldered mount well into the forend and #2 not change the distance between the light and front sight (thus it would still shine on the sight).

I took that into consideration. Yes, normally the rear of the tube is simplest to shorten, but theres another part of the equation, the Browning 92's have a recoil block either soldered or welded to the mag tube that rotates into a milled recess in the bottom of the barrel an inch or so from the rear end, so it isn't as simple of a mag tube shorten as those without that. With the proper equipment, shortening the tube from the front isn't too big of an issue. As it is, the light is in a very handy location for activating with the hand in shooting position.

The desirability of the light illuminating the sight may depend on how bright the light is. It's a lot of glare with mine. The sight has a spot of orange paint on it also, which may make it glare more. A small shade on the light may help with that. I messed with the light some to see if I liked it on the sight, it isn't too bad with the sight not lit up, it shows up pretty well as a dark sight against the lit up target area. Time and more use will tell.

[AJMD429]

Yeah, you might try various different lights, actually; some are more 'flood' and some more 'spot'. The Coast LED-Lenser 7's I have used are variable, and you can make it a tight enough beam that there is very little scatter. I wound up putting the light under the barrel more often anyway, though, because I like the red-dot sights for nocturnal use.