Skinner Sights' Bush Pilot Carbine Survival Kit

DOWN RANGE

- Mike Venturino

Being fond of carbines in general and levergun variants especially, I was intrigued when handed a Chiappa Model 1892 takedown .44 Remington Magnum with a 161⁄2-inch barrel and a weight of five pounds. It was an attractive levergun with perfectly smooth functioning.

By comparison with rifles in Winchester’s catalogs back at the turn of the nineteenth century, this Chiappa would be more properly classed as a short rifle. Winchester’s carbines had lightweight, round barrels, bands securing the forearm and magazine to the barrel, front sights brazed on the barrel, no forearm tip and their own special, slightly curved buttplate.

Chiappa’s .44 Magnum only borrowed that latter item from vintage Winchester carbines. Its barrel is fully octagonal, .75 inch across its flats. There is a steel forearm cap and buttplate. All metal parts, aside from the front sights, have what are referred to as a “stainless hard chrome” finish. The red, fiber-optic front sight is dovetailed to the barrel. The rear sight is a barrel-mounted peep fully adjustable for windage. Both are products of Skinner Sights (www. skinnersights.com).