It would make sense to me that before the Model 1896 was released for production, that "built-in" conversions were made when producing rifles with some existing '92 parts instead of throwing them away or using for repairs. I have no basis for this "transition" theory. But why not use these parts up when production needs seemed to be somewhat great at the time? Makes financial sense. Perhaps some future evidence will cement this concept. For now, I'm keeping an open mind.