Custom Rossi Finally Works.

[Michael Tinker Pearce]

For those that have not followed the saga of my Rossi M68 here it is in a nutshell-

My wife Linda has tried out a lot of guns over the years, and since her favorite gun ever was a revolver it made sense to set her up with one. To that end we bought her an inexpensive used Rossi M68, a part-for-part clone of the S&W Model 60. Before I got around to it she settled on something else, however, and the Rossi was 'surplus to need.' I decided to make it into a CC gun for myself.

I shortened the barrel from 4" to 2-1/4", fabricated a new front-sight with a red plastic insert and made a set of custom walnut grips. I also disassembled the gun and cleaned it out thoroughly and gave it a trigger-job. It came out pretty slick, and I was very pleased... until I took it to the range. It was unreliable- inconsistent ignition. OK, well enough. I replaced the mainspring and firing pin with Model 60 parts and took it back to the range. Still had ignition problems. Bugger. OK, I added a helper spring to the mainspring. It didn't- help, that is. Double bugger.

Finally I noticed that the firing-pin bushing was not so much round, but a big irregular oval. The was allowing the firing pin to strike off-center. Apparently the previous owner killed about a billion TV bad-guys dry-firing it. OK, another order from Numerich and I replaced the bushing. I took it to the range today to determine two things. Will it work? Yes, yes it will. The second question (since I basically guessed how tall the sight should be) was does it shoot near enough to point-of-aim? Yes, yes it does. Marvelous!

The double-action trigger pull is very heavy, but very, very smooth. I'm going to do some experimenting to see if the helper spring is needed, so there is a lot of room to improve that. Accuracy is quite acceptable at seven yards- below is a 7 yard target fired single-action to determine if the gun shoots to point of aim.

Nothing to be upset about there. Looks like the Rossi is finally ready for prime-time!

 

[chicharrones]

Another good save, MTP.

 

[bannockburn]

Tinker

Good work! I love it when you can take something that someone else has messed up and save it from the scrap heap. I had an older Model 88 (back when they were imported by Interarms), that was a great gun for the money.

 

[Tallball]

Good job!

 

[Michael Tinker Pearce]

Tinker

Good work! I love it when you can take something that someone else has messed up and save it from the scrap heap. I had an older Model 88 (back when they were imported by Interarms), that was a great gun for the money.

This was one of the older Interarms imports also.

 

[bannockburn]

Tinker

When I bought my Model 88 I was suitably impressed by the quality of the overall fit and finish of the gun and for the fact that at the time S&W didn't make something like this (that is a stainless steel J frame size .38 Special with a 3" barrel and an adjustable rear sight).

 

[MedWheeler]

Good deal. I just recently picked up an old Interarms 68 as well. I'm very impressed with its lockup and slick action, but I have not yet shot it. It's got some finish wear and some light rust along the front and back straps. It also has a barrel that's right about 2 1/2 inches; I'm assuming that was done by the importer.
It's a neat-feeling gun; fits my hand remarkably well..

 

[Michael Tinker Pearce]

I don't have experience with the new Rossi since Taurus bought them out, but back in the 80's they were definitely the class of the 'lesser brand' revolvers. I'd love to see someone do a J-frame sized gun with a 3" heavy barrel lug (like an L-Frame has,) an adjustable sight and a decent size (but still concealable) grip. Wood, not neoprene; I don't like the way neoprene can grap at clothes and cause the gun to print.

I made a very nice pancake holster for this gun that hides it quite well under even an un-tucked shirt, but since I made it that belt wore out and I have started wearing a 2" wide belt that doesn't fit through the slots on the holster. Next time I have a bit of extra leather I'll need to make a new one with wider belt-slots. People really don't make many narrow belts stiff enough to hold a holster properly.

 

[Crowman]

Cool! Good to see a successful project to completion. Mine was building a lightweight Commander from parts. All fitting was by hand.

As to gun belts, I wear a Galco 1-1/4" dress belt in narrow belt loops and a Galco 1-1/2" gun belt in regular belt loops for every day wear. These are double layer leather belts. Got four...two for town clothes, two for every day wear.

Both do very well holding a 386 Night Guard in a Galco open top pancake, and two ammo carriers. They also work with a S&W 629 short barrel Performance Center revolver carried in a N-frame size Galco pancake and two ammo carriers. I've worn both to Home Depot and Walmart under a western vest and sport coat, comfortably.

Now I do wear Duluth Trading Co. button tab suspenders in addition to the gunbelts to keep my breeches up. 1-1/4" suspenders for town clothes, 2" for every day. I don't "go to town" often.

 

[Michael Tinker Pearce]

I should probably invest in a proper double-layer gun belt. I had a nice Bianchi unit for years but I, er, outgrew it... never quite got around to replacing it.