Rossi 92 or Henry Steel ?

[hemiram]

I have a Henry (.22) and shoot a friend's Henry .357, and I will be buying a Rossi. The Henry not having the loading gate is a major turnoff for me. My friend just got a Rossi, and it's very nice. It's shooting fine out of the box, and it just seems to point better than the Henry rifles I've shot.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Again I'm wondering why the gate is,so important? Like I said in my other post, loading the tube is faster. I don't find it to be a problem.

 

[bannockburn]

It's not so much that it's a problem, just that in a center fire lever action it's less traditional. I would go with a Rossi because a loading gate is what I want.

 

[ImperatorGray]

The Rossi's loading gate means you're not muzzling yourself any time you reload, and you can quickly top off the mag in the middle of shooting.

Also: How many of y'all who've had issues with Rossis have had them with recent production models? I haven't handled that many of the newer ones, but the few I have handled have all had excellent actions. The older ones have been very hit-or-miss, so I definitely wouldn't chance buying one over an auction site.

I've had no problems with the plastic follower or factory springs in the rifle I bought. My only complaint is that the follower is yellow and so looks... wrong. But I don't have to look at it very long at a time.

 

[Tommygunn]

The Rossi's loading gate means you're not muzzling yourself any time you reload, and you can quickly top off the mag in the middle of shooting.

Also: How many of y'all who've had issues with Rossis have had them with recent production models? I haven't handled that many of the newer ones, but the few I have handled have all had excellent actions. The older ones have been very hit-or-miss, so I definitely wouldn't chance buying one over an auction site.

I've had no problems with the plastic follower or factory springs in the rifle I bought. My only complaint is that the follower is yellow and so looks... wrong. But I don't have to look at it very long at a time.

I had problems with the plastic follower .... I'd heard they eventually tend to fray....and whether that's true or not they do "look wrong," and it was neither expensive or difficult to replace mine with a proper metal one...and I do like it much better despite the fact I rarely actually see it.

 

[kyron4]

Well, I decided I'm going to roll the dice and go with Rossi. Now to shop around and find one for the best price. Walmart has one for $530, but some online sources have them listed in the $470-$500 range, just out of stock, being told more are coming but not when. Any good leads online ?

 

[Blue1]

I bought a Rossi 92 in .454 Casull right before they became unavailable from the factory.

Some rough spots, but smooth action, somewhat picky with cartridges (I roll my own) but I love it.

But...the 92 Rossi is the only choice you have in .454 Casull, unless you want to spend $3K. The .357 is available in a number of models from Henry, and their customer service is legendary, their quality well above average.

You could have this and pass it along to multiple generations, I wouldn't even consider the couple hundred bucks up front. Go with the Henry.

 

[d'zaster]

I have a Rossi 92 .357 that was a piece of crap right out of the box. Lousy customer service (I won't bother to go into detail). I contacted Steve Young and bought his video and a few parts to slick it up. It was cool to do it myself and now I like the gun a lot but if I had it to do over, I would get the Henry. This is the last Rossi I will ever buy. Great to see that some guys got goods one.

 

[Mauser69]

A lever gun with a tube loading design is just a dumb design (in my personal opinion). I would not choose to own one, no matter what the brand. The loading gate is traditional, functional, and looks good to me. Loading an old western-style lever gun by thumbing cartridges into the loading gate just feels good.

I could even tolerate some of the guns with a removable bottom magazine (if it was appropriate for the model and the caliber required it), but NEVER a tube loader.

 

[DPris]

The side loading gate may be traditional, but it NEVER feels good to me.
Typically treats my thumb poorly in longer shooting sessions.
The mag tube causes no thumb wear & tear at all.
Denis

 

[JohnnyFlake]

No doubt that the Henry is a well made, reliable lever gun and it's made in the USA. If you choose to go with it, I am positive that you will be very happy. However, the Rossi 92 is much more traditional in style, also very well made and super reliable. I have a Model 92 with 20" barrel in .454 Casull. I have had it for four years now. I replaced the rear site and put on a Tang Style Peep Site. It shoots like a dream, .454 and 45 Colt. It is a bit fussy with .45 Colt non-jacketed cast bullets, but it's a minor issue. Never a problem with any jacketed or copper coated bullets.

 

[az_imuth]

I think you'll be happy with the Rossi. I've had a blast with mine. I don't think anyone mentioned the trigger, but my Rossi '92 has an excellent trigger.

 

[bannockburn]

az_imuth

Nice Rossi model 92! The wood on both the stock and forend looks great! The trigger on my Rossi carbine is also pretty decent without having any work done on it.

 

[ImperatorGray]

Yeah, that is gorgeous. Waaaaay nicer wood than what came on mine. Jealous.

 

[JohnnyFlake]

When I first got mine the furniture was kind of pale without much grain showing. I started to rub coats of English Oil on it, one coat early in the morning and one coat early evening, which gives each coat time to dry. After 10 days or so, I stopped applying the English Oil and let it set for a week or so, to dry. After that, I took a soft cotton towel and buffed the heck out of it. The grain came up nicely, the wood turned darker and it really looks great now.

 

[az_imuth]

Thanks...I just rubbed a coat of boiled linseed oil on it ever few days for a while and it seems like the dye, or whatever they had applied, came off a little with each coat. I know some have had trouble with the Rossi's, but I really don't have anything but positive to say in my own experience.

 

[H&R Glock]

My Rossi 38/357 was nothing but trouble, right out of the box.
Buy the Henry. I just bought a Henry and it is great.

 

[ImperatorGray]

When I first got mine the furniture was kind of pale without much grain showing. I started to rub coats of English Oil on it, one coat early in the morning and one coat early evening, which gives each coat time to dry. After 10 days or so, I stopped applying the English Oil and let it set for a week or so, to dry. After that, I took a soft cotton towel and buffed the heck out of it. The grain came up nicely, the wood turned darker and it really looks great now.

I tried Watco Danish on mine after seeing some results similar to yours. Sadly, the wood on my rifle has basically no side grain whatsoever to be brought out.

 

[TommyD45]

I have the big boy steel in 357 with the 20 inch barrel, and it is a favorite of mine.


My rifle cycles smoothly and feeds both 357 and 38 Special ammo.


The solid top receiver is drilled and tapped for a scope mount. I have used a weaver K4 scope for load development and accuracy testing. It now sports a Skinner Express aperture rear sight and a replacement front post. My aging eyes don't see the buckhorn sights like they used to, but the skinner gives excellent accuracy.


For a straight walled pistol cartridge, the rifle shoots quite accurately. My best load gives me 2 inch groups at 100 yards with the Hornady 158 gr. XTP-FP with the 4x scope. 1566 fps should be more than adequate for whitetail deer with this Bullet. The 357 is a hundred yard gun. These blunt Bullets start dropping like a stone after that.


This rifle does not have the external button or sliding safety that many complain about on the newer Marlins and winchesters. The Henry uses an internal hammer transfer bar. To make the gun safe, simply (carefully) lower the hammer from the full cock position as per the directions in the user manual.

Another nice feature is that the bolt can be easily removed and the barrel can be cleaned from the breech. The takedown procedure is the same as the marlin 1894. Just be careful not to lose the ejector.

What do I wish was different?


The rifle is a "soft ejector." The spent cases don't seem to eject as energetically as with my Winchester. If I don't pay attention and work the lever too gently, the case can hang up in the ejection port. If you cycle the lever briskly, the ejection reliable. The positive side of this is that the cases drop at your feet and you don't have to chase your brass all over the countryside.


Some people complain about the lack of a side loading port. The first rifle my father bought me as a young boy was a tube fed 22, so I'm quite comfortable with it. This a hunting and target gun, not a battle rifle that you would need to top off in the middle of the action. If you foresee situations that cannot be handled by the 10 round capacity, then pick another rifle.


All in all, I'm quite pleased with the Henry big boy steel and I would buy it again.

 

[dh1633pm]

I have a Rossi 92 in 45 colt. My dad has a Henry in 45 Colt. Some observations, some already mentioned.

I took my Rossi apart and smooth up the parts and replaced some springs. It is now as smooth as the Henry. It wasn't too hard. I hated the shiny stainless finish so I applied a matt finish. It isn't often that you have to take a brand new rifle apart to fix its defects.

I can load to a longer length for the Rossi than for the Henry.

The Henry has pretty slick action right out the box. I do not like the tube for loading.

The Rossi is lighter.

I don't like the Henry as much because its not an original anything. But it is well designed and does work well.

 

[kyron4]

Can anything de done to the Henry to get more positive ejection ? I notice too, in some videos that the case just barely fall out of the gun and if not worked fast or the rifle was slightly tilted the case didn't clear the gun.

 

[HoosierQ]

One word regarding the Henry Steel: Heavy.

 

[cosh]

I wanted to carry a lever carbine in mt terrain, went Rossi. Henry was more $$ and about 3# heavier. Henry models sure look nice though. I'd hang it on a wall and it would collect dust. I will use the Rossi more.

 

[TomJ]

I have the Henry Big Boy in 38/357. It's been flawless, and has been a joy to shoot. While I've heard from many Rossi owners who've had good experiences, the quality and service scale seems to tip towards Henry.

 

[Average Joe]

I got the Rossi , perfect out of the box.