Rossi lever guns

[defjon]

How are the r92 lever guns by rossi?

A buddy has one with a stainless finish in 44 mag. I fired some specials out of it.

Ashamed to admit, I couldn't hit squat! I was better with my six inch l frame.

But, I think with a little practice and sighting it in for me maybe one in 357 could be fun.

Are they decent? Any issues?

Thanks!

 

[NorthBorder]

I have 2. .45LC AND 44 MAG. Both are carbines and at the bench they can beat you up a little. These are knock around guns that I carry into the Nat'l Forest, I don't really know what kinda accuracy they are capable of . As far as functionality they have never been a concern. You should get one.

 

[Barbaroja]

I’ve spent the last week thinking about getting one myself. Read a lot of good stuff about them. Hard to beat the price. The one im thinking about is a blued version In 357

 

[Roverguy]

Accuracy with mine in 45 Colt is excellent as is its willingness to feed virtually any ammunition and bullet profile. Buckhorn sights take some getting used to or reacquainting if it’s been a while. Can’t say I love the finish they put on the rainforest mystery wood, but it can be easily refinished and there are some nice examples.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

I have one in 45 colt stainless. I like it. It's fun to shoot. I put a scout scope on it. With the quick release rings.

 

[PapaG]

I have the Rio Grande in 45-70. It is a handful. I’m getting ready to load some 300 grain cast at about 1350 fps to tame it down a bit. Functional, it is. Since I have no bears, lions, moose or elephants on my land, I’m backing down. For 357, my old Win 92 I had converted in the sixties, 44, my Marlin. I like levers of the traditional style.

 

[js8588]

Accuracy with mine in 45 Colt is excellent as is its willingness to feed virtually any ammunition and bullet profile. Buckhorn sights take some getting used to or reacquainting if it’s been a while. Can’t say I love the finish they put on the rainforest mystery wood, but it can be easily refinished and there are some nice examples.

What's kept me from picking one up in 45 is I've heard they won't feed hot loaded 325 grain hard cast etc

 

[Beck]

I don't have any firsthand knowledge with the current new Rossi lever guns, but the Rossi 92 in 357 Mag I have from the 1990s imported by InterArms is top notch. I can recommend those. They are pre-Braztech but post-problematic that some were from the 1980s. My old Rossi 92 is smooth and very accurate. If you run across one used in great condition I can recommend those.

 

[doubleh]

I like mine. With certain handloads and using a tang mounted peep sight i have manage 1 1/2" groups off of sandbags. I did install the spring kit from Steve'sgunz and it became much more user friendly.

 

[oldschool45]

Love my R92 in 357! No real issues, feedgate had sharp edges that I stoned for my comfort. I reload and have had no feed issues with everything from mousefart 38specials to max charges of Win296 in full house 357. I put a Sig reddot on it and its a favorite range gun,

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

I would like to step up my loads in 45 colt for mine. Somewhere between standard and Ruger T/C loads. But im hesitant.

 

[George Dickel]

I've owned 3 of them. Two in 357 Mag and a 44 Mag and still have one in 357. The 357 rifles are accurate, especially the first one I owned and foolishly sold. The 44 Mag was terribly inaccurate. Never could figure out it's problem so it went on down the road. All three had the 24" Octagonal barrel as I shoot metallic silhouette and the long sight radius is what I wanted for that extra bit of accuracy.

 

[Roverguy]

What's kept me from picking one up in 45 is I've heard they won't feed hot loaded 325 grain hard cast etc

Ah. In that you may be right. Can’t say I’ve ever tried to run a bullet that heavy in the Rossi. That will be a wallop!

 

[21H40]

I love mine. The steel has some sharp edges - I had to do some careful edge clean-up on the butt plate because it cut me the first time I used it. The feed gate is also a little stiff, but the internet has lots of ideas for helping with that.

I like the red dot, too. Those buckhorn sights were NOT helpful for me.

 

[js8588]

Ah. In that you may be right. Can’t say I’ve ever tried to run a bullet that heavy in the Rossi. That will be a wallop!

I run em in my Redhawk. Lots of fun.

 

[Bazoo]

I have experience with 3 that belong to friends. All three are current production and in 357 magnum. Of the three, one is fine. The others show bad bulging at the case web when using magnum level loads. One of those is so bad that the brass will not size down enough to then rechamber. My buddy sent it back to Rossi, and they are going to put another barrel on it, when one arrives from Brazil. The second one, owned by the same friend, bulges cases but not so far down that they cant be resized. Neither gun showed the bulging with 38 special level loads. This is due to a huge throat cut into the chamber to facilitate feeding.

All three guns are heavy sprung and sharp as a razor on the edge of the loading gate opening. But that is easily remedied by a competent person with a few hours and some elbow grease and some fine sandpaper.

The gun that has the worst bulging problem, is the one we shot the most, and it was accurate at 25 yards. I did about an inch with it, offhand without much effort. Sorry as it was in other ways, it fed well and it was pretty smooth right out of the box, even if you do need a kevlar thumb to load it.

The sights though are not "normal" The rear sight is slighly weird shaped. If I owned one, I would certainly replace the sight with a Marbles semi-buckhorn.

 

[Riomouse911]

My .45 Colt and .357 16” are fun guns. Not super accurate, as they have open buckhorn-ish sights, but they shoot minute of steel plate out to 75 yards which is about as far as I plan to shoot them.

Others, who are better shots than I, can stretch good shots with Rossi 92’s out further.

Stay safe.

 

[Alaskamike]

Lots of people complain about the .44 Rossi 92s being inaccurate, especially with cast bullets. Most of the time they fail to understand that Rossi makes them to SAAMI .44 mag rifle specs, which means a barrel groove diameter of .431" + .002". So a groove diameter of .433" is still in spec.

.44mag handgun SAAMI spec is .429" +.002". Most if not all commercial cast bullets I've ever seen are .429, .430, or .431". Trying to shoot a .429" diameter cast bullet in gun with .433" groove diameter barrel is guaranteed to give very poor accuracy and bad barrel leading.

Of course, jacketed bullets also tend to be .429" so also tend to give poor accuracy out of a barrel at the large end of the rifle spec.

Why SAAMI went this route is completely baffling. They didn't do it with .357, or .45 colt.

With my .44 mag R92 I size my own bullets to .433" and get wonderful accuracy.

 

[Beck]

I forgot to mention the details of my 1990s Rossi 92. It's a 20" round barrel blued model. The sights they had on them back then are hard to describe. Very basic notch rear sight. Functional but not great. They worked for me then but my eyes are older now.

Last year I bought a Marble's low Semi Buckhorn Rear Sight from Buffalo Arms, #64 (006400). Midway also sells them. The price varies greatly if you google the model number. You shouldn't pay much more than $20.00 for it. That particular design of semi buckhorn works well for me. I've seen other buckhorn types that wouldn't be my thing.

I like the traditional look of the rifle with the semi buckhorn. They're also much quicker on target than using the factory rear sight. I lucked out with the wood stock that came from the factory. I like it well enough.

My Rossi was advertised as the Rossi Puma, but when it came to my LGS it didn't have the medallion on the side or the saddle ring. Mine is an improved version, so I'm told. I wish it had the saddle ring, but not a huge deal. I may put a ring on it one of these days when I have time. Here's the two same old pics I have of it. I need to take some new ones. These are before I put the Marble's rear sight on it.

 

[Grunt]

I have a .45 Colt carbine and a .357 Magnum rifle that are great. Both are older pre-idiot button and are handy little rifles. The rifle had problems feeding .38 Special ammo but that’s not uncommon when shooting the shorter rounds out of a .357 Magnum chambered rifle. Even the Marlin 94s were prone to this problem. The solution was buying a 138 grain Snakebite gang mold. They’re a little longer than most .38 Special bullets and once I started using those bullets, my feeding problems went away.

 

[ilgac]

I only have experience with mine. A 16” large loop .357. It handles the recoil well and is reasonably accurate. I’ve haven’t tried firing any .38 Specials in it but I have read that it cycles them just as well.

I think that they are a very good value compared to other currently manufactured Model 92s.

 

[Speedo66]

All three guns are heavy sprung and sharp as a razor on the edge of the loading gate opening. But that is easily remedied by a competent person with a few hours and some elbow grease and some fine sandpaper.

.

My 20” blue .357 also had sharp edges in the loading gate area. I solved them in a few minutes by burnishing the sharp edges down with the upper portion of a drill bit.

No chance of grit into the action.

Mine feeds all forms and weights of .38Spl and .357 bullets, with a 4X Weaver scout scope it’s pretty accurate.

 

[Choctaw]

I would like to step up my loads in 45 colt for mine. Somewhere between standard and Ruger T/C loads. But im hesitant.

The M92 is a strong action for a levergun. I have been shooting/hunting with Ruger Only loads in 45 Colt for many years. No problem at all.

 

[.45Coltguy]

I would like to step up my loads in 45 colt for mine. Somewhere between standard and Ruger T/C loads. But im hesitant.

Try 8.0gr Unique and a cast 250gr rnfp, maybe coated, bullet and you're set. Works.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

Thanks 45coltguy. I love unique for the larger calibers.