Rossi M92 .357 won't feed .38s

[danbowkley]

Title pretty much says it all; I picked up a new Rossi M92 .357 carbine in stainless steel a month or two ago...great gun, I love it to pieces, but the little bugger just refuses to feed .38 Specials. While I've got a ton of 357 ammo on hand, I'd much prefer to reserve it for when I really need it and bang away at the range with much cheaper .38s.

My usual .38 load is a 158gr LRNFP over 5.5gr Clays with an OAL of 1.45". So it /should/ feed. It looks to me like as it's being fed up from the mag the angle is too steep, causing the top of the ogive to stick on the top rear of the chamber.

Any ideas?

 

[Jim Watson]

Somebody or another - pardon me for not looking it up for you so late at night - makes a bullet that seats to a longer OAL for feeding .38s in .357 lever actions. Look around.

5.5 grains of Clays is a heck of a lot. Do you perhaps mean Universal Clays?

 

[danbowkley]

Yeah, it's Universal Clays. Gotta admit it's a bit confusing with the naming...

I could just stick 38 loads in 357 cases I suppose, but...darnit I shouldn't have to.

 

[ghitch75]

have you called Rossi?.....i would send it back...

 

[rehorne]

Simple solution is to use a longer bullet, or reload 357 cases to 38 specs. Steve's guns in Texas specializes in making the 92's run with anything

 

[joecil]

This is a common problem with the 38/357 models. Now you can send it back to Rossi or get the Steve Gunz DVD and fix it. It has to do with the carrier is all I know about it since I have one in 45 Colt but even with that I have to be careful the loads are a min. OAL of 1.520 or they stove pipe but though I tend to load at 1.600 min.

 

[ghitch75]

i had a 92 Puma in 38/357 and it had nothing done to it as far as i knew and it would feed wadcutters....buddy of mine has it now......i have a Rossi in 45C and is has a spring kit in it and thats it and it will feed all of these and even a empty case....

 

[CatManDo]

Steve's Gunz is the place to go for everything Rossi 92. I bought a new Rossi 92 in 38/357 and before firing the gun totally stripped it and did the cleaning job as suggested in Steve's DVD and replaced some springs. You'd be surprised at the crud that comes out of the gun. I also installed a metal magazine tube follower and cut the magazine spring down as suggested in the DVD. I LOVE THIS GUN!!
It loads 357 or 38 or both in the same magazine loading. Here's the addy:
http://store.stevesgunz.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=8
Enjoy

 

[Maj Dad]

Rossi-Rifleman.com

http://www.rossi-rifleman.com/

Check out this forum. I bought a new M92 in 44mag last fall and it would not feed any round I put in it. I came up with all kinds of theories, then found this forum. After reading a little about feeding problems, I flushed the action thoroughly with an aerosol cleaner (I used brake cleaner, but the much more expensive cleaners from Bore Tech Blast and Brownell's work as well ), let it dry for a day, then flushed it with an aerosol lube-du-jour (CLP-like, but a cheaper version - yes, I am cheap in some respects ), and lo! It feeds everything that is within COAL limits. I would have laughed if you had told me that before, but it surely worked on mine. It's a cheap fix, might help but sure won't hurt or cost a lot...
HTH

 

[Schwing]

I know not all Rossi's are going to be this issue but, I found on mine that the magazine tube spring had WAY too much tension on it so it was pushing the .38s into the ramp with so much force that they were doing what you describe. I even had a few live rounds eject with the empties when I ran the lever. You can tell if this is the issue by putting 3 or 4 rounds in the feed tube and cycling it. If you DON'T have a problem, it is most likely the spring being too heavy. There are two fixes. There are several after market spring kits that are softer... Or you can cut 5-6 inches off of the feed tube spring. If you have taken the thing out, you can see that it is overkill for the tube.

That fixed mine and might be worth looking into.

 

[Kernel]

Does shortening the mag spring (5 to 6 inches is not a small amount) let you fit more rounds in the mag?

 

[Schwing]

I can't even remember but I do not believe it increases the number of rounds that will fit since the spring occupies a very minimal amount of space when compressed. (Sorry, I am on the road or I would tell you for sure). When you get a chance, take the tube screw out and remove the spring. Make sure you ease it out and don't let the cap on the end of the tube and your follower fling out across the room. You will immediatly see how irrelivant a few inches is on this spring. I actually got this idea from a youtube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSJiE-nq6bI). On his, he claims he cut it almost in half which, if I remember properly, would mean he cut about 18 inches off. Also, there is no reason to not do it in stages. Just do it an inch or so at a time until the tension feels right when you are loading. For me, that was about when I could put the last round in without breaking the tip of my finger off.

 

[Dontkillbill]

New firearm or new to you? It might need a good cleaning. My reloads work better with some crimp but have no problem feeding 38's.