Rossi M92 - How bad/good are they really?

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I've had my 24" octagon in 357 for a couple of years now with a little under 2,000 rounds of 357 through it. All I did was remove the stock and the feed tube sprig to clean & lube and it has been trouble free and very accurate for me. The finish is a little rough especially at the feed gate but not bad at its price point. Sights were dead on from the factory. I may eventually add a yang sight for distance shooting.

After owning it for a while I would definitely buy another one if I was so inclined.
 
I have Rossi model 92 in .45 colt which I bought in 1995. Mine has the front site mounted on the barrel band and not dovetailed into the barrel like the present ones. People say they can be rough in the action, but mine has smoothed out very nicely over the years and the trigger has become very good. I've never had a problem with it and it has had some rough treatment over the years deer hunting, horseback, jeeping on the farm and a stint shooting black powder blanks in a cowboy reenactment group and some background documentary shots. I have an AR15, but it's a handy little carbine, I really take it with me a lot whenever I'm out in the woods, or behind the seat of the jeep.
 

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I have had a stainless 20" carbine in .357 for almost twenty years. I bought it used at a gun show for around $300. The action was a little rough at first, but it smoothed quickly with use. In fact, it smoothed out so much that when I shared it at a CAS match with a guy whose rifle had broken, he thought it had been professionally smoothed. The only problem I have ever had with it was that it didn't like most semi-wadcutters (or any wadcutters), only Zero brand, with their really narrow shoulder. Even if I get rid of my other cowboy guns, since I drifted away from CAS years ago, I'd never sell it; it's too good of a rifle.
 
I have shot one and handled a few in gunstores. This is one gun that I would not buy online as the fit and finish tends to vary a bit. The one I shot and broke in was my FIL's that he got online at Buds. Fit and finish were fine as was the accuracy with round nose bullets. I have seen one or two in the stores that had some issues with the inletting and previous experiences with Taurus warranty service were not good.

From my understanding, the older ones made by Rossi are the ones to get, I think the current ones are made for Taurus-Rossi-Braztech by Chiappa but I could be wrong.
 
I bought a Rossi 92 in 357 a couple of years ago. They were hard to find in my area at that time. I wanted a stainless with the big lever. I settled for the same in blue as the dealer had one in stock. Didn't get a great deal but this guy had one when no one else did.

The only mod I've made is to shorten the magazine spring. It was really hard to get more than 6 rds in the magazine before this was done. No problems with feeding because of this mod.

I found I can be a lot more accurate by just using the rear notch at the bottom of the sight. Taking the elevator out of the rear sight gives me a 150 yd zero with 158 gr 357s and a 75 yd zero for my 38 loads. It shoots 4" or better at 100 with just about anything I put in it. If I were to fool around with different loadings I'm sure I can do better.

I'm very well satisfied with it and is one of my fun guns to shoot. It's the rifle I take with me on long car trips as its legal in all jurisdictions.
 
Hanzo581

Not a single Rossi lever gun at the gun show
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I know as I use to have a similar problem: found the gun I wanted but didn't have the money. Next time around I have the money but can't find the gun I wanted!

Finally found my Rossi Model 92 (and a NIB Beretta Stampede in the same caliber I wanted too), at a local gun show and had the money for both!

Hopefully things will work out for you and you'll have your Rossi really soon.



 
I have two rossi 92's 16in barrel in 45 colt one is a regular loop the other is a large loop! I really like both of these and I added two heritage big bore revolvers in 45 colt with 4 3/4in barrels plus I cast and reload my own lead bullets for these rifles! these are really good guns!
 
I own a 92 in .357 and never had anything to complain about. It might not be the smoothest action out of the box, but keep it lubed and it will work just fine.
I did however lose the little cooper insert on the front sight, as it was not glued in there, so you might consider doing that!
 
I am pretty much sold on a Rossi, but it seems like finding one isn't going very well for me. Do they only produce lever guns for certain parts of the year or something? Seeing a crazy amount of "sold outs" online and nothing local.
 
Easy to work on, lots of information on what to do, and Steve's Gunz in the event that you don't want to do it yourself. I moved mine in 38/357 on because I couldn't get it to feed properly all the time but I understand that's the exception rather than the rule. My 45 LC 16" is a super little rifle.
 
My NEW 357/38 Rossi went back to Florida three times before they got it anywhere near a multi shot rifle. Nothing would feed. Accuracy about as good as a sling shot. Factory did absolute destruction on their second try and had the guts to return it to me in a condition that resembled a government gun destruction program. The side of the receiver had been turned to red oxide by a torch! They finally got it to feed 38's and most 357's. They apparently polished and re-blued the rcvr. I should have kept returning it for the accuracy problem, but decided to not risk another de-milling operation.
 
total recoil said:
My NEW 357/38 Rossi went back to Florida three times before they got it anywhere near a multi shot rifle. Nothing would feed. Accuracy about as good as a sling shot. Factory did absolute destruction on their second try and had the guts to return it to me in a condition that resembled a government gun destruction program. The side of the receiver had been turned to red oxide by a torch! They finally got it to feed 38's and most 357's. They apparently polished and re-blued the rcvr. I should have kept returning it for the accuracy problem, but decided to not risk another de-milling operation.
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In hindsight would you have just sent it into the previously mentioned "Steve's Gunz" for work (or a similar place that works on Rossi lever guns)? I am thinking even with some money put into it, it would still come out way less than the higher end brands.
 
I have been using a 92 for about 10 years in Cowboy Action Shooting competitions. I followed the DVD from Steve's Gunz to enhance the action and it works like a charm. I've used it with both smokeless and black powder. It is a 24" octagon CCH .45 Colt.
 
Grayrock said:
I have been using a 92 for about 10 years in Cowboy Action Shooting competitions. I followed the DVD from Steve's Gunz to enhance the action and it works like a charm. I've used it with both smokeless and black powder. It is a 24" octagon CCH .45 Colt.
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I have an identical gun. I got it used 15 years ago and I have no idea how old it us or if it has been worked on. All I know is that it's slick and smooth and accurate and I love it. Especially the 14 round mag.
 
Hanzo581 said:
I am pretty much sold on a Rossi, but it seems like finding one isn't going very well for me. Do they only produce lever guns for certain parts of the year or something? Seeing a crazy amount of "sold outs" online and nothing local.
Click to expand...
Seems like new Rossi's in general, and .357s in particular, have become unicorns. I sympathize, though. I was after a .357 Marlin 1894 for a long time before I got one. Don't give up the search - yours is out there somewhere.
 
I bought a new M92 44 carbine 2-3 years ago, and it wouldn't feed right and shot a foot high at 50 yds. I found the TaurusArmed forum, read a little, and the fixes were in: new sights and springs (just for fun) from Steve's Gunz (super guy, will help with everything), disassemble and clean and smooth up things with an Arkansas stone, and it runs like a dream. Love it and I'm on the lookout for a 357.
:cool:
 
Maybe 5 years ago I gave up looking for a vintage Marlin 357 (I would not touch a new one) and bought an R92 Octagon in 357 that appears to have been made in 2008. Mine came with a Marbles tang sight installed and I swapped out the front bead (which I could not see) for a steve's Gunz fiber optic. The only other thing I have done is replaced the plastic follower with a metal one.

The good is that it is extremely accurate even with my crappy eyesight and the peep. It is a hoot to punch paper with and I enjoy rabbit hunting with it (loaded with 38s). It is reliable as well. The not so good is that the action tends to be sticky and a bit slow. The fit and finish is decent, although the wood is pretty non-descript. I could work on the action to slick it up, but I think that it will smooth out over time and I am not a CAS shooter, so no biggie. I mostly shoot 38s, although full house magnums are interesting as the long barrel really squeezes a lot out of the cartridge. If feral hogs become common where I hunt small game, I will be switching out using 22s for the R92 since a hard cast 180 grain 357 out of the rifle should have plenty of penetration and knockdown power.
 
Mine has been great and feeds every type of ammo that I've tried including hollow points and semi wadcutters in either 38 or 357. It's fairly smooth but the only issue I'm running into now is extraction with certain brands of ammo. It's not quite catching the rim of the cartridge.
 
Ten years ago, I bought a JM Marlin 1894 Cowboy 20" octagonal barrel .357/.38. It was a gorgeous rifle and it was extremely smooth and very accurate, but it was a bit finicky with shorter .38s.

Three years ago, I bought a Rossi 92 20" stainless .357/.38. It was not as attractively finished as the Marlin and I had to dull some sharp edges and clean up a few burrs for it to operate smoothly. However, it was as accurate as the Marlin and digested whatever it was fed without any glitches.

Marlin_and_Rossi.jpg
 
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