Rossi model 92 .357 how improve reliability?

[d'zaster]

Hey Guys,
I have a new Model 93 stainless steel levergun that had problems cycling .357, load gate popping out, front sight button not centered etc. I sent back to the factory in mid Oct and still don't have it back yet although it is supposedly on the way. Bashing Rossi quality and support is maybe for a different thread. I knew I was not buying a top-of-the-line gun and was taking some chances. The question I have is.... What are some of the things that are typically done to make it reliable (or should I not bother?)?

Thanks in advance for your comments and suggestions. Again, my intention is not to bash Rossi/Braztech. My experience with them so far speaks for itself.

 

[Jackal]

It should be rough, but reliable out of the box.

 

[BCRider]

If the loading gate was loose or the screw came undone I don't doubt it was unreliable for cycling the ammo. I'd bet that all your problems in that one area were related to the same issue.

Other than that what sort of bullets were on the ammo you loaded up?

The front sight bead is annoying. I assume you asked for it to be replaced?

Outside of that I think you'll find that while not the smoothest that owners and acquaintances of owners will all agree that the are fairly reliable if you feed it ammo it can digest.

Anyhow hopefully it returns in good condition.

 

[Jackal]

You should be running ammo with rounded bullet profile, no wadcutters, etc.

 

[d'zaster]

Sorry for the typo in my post. It's a brand new stainless model 92 purchased on-line. So here's more detail on the issues I had.

Problems right out of the box.

Shooting 158 lead flat point .38 spl reloads, it cycled pretty good but I had three occasions where a round ended up below the feed ramp in the space behind the load gate. I think that I was to blame for maybe short cycling the lever but not sure because I could not make it happen on purpose. I really had to jiggle and fiddle with it to get the rounds out of there when it happened. Total .38 rounds fired ~30.

.357 reloads and factory ammo would consistently not feed - could not bring the lever all the way back as the rounds were stuck. The bullets (round nose plated) entered the chamber and stopped. If I jiggled the lever back and forth and tilted the rifle the round would sometimes go in. Total .357 fired ~10 (none fed correctly. A few were loaded by hand...open the breech feed individually).

With the .357 loads, the recoil caused the load gate to pop to the outside of the receiver. I pushed on it to pop it back into place. This happened twice. Seems like the load gate is either undersized or not installed correctly.

The brass button on the front sight post was not centered.

When I called to report the issues, the rep I spoke to seemed to be having a bad day and was absolutely no help. He did not suggest I send the gun back. I figured I was stuck with it and maybe a local gunsmith could help me out. On a visit to a local gunshop, I discussed the issues and right away they offered to send the gun back to Rossi for me but also warned about their track record of poor service. Last month, I called Rossi to check on the status and the rep told me that the gun has been ready to go for 2 months and they were waiting for my dealer to send FFL info. To which my dealer said "we did" and reminded me of their service record.

I called service again to discuss the problems I had with the gun to see if they had any further notes from their gunsmith. The rep asked me to give em a couple weeks to have another look.

According the the service person I spoke with yesterday, they adjusted the ejector. Otherwise fired .38 and .357 ammo without issue. No other notes. They are ready to return the gun to my dealer.

Not exactly sure what I will get back but remain hopeful it will be reliable (and new front sight). I posted on THR to get advice.

 

[BCRider]

That's quite the run around you got. But then this is the same group that handles Taurus isn't it? Lots of stories around of really poor experience with getting Taurus issues resolved.

And sadly it also sounds like you got one of their guns where all the bad parts ended up in the one gun. This certainly isn't the rule for Rossi. It's just a shame that it happened at all and that it happened to you.

My own Rossi is around 4.5 years old and it's been working like a champ the whole time. And another one bought for a shooting buddy is just fine as well. In fact the insides of this second one that I slicked up for her was actually better than mine. Most of the shortcuts were on the outside with a lesser finish on the metal and wood that looked like it was finished with old crankcase oil. But the action was just dandy.

 

[mnhntr]

http://marauder.homestead.com/files/Rossitune.htm

 

[d'zaster]

So a couple weeks since they said the gun would be shipped to my ffl. I called today and they can't tell me why it has not shipped. Will not give me that name a manager. They said "please give me 24 hours to look into it...". When I insisted to talk to a manager, they said I would get a call within 24-48 hours.

I knew I was taking some risk when buying the Rossi but I did not expect it to turn out this bad. When I started this thread, I did not intend to bash the company but now, I can say with certainty they deserve it.

 

[RainDodger]

So, check out Steve... I've heard nothing but the best things from him regarding getting the Rossi rifles to work... http://stevesgunz.com/

 

[greyling22]

there is a guy who is the rossi expert. he makes a dvd that walks you through how to get one running right and smoothly. http://store.stevesgunz.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=2 I have not used his dvd, but I worked on one about 4 years ago. it was kind of a pain to muddle through on my own. In the end it slicked up nicely, but I could never get it to feed 38's very well. certainly not 38's cycled fast. Part of the trick is shimming the feed rails inside the receiver.

Here are a couple of guys that used the dvd. They seem pleased. http://www.thektog.org/forum/f100/review-steves-gunz-dvd-rossi-model-92-action-work-243971/
http://www.rossi-rifleman.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=590

 

[dagger dog]

d'zaster,

I guess I was lucky getting a Rossi '92 45 Colt that had no functioning issues, other than it mangles my costly 45 Colt brass and is very picky on cartridge over all length.

The 1892 Winchester action, was designed around bottle neck pistol cartridges that were in production at the time the rifle was designed.

In the modern rifles and clones, the fact of shooting a shorter and straight walled cartridges compromises the design and CAN cause reliability problems in just about ALL lever actions, (go to the Lever gun forums and read about the dreaded Marlin Jam) UNLESS they are specifically modified to shoot the shorter straight walled cartridge, or there is a mechanical problem with a certain rifle (your gun).

The 1873 Winchester design has an "elevator" to raise the cartridge to the mouth of the chamber from the magazine tube so the bolt can push the cartridge straight into the chamber, that's one reason competitive shooters run that model, the 92 design only lifts the nose of the round, if the cartridge has a bullet with a sharp edge or the rim of the case mouth contacts the chamber mouth it catches and causes the "jam".

One way to get around the ammo problem is shoot the longer 357 Magnum case length round loaded to 38 Special specs, handloading makes it possible.

Once you get your Rossi up and running you will probably do like others, and start looking for another lever gun and wind up keeping our Rossi too.

My dream gun is a pre safety 1894 Marlin straight stock 20" octagon 44 Mag.

 

[d'zaster]

Guys,
Thanks for your replies. I had a look at Steve's website and will plan on getting the DVD to work on the gun. Very much appreciated.

By the way, the Rossi tech support guys gave me a fed-ex tracking number for the shipment of my model 92 they have had for 5 months.

 

[Hellgate]

d'zaster,
I've had 3 Rossi '92s in 38/357 mag (2 blued and one SS). One thing I have found is that for each bullet shape (RN, RNFP, SWC) they all had an OAL sweet spot that allowed reliable feeding. I reload all my ammo for them to use in Cowboy Action matches. The first thing I do if I get a different shaped bullet is to load up 5 dummy rounds (no primer or powder) of a long OAL, load them & rack them through the rifle. Then WRITE DOWN your findings on paper. Seat them in a few thou more and run them through again, write findings (like "rough", jammed, hiccups, etc.) down, repeat until they seem too short for comfort or you see increasing jamming. What you'll find is there is a reliably feeding OAL for that bullet. Write it down in your load book or somewhere you can refer to. Once you get the right OAL, THEN you can do load workup for accuracy. Any ammo that won't feed is useless.

Steve's Gunz is a great source. Never heard a bad word about him. He knows his Rossis.

If you are having rounds slip under the lifter you might have gunk under the "thingy" that holds the next round back in the magazine which holds the "thingy" back (allowing the next round to jump out of the magazine prematurely), or, it could have a weak spring that keeps it from holding the mag rounds in the mag. Periodically, I take the butt stock off and hose the innards with gun scrubber, let soak a bit, then hit it with canned air. An air compressor would be a dream to clean it out. Then I lube.