Smooth levergun

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couldbeanyone

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Who makes the smoothest out of the box levergun that will fire 38 specials? My wife enjoys shooting my Rossi 92 clone, but she has a real tendency to short stroke and not run the action with authority. I'm not looking for a cowboy action or speed gun, just need something smoother and more forgiving of gentle manipulation of the action. Any input would be appreciated.
 
Henry actions are the smoothest I've ever tried. Blew away Rossi, Marlin, and Winchester.
 
I don't think this is unique to the Rossi 92. None of the .357 lever guns I have used over the years are forgiving if you are loading them up with .38s and not cycling the lever all of the way out. They seem to be a little less problematic with .357s. I have to admit that I had a tendency to do this myself (using a Rossie 92 as well). I resolved the issue by reloading my own .38s and practicing through several hundred rounds. I don't have the problem anymore. This seems to be a common issue with anyone who has not spent a lot of time on a lever gun. When I shoot with friends etc, I keep it full of .357s.

The other thing I would mention is that the action on the Rossi does get better over time. When I first bought mine it was horrible. After running a couple of thousand rounds through it, it is as smooth as can be. The Marlin is probably the smoothest out of the box IMO and it is quite easy to mount a scope on it if you are into that.
 
It's cheaper to tune up your '92 than to buy a new gun. See http://stevesgunz.com/ for help with that. It's cheaper still to coach your wife to use it properly.

Of course, the smoothest actions for .38s are the cowboy guns, the toggle links. At the moment, that's the Uberti reproductions of the Winchester 1866 & 1873s, though Winchester themselves are finally coming online with a 1873 of their own. Toggle links are smooth but a bit long out of the box. Money makes them smooooooooth and short.
 
+1 to Mat. Winchester 73's are probably the fastest and slickest of the levers, and that's what a lot of the top shooters use. Henry currently makes the smoothest out of the box action amongst rossi, marlin, henry, but I don't like the yellow receivers.

Marlin's are pretty easy to slick up, rossi's are harder. But the rossi gets smoother once it's been worked on. Mostly it's an issue of lightening springs, polishing a little bit here and there, and taking down the nose of the hammer so that you are not overcocking the gun when opening or closing the action. Also, neither my marlin or my rossi likes 38's much when cycled fast. I put a light load in a 357 case.
 
+1 for henry! I've had Marlin, Rossi, and Henry and the Henry was by far the smoothest. I prefer the Marlin bc it was a work horse. The Henry was a piece of art and the Rossi just felt cheap. Marlin felt well buit and was reliable. Kinda sorry I sold it;-(
 
Henry's are nice but they sure are very expensive, and someone please correct me if I am wrong, but some models have the weird magazine that needs to be taken off to be refilled with ammo. I have a Rossi .357magnum / 16 inch carbine, that runs fine and only cost me less than $500. God Bless :)
 
If you've got a Rossi already then get it slicked up. Even when done to "cowboy action" basic standards it's not like it rattles and falls open.

I just recently fixed up a new Rossi for the wife of a couple which are great friends. She got the cowboy shooting bug a few months back and it was a case of "into the deep end with bricks on the ankles" :D

Out of the box it cycled but was jumpy, a little rough and "notchy". Plus the trigger pull left much to be desired.

I'm a life long metal hobbyist that is quickly learning some gunsmithing tricks so it fell to me to slick the rifle up. I did all the things I'd done to my own Rossi over a lot of trips inside all in one go since I now had a good idea of what worked and what didn't. I didn't use Steve's information but the information I found on the web from a search for "rossi 92 action job" along with a spring kit for the Rossi let me turn her new rifle into a slick and smooth handling gun.

All in all it took me about three hours from start to finish. But I'm not a gunsmith and I'm not working in my yet to be reno'd metal shop. So things took a little longer. A proper cowboy action gunsmith should be able to slick up your wife's Rossi for the cost of the spring kit and no more than two hours worth of shop time.

What you'll get out of this is a rifle that makes your wife grin like the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland... :D

Note that if you cycle it moderately fast it'll do fine with .38Spl loads. If she wants to pick up the pace then you'll want to look at loading rounds up in .357Mag casings instead. The shorter Specials tend to jump up and get pinched in the works where the Magnum casings tend to feed smoothly when cycled quickly.

As for short stroking the lever there's not much to do about it other than practice. But being slicker and smoother she may not assume that when it hits one of the notchy points in the stroke that it's done. With the smoothening out the end point of the lever travel is far more easily identified.
 
I would buy a 92 straight from Steve's Gunz. Tell him what you want it to do and if it's possible, you'll likely get it.
 
My big boy was loaded from the front. Wasn't a big deal at all. Had to take the tube out, but loading happened pretty quickly.
 
Rossi is the cheapest at around 450.

The Marlin comes at 590 from Walmart...although not available until Oct. The Henry is around 800.

The Winchester and Uberti were around 1200.

I want the Marlin personally. There seem to be a lot of after market upgrades for it. Plus it is the one that is both side load and side eject. None of the other have that combo. Rossi, Winchester, and Uberti are all top ejects...and the Henry is loaded from the tube.
 
Thanks for all the input. The Henry is starting to look pretty good. The tube loading could be a plus as the side loading gate of the Rossi is the other thing that gives the wife a little trouble.:)
 
Cut 6-8 inches off of the feed tube spring. It still loads flawlessly but takes about 80% out of the pressure on your fingers while loading.
 
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