At long last. . . Rossi 92 357 magnum

Finally, FINALLY . . . after reading review after review, and watching prices and, more important, availability for well over a year, I finally tonight ordered the following from Buds:



Yessiree, a Rossi 92, 357 stainless magnum with a 16 inch barrel. I think I've read everything there is to read about 357 mag leeee-ver action carbines and finally settled on this one. This is going to become my element resistant trunk gun. Also thinking about getting synthetic stocks.

To say I'm excited is an understatement.

The catch is, it will be a birthday present for me, and the birthday doesn't happen for a couple of months. That's ok. It will give me time to order the Stevez Guns DVD and fix-em-up kit. And to crank out a bunch of 357 mag jhps to make sure that little gem feels welcome when it comes home with me.

You will love it. I have the exact model in .45 colt and the one with a slightly longer barrel in .357. I love the 16" barrel! Before you take it shooting, take a look at the front sight and make sure it is installed correctly and centered. Actually, check both the front and rear. Sometimes you need to fix a little factory slop when it comes to the sights.

Happy Birthday!

TJ, you might find this useful: How do you tune up a lever-action rifle?

Thanks CF!

Going to want a range report ASAP!

Count on it, but I won't get it till September. This weekend at the range a guy next to me was shooting the same rifle, and it was surprising how low the recoil and noise was.

What was Bud asking on that?

$522 and free shipping. 3% fee for credit card use. Still came in a lot cheaper than what they go for around here.

TJ, before you load up a couple of decades of .357, you might want to see what your carbine prefers. Some levers are sensitive to overall length and bullet profiles.

We had a guy next to us shooting his new SS lever '92. His commercial .357 loads were giving him fits. Ten of our 38, 125gn lead TCFP Cowboy loads fed and fired like a dream.

It was a pretty neat little gun. Very accurate.

I agree CF. I've done some research on OAL for the Rossi 92, and seems it would be very smart to load up some cartridges at some different lengths, without powder or primers, to see what works best through the action. I'm also going to take some snap caps to my FFL when it comes in and make sure it cycles before accepting the rifle.

It will make my whole year if I can find a good 38 Special load that cycles well. I keep reading it's best to load the 38 Specials a bit on the long side for most any lever action.

We load our round to an OAL of 1.45". That the sweet spot between the longer loads the Marlins prefer and the shorter loads my Win '66 likes.

CF, when you clean your Marlins and that 66, do you take them all the way apart (disassemble the action, take out the lever, etc)? Or do you just clean them out best you can without disassembly?

We shoot Trailboss, a clean smokeless powder, so my usual monthly maintenance is pulling a bore-snake wetted with Hoppes through the barrels. And making sure all the @#$%^&* screws are tight. The Win 66 gets a bit more attention as the brass lifting block can easily get gummed up. I know nothing about Win '92s or '94s, I've heard they're full of fidly bits.  

About twice a year, before two of our major shoots, I'll field strip, completely clean, lube and check all the guns. I don't break down the trigger mechanisms or bolts, preferring just to blast them with brake cleaner and then lightly lube. I probably could get by with a yearly cleaning, but I like to go over the guns before the expensive, multi-day shoots. Some pards clean after every match, a few have never smelled Hoppes before.

That being said, here in the arid SW, I don't have to worry about rust. Humidity would definitely change my cleaning schedule.

Dev?

Cornmastah wrote:You will love it.  I have the exact model in .45 colt and the one with a slightly longer barrel in .357.  I love the 16" barrel!  Before you take it shooting, take a look at the front sight and make sure it is installed correctly and centered.  Actually, check both the front and rear.  Sometimes you need to fix a little factory slop when it comes to the sights.

What is Rossi's reputation for build quality and function of its lever rifles? Seems like I've seen mixed reviews.

Don't own a Rossi, so can't comment on Rossi's.

However, ALL leeever action rifles are OAL sensitive. They can also be adjusted to accept a pzrticular OAL. My '66 is tuned for short OAL .38 Spl because I cowboy shoot that in my Navies and hate the concept of different ammo for rifle and pistol. Since the Navies are originally made to shoot .38 Long Colt, you have to make the .38 Spl short enough OAL to fit the cylinder. The '66 was then adjusted to handle the same round.

My Guide Gun is used for hunting. It gets stripped down with the bolt taken out and cleaned. But it's a Marlin, and that makes it easy to do that. My cowboy guns generally don't. But they are Winchesters, and the older ones to boot, so they are harder to take down.

I am not a fan of over-cleaning, especially pistols. I will take down my SS's periodically, when it looks like there is a coating of lead on the front of the cylinder (?2-300 rounds) and cleaning, mostly to take the lead off. I clean rifles more often (except AR's, which get bore snaked mostly, and cleaning off the bolt, then GOOD lube), mostly to take lead or copper out, which I believe is a lot more of an issue (and not one you find in pistols much - other than lead in Single Actions). I think I would worry about lead more in a .357 Mag. And I wouldn't shoot .38 Spl in it, even though you can - it's too hard to clean the ring out afterward, especially in a rifle chamber. Even in pistols it's a bummer, and the cylinders are far more easy to both reach and view.

The Rossi reputation isn't the best, but from what I have read it is improving, especially in the last couple of years.

Don't have the rifle yet, but when I get it I will let you all know how it is. I am anxious to get it. I am in Hollywood on business, and while walking through this freak show of a town I happened to walk past John Wayne's star on the sidewalk. Made me glad to have a 92 clone on the way.

sharpenit wrote:

Cornmastah wrote:You will love it.  I have the exact model in .45 colt and the one with a slightly longer barrel in .357.  I love the 16" barrel!  Before you take it shooting, take a look at the front sight and make sure it is installed correctly and centered.  Actually, check both the front and rear.  Sometimes you need to fix a little factory slop when it comes to the sights.

What is Rossi's reputation for build quality and function of its lever rifles? Seems like I've seen mixed reviews.

Well, just from personal experience, I would take a new rossi over a new marlin right now. I had two bad experiences with marlins in the last couple years. It will be a while before I buy another. The rossi's, on the other hand have been a great experience for me. I have roughly 2-3k rounds through my 45 colt lever and maybe 500 through my .357. Both have been functioning very well. I do like to hand pick the rossi's from the store, however, because I have seen a few minor issues such as the sights not being installed correctly and centered.

I'm not sure just WHAT new gun I would buy. So many have had serious quality issues. Colts made junk for a while, although I understand the "new" Single Action Army is back to being a serious pistol.

I tend to buy old guns. There are darn few out there that have actually been "worn out". One has to watch out for police stuff as that has the most likelyhood of being in poor shape. But otherwise, you buy a used gun, you get a gun which may just have been "broken in" - for substantial savings. I have bought some new Rugers lately, and an M&P (Shield), and will hopefully be getting a Glock 42.

Generally speaking I like to buy new stuff but don't oppose to buying used stuff. My condition for both is that I like to hold it, look it over, work the action several times, etc... before I buy it. A few guns I have purchased without ever looking them over first: m1 garand (through the cmp), a few ak's and my caracal (online through centerfiresystems.com), and the new cz rifle that should be arriving on tuesday (first gunbroker purchase).

Well, I bought lowers on line, as well as a Ruger LC380. Also bought a Model 19 that was in amazing shape. Got that from Gunbroker. OH, yes - my 227 was new via Gunbroker.

Used guns can be a can of worms. BUT they can also be a wonderful find. And the older stuff is often better made.

Best gun purchase I ever made was on Gunsamerica.com. A 1978 S&W model 10 for a stupidly low price. I bought with the intent of a glovebox beater or loaner gun. Turned out to have been never fired. I haven't bought a new gun from a store in a very very long time. The local dealers are too into latest polymer and have ridiculous prices.

I have a local shop here where the guys know what they are talking about, have pretty good prices, and carry the 'not seen everyday' stuff that I tend to buy. Usually they have lower prices than gunbroker on the things I am looking for--and they surprise me with cool stuff that has just arrived. Many times, they will let me have first dibbs on new stuff that they haven't brought out to display yet. I go shooting with a few of the guys also and share my reloading stuff with them. I buy most of my stuff there if I can--I help them and they help me.

Brief update on the Rossi 92. Haven't shot it yet (because it's not my birthday yet), but last night I did run some handloaded lswc's through the action to see if they'd cycle. I was very happily surprised that they cycled through the rifle, in and out of the chamber, with zero issues.

But dang! That ejector sure sends cases out fast and far!