92 learning curve

[GunnyMack]

I took my 218 Bee 92 apart today. I wanted to get a ' to the lands' measurement as this is obviously not an original barrel for a 92. I was wondering if it needed to be set back for headspace. It's right at 1.660" so right on the money!
Anyhow the ejector/ bolt/lever reassembly drove me bonkers. The collar that is held be the hook on the bottom of the bolt did not want to stay in position each time I tried to get the lever into position. So I did a little tweaking, as the collar was not quite staying under the hook- light tap with a hammer to the hook and VIOLA! It went back together.
Then to function test. Load a single dummy , fed, chambered and extracted/ ejected. Then 2 dummies and the whole thing stopped! I then realized open primer pocket allows a .224 bullet to wedge itself in. A light pry on the one in the mag and it fed just fine.
I dont remember working on any levers in school other than the 88 .
I learnt about the 92 today.

[.45colt]

When I got My New off the Shelf Rossi 44-40 about seven years ago it was rough as a cob. got the video and spring kit to fix it up....I watched every video a hundred times and when I tried to re-assemble it that collar would not stay in place. no matter how many videos I watched.....finally around the 300th time it worked..... Now that "You" Oh Guru of the Firearms World has had issues as well I feel Much Better and can now take a deep breath..... . I hope not to do it again.

[GunnyMack]

Yes, now I KNOW what I'm in for with the 25-20 I'm soon to be getting !
I need a forend cap screw for the Bee, GPC has the screw but no collars.

[AJMD429]

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Reassembly of the Winchester and clone 92 actions is one of the reasons I really like my Marlin 1894's....!

[Pat C]

Once you do few times you'll be doing it in the dark

[earlmck]

Ole John Browning never used one big part when 6 little intricate ones would do the same job...

[GunnyMack]

I was cussing JMB for sure! At one point I said to myself ' what was he thinking!?'
I had to recut the slot in the stock screw as whoever in the past worked on it really buggered it up.
However, I'm glad I took it apart, loads of gunk inside as well as rust where the stock and tangs touched.

[OldWin]

I've never had that particular problem, but the 92 can be a PIA. I've got a bunch of them, but rarely need to disassemble one. And that's the problem. It's a pain, so you don't, so when you need to it's a pain. I would assume if you did it a bunch, it would get much easier.

[JimT]

I learned on a Rossi 92. I worked on that gun slicking it up for months. I had no videos to help in those days. I had to figure out what did what and how to make it work better. Eventually I got that rifle as slick as any. But I bet I had it apart 300 times or more. Scott T ended up with it and as far as I know it is still a good running rifle.

I wrote about it on the Lever guns site and posted an article on how to take it down. This was long before I knew Nate Kiowa Jones... Our own Steve Young.

I did find out I could make Winchester 92 parts work in the Rossi .... sometimes.

[Griff]

Likewise Jim. I bought my first one in January 1986... and had all kinds of advice from fellow cowboy action shooters in So Cal on what was the "best" way to slick up a Rossi. I was told to take machine valve lapping compound and fill the action, and work the action a couple of thousand times. I was told that hand lapping compound was too course, and the machine compound was finer give a better finished surface. I took part of that advice and used the hand lapping compound for a few hundred cycles, cleaning it up and reassembling it. It as still a little rough, but significantly better than factory. I then filled it with "tartar control toothpaste", working the action several more hundred times. This really did put a nice polish everywhere on the internals, and with a light oiling, slick as snot on a Lousiana swamp! But, again, even for the 2nd or 3rd time, taking it apart and cleaning all that out was an adventure! Luckily, I had a copy of the NRA's Guide to Firearms Assembly. Nowadays, that volume is falling apart, with entire sections separating from the binding. But... it included an abbreviated guide to the Winchester 1892. Its exploded view and description on how to disassemble was concise enough for me to muddle my way thru it. I don't remember how many times I tore it down cutting a half or full coil off and reassembling it to get the ejector spring "just right"!!! I used it for about a year and then my wife claimed it! She went on to shoot it very successfully in local matches in both CA & TX, usually placing well in the Ladies Traditional category.

I bought a 2nd Rossi for my son in 1988, but this one I slicked up using a better method. I completely disassembled it and stoned every surface where metal made contact and "slid" across another surface, then knocked off any flashing or corner to provide a smooth slick surface. The bolt rails were polished, along with the locking lugs and all three surfaces of the bolt mortises in the receiver. Used 600 grit sand paper to knock an roughness out of the bolt mortises in the receiver, then polished them with 1500 grit. Polished the surface of both guides and the carrier where the ball rides in it's detent. Once again, I worked hard at getting the ejector spring cut so that ejected empties fall almost right beside me. Both of these carbines were in .38/.357 and both will feed either length shell without problems described by so many. I shot the first one for several months using .357 cases and BP until getting my 1st 1873. While I couldn't ever outrun either of these Rossis, my son could occasionally outrun his. As I recall, he did just that in defending his win at the 1993 National Shootout.. As the defending of the category winner shoot-off, he had to shoot the stage 1st and then stand by and watch everyone else chase his time. That year it was a course of 10 rifle rounds, with movement between each shot. Not quite a trail walk type of course, just that each target required a step or two to become visible from the firing line. I believe that he set a time of 8.1 seconds with one miss as he jacked out a live round. Each of the other category winners then took their run at his time. Each trying to rush to beat that time, each missing one or more targets. The only person to shoot it clean was the Ladies Traditional winner, but she did in 13.5 seconds, IIRC. I believe I was the last shooter as the winner of the Black Powder category. My time was also in the 8 second range, something like 8.8, but I distinctly remember pulling the trigger on my last shot as my front sight slid off the target! I took some (hopefully, good natured), ribbing over "letting your son beat you." T'was not the case.

The 3rd Rossi I got is a 45 Colt Short Rifle right before they started getting the "bolt safety". I slicked up this one the same way as I did the 2nd, but... since this was intended for as a hunting rifle, I didn't polish it to quite the same degree. I left a little more "ummpph" in the ejector spring, so while smooth and slick, it takes just a bit more effort to work this one fast.

Working on the 1982 really does take a bit of a learning curve. But is quite rewarding once completed!

[Scott Tschirhart]

I learned on a Rossi 92. I worked on that gun slicking it up for months. I had no videos to help in those days. I had to figure out what did what and how to make it work better. Eventually I got that rifle as slick as any. But I bet I had it apart 300 times or more. Scott T ended up with it and as far as I know it is still a good running rifle.

Slickest levergun I own.

[Pat C]

One of the key features to smoothness in original 1892 is flat mainspring. The coil springs in the Rossi make it feel clunky.
Some time I'm going to convert mine to use original mainspring.

[JimT]

One of the key features to smoothness in original 1892 is flat mainspring. The coil springs in the Rossi make it feel clunky.
Some time I'm going to convert mine to use original mainspring.

I have thought about doing that to my Winchester 94 Trapper.