M1892 in 357 -- Rossi or Cimarron?

[tonybelding]

I got to briefly look at a stainless Rossi 92 in 357 today, 24-inch octagon, crescent buttplate. It looked pretty slick. Nice action. I didn't check the trigger, though. I did see the goofy safety gadget they put on the bolt.

I had been thinking about a Cimarron. I know the Cimarron's parts are made Nitly (non-Texans can read that as "in Italy") and then assembled in Fredericksburg, just down the road a piece (non-Texans can read that as "less than 150 miles") from my home. I know they are available in a take-down model, which ought to be pretty neat, and they don't have the goofy safety gadget. On the other hand, they cost quite a bit more. . . and I don't see any on the shelves around here, not sure how long it would take to get one.

Also, the Cimarron isn't available in stainless. I wasn't thinking about stainless before today, because it's not "authentico", as they say Nitly, but the stainless Rossi looked quite attractive to me. It would make a good match for a Ruger Security Six or GP100, maybe.

How do these brands stack up in terms of reliability and accuracy, I wonder? How much work do they typically need done on them? (trigger job, springs, parts replaced, etc?) Which would y'all pick, and why?

[Buck Elliott]

Maybe the Eye-talyuns will get the '92 figgered out, someday. In the meantime, you can buy a Rossi, ship it off the NKJ, and get it 'tuned,' and spend almost as much as you would on a Browning or Winchester (Miroku) that will be a much nicer gun in the long run.

My two-bits' worth.

[rangerider7]

Uberti Cimarrons are nice, the 92 Cimarrons are still having problems. I have had both. The Rossi doesn't look like the Winchester 92 but functions better.

[COSteve]

. . . you can buy a Rossi, ship it off the NKJ, and get it 'tuned,' and spend almost as much as you would on a Browning or Winchester (Miroku) that will be a much nicer gun in the long run.

OR you can buy a Rossi and Steve's $30 video, his extractor spring, safety plug, and metal magazine follower and have the fun of doing your own action and trigger job. Then you'll have a new Model 1892 carbine with a stronger and smoother action, lighter trigger, and sweet shooting rifle for about 1/2 the price of a used Browning or Winchester because neither is currently in production, while the Rossi's are available at Bud's Guns now.

[66GTO]

Rossi. I love mine in .357.

[COSteve]

Deleted

[tonybelding]

Maybe the Eye-talyuns will get the '92 figgered out, someday. In the meantime, you can buy a Rossi, ship it off the NKJ, and get it 'tuned,' and spend almost as much as you would on a Browning or Winchester (Miroku) that will be a much nicer gun in the long run.

Not sure I understand your reference to Miroku, whether it's good or bad. . . From my own experience, I've had not one but two Miroku 1886 rifles, both of which had lovely slick actions, beautiful workmanship, and both drove me nuts with their rebounding hammers and light firing pin strikes. I swore I'd never have another Winchester/Miroku rifle. I can't knock a wild pig over with "pretty" and "click".

[rjohns94]

Rosi, love mine. NKJ did the work for me.

[COSteve]

The Rossi doesn't look like the Winchester 92 but functions better.

Curious about this comment. I thought that they were direct copies of the 1892. Could you please explain.

[Streetstar]

The Rossi doesn't look like the Winchester 92 but functions better.

Curious about this comment. I thought that they were direct copies of the 1892. Could you please explain.

He likely meant the stainless finish the OP was referring to

[Buck Elliott]

Maybe the Eye-talyuns will get the '92 figgered out, someday. In the meantime, you can buy a Rossi, ship it off the NKJ, and get it 'tuned,' and spend almost as much as you would on a Browning or Winchester (Miroku) that will be a much nicer gun in the long run.

Not sure I understand your reference to Miroku, whether it's good or bad. . . From my own experience, I've had not one but two Miroku 1886 rifles, both of which had lovely slick actions, beautiful workmanship, and both drove me nuts with their rebounding hammers and light firing pin strikes. I swore I'd never have another Winchester/Miroku rifle. I can't knock a wild pig over with "pretty" and "click".

The rebounding hammer is a quick fix, whether you decide to replace it with an "original" type or not. Just cutting the rebound leg of the hammer strut will improve firing pin strike performance. I cut about 2 1/2 coils off the mainspring in my '86 XLR and improved almost every aspect of functioning...

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

Uberti Cimarrons are nice, the 92 Cimarrons are still having problems. I have had both. The Rossi doesn't look like the Winchester 92 but functions better.

The Rossi doesn't look like the Winchester 92 but functions better.

Curious about this comment. I thought that they were direct copies of the 1892. Could you please explain.

I bet Rangerider is talking about the shape of the receiver. The early Rossi's had lines much like the original.
here's one from the 80's. Notice the horizontal "S" shape below the loading gate.


The current Rossi 92's look more like prewar round bottom 94's to me.

Maybe the Eye-talyuns will get the '92 figgered out, someday. In the meantime, you can buy a Rossi, ship it off the NKJ, and get it 'tuned,' and spend almost as much as you would on a Browning or Winchester (Miroku) that will be a much nicer gun in the long run.

Not sure I understand your reference to Miroku, whether it's good or bad. . . From my own experience, I've had not one but two Miroku 1886 rifles, both of which had lovely slick actions, beautiful workmanship, and both drove me nuts with their rebounding hammers and light firing pin strikes. I swore I'd never have another Winchester/Miroku rifle. I can't knock a wild pig over with "pretty" and "click".

I think the Browning Miroku 92's and 86's are the best that are ever made. You have the classic design of the origin made in modern steel.
The Win/Miroku are another story. You aren't the only one that has has ignition problems with these guns. some folks are having the same problem with the Win/Miroku 92's. I've tried Buck method of reducing the rebound legs of the hammer strut and it did help some. But, it didn't cure the mis-fire problem completly. Because of the short firing pins, if the gun is pointed up it would mis-fire almost every time. What I'm doing now is changing to the Browning fire control parts including the short 4 piece rebounding firing pin. For the Win/Miroku 92's I'm using Rossi 92 parts.

As for the Cimarron/Chiappa 92's, I'm consulting with Fino Chiappa, the owner to try and work some of the problems out. Fit and finish on these guns are really nice. If they can get the kinks worked out they should be really nice.

And Tony, Cimarron just imports the completed gun. They don't assemble them or any of their other imports.

BTW, Chiappa is sending me one of there new 86's once they get it up and running. It's supposed to be close to the Browning in the way it is made.

[Pete44ru]

So, the "bottom line" is: Go ahead, and buy those Chiappa's, fellas - SOMEONE'S gotta keep them in business until they start making a better rifle, for the rest of our community.

.

[Leverdude]

The Rossi doesn't look like the Winchester 92 but functions better.

Curious about this comment. I thought that they were direct copies of the 1892. Could you please explain.

Biggest difference I can find on mine is a very long forend & heavy non tapered oct barrel. But that aside I like it alot. Its no secret I generally like Marlins over Winchesters but the 92 is a very slick operating lever action & very strong. A bit over complicated if you like to take things apart though. But mine is here for life.

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

The Rossi doesn't look like the Winchester 92 but functions better.

Curious about this comment. I thought that they were direct copies of the 1892. Could you please explain.

Biggest difference I can find on mine is a very long forend & heavy non tapered oct barrel. But that aside I like it alot. Its no secret I generally like Marlins over Winchesters but the 92 is a very slick operating lever action & very strong. A bit over complicated if you like to take things apart though. But mine is here for life.

Very true of the rifles. The wood for the carbine is really close but the rifle forewood is about an 1.25" longer and the butstock is about an 1". The straight oct barrel makes the 24" 357 gun really front heavy, too.

[COSteve]

Deleted

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

The Rossi doesn't look like the Winchester 92 but functions better.

Curious about this comment. I thought that they were direct copies of the 1892. Could you please explain.

Biggest difference I can find on mine is a very long forend & heavy non tapered oct barrel. But that aside I like it alot. Its no secret I generally like Marlins over Winchesters but the 92 is a very slick operating lever action & very strong. A bit over complicated if you like to take things apart though. But mine is here for life.

You likely have a 'Short Rifle' rather than a carbine.

Their 24" Rifle looks like this. Note the crescent shaped buttstock and forend cap.



Their 20" Carbine looks like this. Note the round lower curve of the buttstock, the shorter forend, and barrel band instead of a forend cap.



Their 20" Short Rifle looks like this. Note the crescent shaped buttstock and forend cap just like the rifle above. (This shows a round barrel but they make them with Hex barrels too.)



Their 16" Carbine looks like this. Note the round lower curve of the buttstock, shorter forend, and barrel band just like the carbine above.



BTW, the 24" rifle length is great for longer range shooting. I love both my 24" rifle and 20" carbine.

The Rifle and the short rifle both have the same length wood. To me that long forewood makes the short rifle look funny.

that may look like a round barrel but rossi has never made a round barrel rifle. The closes they ever come was a half round/half oct 24" rifle. (my favorite because it feels like an original tapered oct. rifle)

[fatoldfool]

The take-down 92 short rifle by Chiappa I brought home today has a tapered octagon barrel...feels and balances great. I don't like the curved comb and the wood needs a few more coats of finish.

[Leverdude]

Mines a short rifle. I actually like the heavy 20" barrel for offhand shooting. But like Nate said the long forend looks funny. I'm not an expert on Winchesters but I believe the early rifles had much shorter forestocks.
Its been awhile since I posted a pic of it. I had it restocked soon after I got it.

[rangerider7]

The shape of the receiver on the later Rossi just is not the same as an old Winchester 92 to me.

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

The shape of the receiver on the later Rossi just is not the same as an old Winchester 92 to me.

That's what I posted above. It think the late models look more like the pre-war round bottom 94's.

[tonybelding]

Time for a update. . .

I finally got the Rossi Puma today, along with a well-preserved Ruger Security Six, both stainless, both 357.

I'm not sure what the big deal is about getting an action job done on the Rossi, since I find both the cycling and trigger perfectly acceptable as it is. However, keep in mind I'm no cowboy action shooter, and I don't need to flick the lever back and forth like lightning with the tip of my little pinky finger

I'm sure I'll want to get the safety plug and steel magazine follower, at least.

It was interesting to put the Puma next to my Winchester 1886 rifle. Normally one would expect a 92 to be lighter weight. . . However, the 1886 has a slender round barrel and the Puma has a heavy octagon barrel, so they come out about the same, with the Puma being more muzzle-heavy. Both are 24-inch barrels, but the 1886 is just slightly longer overall due to its larger receiver.

Honestly, I've adored this old 1886 for many years and consider it my idea of the perfect levergun. It Just Feels Right. If any of you ever had a rifle that Just Feels Right, you know it's not something you can easily let go of. Unfortunately, I've had to retire this rifle from service due to the rough bore and the difficulty in loading 33 WCF for it. (Even Hornady stopped making suitable bullets several years back.)

Looking forward, my top-notch big game hunting rifle is probably going to be my Marlin 308MXLR, which I like a lot and should get into a similar performance zone as the old 33, but it doesn't have magical feeling of the Winchester.