Rossi 1892 Stainless converted to Take Down.......Done!

[rbertalotto]

Well, I bought this rifle off a fellow here on this site. Picked it up Monday night in Maine. The sole purpose was to convert it to a Take Down. I love riding motorcycles long distances and this fall I'll be riding to Mo and possibly Montana to do a bit of Whitetail hunting. This rifle will fit nicely in my painers.
Years ago I read an article in the NRA Gunsmith Digest on doing this to a Model 94. So with gun in hand, I had at it today.

Here's what I started with:


First order of business was to remove the barrel. This was very easy. They are not on very tight. Once the barrel was removed you need to remove the "ears" on the front of the receiver:


I used the milling machine to remove most of the material:


And then a fine file cleaned it up:


Here's what the front of the receiver looked like:


Next I had to layout the plate that will hold the barrel and forend. And bore the holes in the milling machine:


The finished piece ended up looking like this. I used 7075 Aluminum as I wanted to keep the weight down and this piece does nothing but stop the barrel from turning.


The barrel needed to visit Mr Lathe and have a shoulder cut the thickness of the attachment plate:


A very tight fit was the goal. The attachment plate was heated with a heat gun and using the action and a large washer, the attachment plate was press fit onto the barrel shank:


The barrel was then indicated in and the face of the attachment plate was turned true and perfect headspace was achived:


A new "plug" was turned for the end of the magazine. This plug will have a spring loaded button to keep the magazine in place which stops the barrel from unthreading:


Finished assembly with the magazine tube retracted:


And extended:


And the retaining button on the other end:


And the button depressed and the tube retracted:


Nine turns and we are on:



And the finished project:



This project was a lot of fun and very quick. 6 Hours from beginning to end!

The only thing I have left to do is figure out a way to retain the follower in the magazine tube as it needs to be retracted in some fashion so the barrel can be unscrewed. I'm open to suggestions.

Hope you enjoyed this little article.............

BTW, folks are asking if I'd be willing to convert their rifle. I'm not a gunsmith. Just an advanced hobbyist! I don't work on other folks guns. But Lee over at "The Arms Room" does a real nice job with these conversion. Call him up at 719-680-1255 or check out his work at http://www.thearmsroom.com/id3.html

[pokey]

very cool.

how soon can mine be ready?

[rbertalotto]

Thanks!

The most difficult part was sanding and grinding the attachment plate to match the forend and the receiver.

I hate fussy work like this. I like running the machines and doing the math. I'd NEVER be a good stock maker. No patience!

The rest was pretty simple machine work. Nothing fancy............

[pwl44m]

Very nice work, I guess U can take Ur Saddle Ring off iffen U want to. I thought U were going to weld the hole ?

[AJMD429]

This project was a lot of fun and very quick. 6 Hours from beginning to end!

By my calculations, you not only did that much better than I could have, but about 365 times faster.

[Paladin]

Impressive, I bought an 1897 Winchester Take Down and a Co-Pilot to meet that need on my bike trips. I am not as talented as you.

[earlmck]

Wow! A really nifty project, and great pictures telling the story. Much thanks for letting us "share" your project!

[rbertalotto]

Thanks Folks!

I thought U were going to weld the hole ?

Yup, but I'll do that just before I crank the oven up to GunKote the whole rifle. These Stainless Steel rifles look like "light sabers" in the early morning in the hunting woods. I was hunting with a friend in Wyoming a few years back. He was 200 yards away on the edge of a field about 15 feet into the woods and I couldn't see him even though he had on a full orange vest. The vest blended in with other foliage that was changing colors in the fall. But the barrel of his Browning Stainless Stalker was amazingly illuminated. I took a picture and showed it to him at lunch. He took off one of his black socks and wrapped the barrel for the afternoon hunt!

[rjohns94]

Very nice work. Bet you could make a nice side living on this forum doing that or teaming up with NKJ, I bet he gets lots of folks wanting that coversion. I would put my 92 in line for your conversion if you ever want to do so. Well done

[rbertalotto]

Thanks, but it's just for fun. The CZ Magazine conversion and my 17HMR Bore Guide that I offer gives me plenty of fun money. These projects take too long and the risk is too great. You could bend a receiver or have something else go wrong that eats all the profits from a weeks work. Plus I'd need to get an FFL which is near impossible at your domicile here in the Peoples Republic of Massachusetts.

[kimwcook]

Very nice. It looks like it was born that way. Thank you for showing us how it was done.

[Pitchy]

Wow very nice.

[kenken0269]

Instead of Gunkote, why don't you glassbead it? That will take off the shine and really give it an old look.

kenken

[Old Ironsights]

Very nice work. Bet you could make a nice side living on this forum doing that or teaming up with NKJ, I bet he gets lots of folks wanting that coversion. I would put my 92 in line for your conversion if you ever want to do so. Well done

Dittos.

[Old Ironsights]

Thanks Folks!

I thought U were going to weld the hole ?

Yup, but I'll do that just before I crank the oven up to GunKote the whole rifle. These Stainless Steel rifles look like "light sabers" in the early morning in the hunting woods. I was hunting with a friend in Wyoming a few years back. He was 200 yards away on the edge of a field about 15 feet into the woods and I couldn't see him even though he had on a full orange vest. The vest blended in with other foliage that was changing colors in the fall. But the barrel of his Browning Stainless Stalker was amazingly illuminated. I took a picture and showed it to him at lunch. He took off one of his black socks and wrapped the barrel for the afternoon hunt!

Bead Blasting takes care of that problem and makes for a right spiffy "in the white" look.

[1886]

Looks great Roy. That did not take long, less than a week! 1886.

[damienph]

WOW!!! Anxious to see the completed pictures with the GunKote finish; although the bead blast finished rifle that Old Ironsights has looks great.

I am really amazed (and envious) of the talent and skill that some of guys have.

[Tycer]

For the follower would a slot in the bottom of the mag tube, a solid follower and a pin set into the aluminum block work?

[COSteve]

I've got to admit it, I envious of the machining skills and craftsmanship demonstrated here by a few of you. Outstanding, just outstanding!

[Roland]

Thanks Folks!

I thought U were going to weld the hole ?

Yup, but I'll do that just before I crank the oven up to GunKote the whole rifle. These Stainless Steel rifles look like "light sabers" in the early morning in the hunting woods. I was hunting with a friend in Wyoming a few years back. He was 200 yards away on the edge of a field about 15 feet into the woods and I couldn't see him even though he had on a full orange vest. The vest blended in with other foliage that was changing colors in the fall. But the barrel of his Browning Stainless Stalker was amazingly illuminated. I took a picture and showed it to him at lunch. He took off one of his black socks and wrapped the barrel for the afternoon hunt!

Bead Blasting takes care of that problem and makes for a right spiffy "in the white" look.

I was going to suggest bead blasting as well.

[rbertalotto]

Actually it isn't the shine of the Stainless Steel, although that is a real issue. A bead blasted SS barrel looks like waving a white stick against a dark background of the forest. SS is nice, but not for hunting firearms........IMHO....

[Chuck 100 yd]

Sweet !! Thanks for sharing!!

[Malamute]

Nice work Roy!

[rbertalotto]

Well, I resolved the magazine plug issue!

Using a very dull pipe cutter I turned a canular on the magazine tube:





Then I turned a new plug which is longer than the original:



To take down the rifle the magazine tube now extends further forward so the plug will clear the receiver:



Here is the barrel with the magazine tube in the "locked" position:



It feeds like the democrats at a budget meeting!

[Old Ironsights]

sniffle...

I want one in .357 so bad...