Chiappa 92´s?

[Arminius]

I need, really badly! NEED a 16" .357 LA ...



Heard a lot of bad things about Rossi´s 92s ( and even worse about their sixguns ).

Now ordered a 16", rd bbl, .357, 92 from Chiappa. Will, whatever it costs, try to get a large loop lever for it.

Any experience with the quality and general shootability of the Chiappa 92´s?

How about plastic mag follower, too strong ejector spring and bad spring life???

Any known deficits and problem areas?

thx in advance, Hermann

[AJMD429]

I haven't had a single problem with the several Rossi 92's I've owned, but can't comment on the Chiappa's. Probably pretty good, considering the higher price, and an old-time design that has thoroughly proven itself.

If you're picky about fit and finish, the Rossi's are hit-and-miss, but remember they are sold as utility/farm/sport firarms, NOT as collectible replicas.

Whatever you get, try to get some spare parts and yes, I'd upgrade the follower IF you intend to shoot it alot or use it for critical-use purposes. If it's going to get shot only a few hundred rounds a year I doubt the plastic follower will be a problem.

[3leggedturtle]

Doesnt Rossi make all of them , and Navy Arms, Chiappa, EMF and the others jus stamp their name on them. I have 2 Rossi Pmasand thought they were fairly smooth from the get go.

[Arminius]

Doesnt Rossi make all of them , and Navy Arms, Chiappa, EMF and the others jus stamp their name on them.

Where did you get that from????

Any proof of this?

Hermann

[Hagler]

Gents,

Rossi & Chiappa are two different companies. Now, Rossi is mostly run by Taurus.

Chiappa makes Chiappa. Chiappa also makes the NEW Legacy Sports Inc (LSI) Pumas. Taylor's leverguns may also be made by Chiappa.

Rossi makes, or has made, Braztech, EMF, Navy Arms, Interarms Pumas & Model 92s, and OLDER LSI Pumas.

There are probably a few more twists & turns in there, but those are the basics.

Shawn

[olyinaz]

I have a Chiappa 92 and it's fine. Very well finished in fact.

I have several Rossi 92 and they're fine too! Not finished like a Winchester or even an eye-talian gun, but they go bang just fine and work well!

I need a Spanish 92, a real Winchester, and a Japchester to complete the multi-national set.

Oly

[92&94]

Dang it, now you guys got me lookin at Chiappa's too

Looks like they make an 86 in .45-70, that would be awfully tempting if any of my usual circuit of LGS carried them.

Hey Oly, my mom lives in Tucson still, I like going in to Murphy's whenever I visit.

[AJMD429]

I need a Spanish 92, a real Winchester, and a Japchester to complete the multi-national set.

Now that could be yet ANOTHER collect-addiction to suffer from...

[COSteve]

Nate (Steve Young) mentioned a while ago about how the Chiappa 92's had some issues but I don't know if that's still the case.

[trooper joe]

I have a Chiappa 92 SRC in 44-40 and it is perfect. Very accurate and fit and finish is amazing.

If I was looking for a 16" barrel, model 92 in .357, I would try and find one of these:

http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... rooper+joe

Just some thoughts,

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

Here is some Rossi history. Rossi of Brazil is the maker. For years dating back to the 70's the Rossi 92 made in Brazil was imported by InterArms of Alexandria VA. InterArms was the first to market the Rossi made 92 as the Puma. These earlier Rossi 92’s were really rough. The parts were poorly fitted and then terribly over sprung. Rossi’s philosophy was to make the parts slightly too big then rather than hand fit them, just use excessively heavy springs. This saved many man-hours that keeps the prices low. When you picked up one of these guns even before you loaded it you could tell it was very stiff right out of the box. Because of these earlier guns (pre-2000) Rossi got a bad rep. But, that is also what got me started re-working these guns. The CAS game was growing big time but the availability of guns for the game was limited.
Somewhere in the late 90's the owner of InterArms passed away. It is my understanding the heirs didn't care to continue with the operation of InterArms so the stock on hand was sold off at a reduced price. (I bought new Rossi 92's at that time for $190). About that same time period, Rossi sold off their gallery gun, the pump 62 and some revolvers to Taurus, so some folks thought there would be no more Rossi 92's available. I can't tell you how many people ask me what I was going to do now.
About this time, around 2000, Rossi completely re-tooled with all new CNC machines. This new machinery has allowed them to make parts more consistant in size which also allowed for lighter springs. There are still some that are over sprung but overall the current guns are much nicer than the pre-2000 92’s. About this same time Navy Arms had started importing the Rossi 92's. Then not long after, the ex-employee's of InterArms started up Legacy Sports International (LSI) and began importing the Rossi 92 as their Puma. They were even in the same building as the old InterArms company and were using the Puma name as the model name. Then and I don't remember exactly, LSI moved to Reno NV.
During the mid to late 90’s, EMF was importing the Armi San Marco Italian made 92's, (ASM's) and had contacted me to do warranty work on those for them. But ASM's QC went down so EMF ask me to help them decide how they should order some 92's from Rossi. EMF imported the Rossi 92's from about 2000.

About 2009 Taurus acquired Rossi and the 92's and have taken over the distribution under the Braztech name. Both EMF and LSI dropped their deal once the Taurus buyout took place. LSI now carries the Armi Sport/Chiappa 92 but it's still called the Puma Model. The Armi Sport/Chiappa 92 is a re-incarnation of the Armi San Marco guns. Chiappa is doing a much better job as far as fit and finish is concerned. But, they did bring forth some reverse engineered design flaws that plagued the ASM 92's.

The Rossi 92's are still available but will be imported by Braztech, a sub of Taurus USA of Florida
Rossi/Braztech

Also, this has been my experience when it comes to fit and finish. To manufacture a gun upward of 40% of the cost can be attributed to the final finish. That is because fit and finish is pretty much all hand work. I would compare it to that fine custom paint job on a car. But, as you know it may not be the best performing car on the track. Just because it looks good doesn't mean it works good.
The Rossi's don't cost as much but over all they work better.

[olyinaz]

Dang it, now you guys got me lookin at Chiappa's too

Looks like they make an 86 in .45-70, that would be awfully tempting if any of my usual circuit of LGS carried them.

Hey Oly, my mom lives in Tucson still, I like going in to Murphy's whenever I visit.

Murphy's is great! I've spent way too many of my hard earned $$ there.

Oly

[COSteve]

Chiappa is doing a much better job as far as fit and finish is concerned. But, they did bring forth some reverse engineered design flaws that plagued the ASM 92's.

The Rossi 92's are still available but will be imported by Braztech, a sub of Taurus USA of Florida
Rossi/Braztech

Also, this has been my experience when it comes to fit and finish. To manufacture a gun upward of 40% of the cost can be attributed to the final finish. That is because fit and finish is pretty much all hand work. I would compare it to that fine custom paint job on a car. But, as you know it may not be the best performing car on the track. Just because it looks good doesn't mean it works good.

The Rossi's don't cost as much but over all they work better.

And there you have the definitive answer from the man who knows!!

[44-40 Willy]

Navy Arms was importing 92s as early as 1999 as that's when I bought mine.

[gak]

Navy Arms was importing 92s as early as 1999 as that's when I bought mine.

...And Navy Arms was, reportedly, the only Rossi 92 to sport "real" walnut furniture. NA was never a large volume 92 seller like Interarms or Legacy (LSI), or even EMF. Try finding one now, especially a carbine; long guns occasionally show up. Navy Arms got out of the Rossi 92 business in 2006, the same year as even EMF also finally succumbed to the fukakata safety switch intro'd by LSI years earlier.