Dry Firing Rossi R92 44 Magnum

[bcraig]

I just Picked up my Stainless Rossi r92 44 Magnum from My FFL dealer yesterday.
Just curious whether it will hurt to dryfire it and being unfamiliar with the gun is it ok to Just sit down on the couch and work the action a couple of hundred times to smooth it up?

I have read that the Magazine spring in the 20 inch barrel gun is the same length as the magazine spring on the 16 inch barrel gun and that by cutting the spring on the 16 inch will make it far easier to load the magazine?

If so, How Much of the spring do I need to go ahead and cut off
I suppose I could start at 3 inches and go from there ?

Any thing else I can do before even shooting it ?

Thanks

[JimT]

Load it as it is.
Run 500 or more through it.
By that time it will slick up some and you will know if it's gonna need anything.
Just use it.
By the time you've run a thousand rounds through it you will know the gun.

[AJMD429]

.
NKJ’s DVD on slicking up and improving the Rossi 92 has a lot of good and easy and inexpensive suggestions. He even sells the parts if you want to do it that way.

Some would argue that you shouldn’t have to slick up a new gun, but that’s the way most affordable new guns are these days, and even some of the expensive ones. The old ones have already had this slicking up done by years of use, and if taken care of the vintage Winchesters are functional works of art.

However, I have put my Rossi lever guns through storage and use conditions that would be an insult to a high-quality vintage Winchester 92 levergun, so I think there is definitely a role for the Rossi.

Besides, the process of doing some minor home gunsmithing to improve them is a learning experience, and will give you more confidence if you need to do a minor repair on that or any other gun.

I have had a few that I just took out of the box and shot a bunch, and that slicked them up quite naturally; I’ve had a few that I didn’t do anything to in particular because they were pretty good as-is, and some that I swapped out parts on fairly extensively and did a lot of slicking up with. Some of it depended on what they intended use was for the gun.

The main thing I changed on all of them was the sights. Any of the octagonal 24 inch ones just seemed to beg for a Lyman Globe front sight paired with a Marbles or generic Marbles tang sight. The more natural vintage look and taking advantage of the long site radius generally made those accurate and fun shooters that I mostly used at the target range. The more commonly used for hunting 20 inch ones seemed natural to put a Williams FP 92 sight on for the rear, which is rather easy to drill and tap for, usually with a fire site, fiber-optic front in green or yellow. Once sighted in with the aperture in place, the rear aperture can be removed for a natural and quick shooting ghost ring effect that is perfect for hunting, plus the easily repeatable adjustments of the Williams FP make it easy to change site settings for different distances or hunting loads. And for the 16 inch barrel versions which seem to be a natural for home protection, the ultra-fast Marbles Bullseye rear sight combined with a fiber-optic front in orange is great, or if might need to venture outside at night, for instance, to protect livestock, a 16 inch Rossi with a compact, holographic red-dot like the Burris Fastfire-2 combined with a flat little LaserMax pistol sight mounted just in front of the red dot, and a bright LED compact flashlight under the barrel, as at least as “tactical” in the goat-pen or chicken-pen environment as any AR-15 I’ve ever seen, plus won’t deafen you upon firing it, or shoot a bullet 700 yards if you miss your mark. It’s nice to have a gun that you can shoot and pitch black darkness using 38 special or 357 magnum lugs and get a 1 inch group at 50 yards, especially when it as light, and handles as easily, as a 16 inch levergun, because it IS a 16 inch levergun…!

I have several posts on the above topics that you should be easily able to find on this forum. Search for the terms, “Tonsofpeeps”, “Tonsofnightscouts” or the two terms “carbide” and “Williams”.

[bcraig]

Load it as it is.
Run 500 or more through it.
By that time it will slick up some and you will know if it's gonna need anything.
Just use it.
By the time you've run a thousand rounds through it you will know the gun.

Only issues with that is ,other than a Nickle Plated 29 I bought when the Dirty harry movie came out I dont think(maybe I have) I have ever put even 2,000 rounds through anything other than rimfire Rifles and Pistols.

I thought perhaps that Those who have experience with the Rossi 92 might be able to Point out Quirks that the Rossi 92 that are well known by some but not me, and what to be done to remedy said quirks.

At my current level of shooting ,which is not much due to Health issues, It may take me a couple of years to get a thousand rounds through the Carbine as I most likely will only go outside and shoot 10 times or so every 2 or 3 weeks,if that much.
Anymore I do a lot more talking about shooting than I do actual shooting.

I am far more likely to be able to sit on the couch and work the action repeatedly or doing other work to smooth them up as opposed to standing up and actually shooting to smooth them up.
Which is why I asked about dryfiring and shortening the magazine spring.

If I were a young man with good health I would be able to do as you advised.
I am not that old as I am not even 64 yet but I sure feel older .

I have a lot of time on my hands and like working on guns,always have .
I figure that if I cant get out and enjoy shooting as much as I want to that I can still enjoy working on them .

Thanks

[gamekeeper]

Several years ago I bought a brand new SS Rossi .357 and did the sitting on the couch working the action, it did help smooth it up a bit, I rarely dry fire anything so can't answer about that or the length of the mag spring other than I would be cautious about cutting too much. Just like any new firearm shooting it as often as possible is the best way to go.

[JimT]

At my current level of shooting ,which is not much due to Health issues, It may take me a couple of years to get a thousand rounds through the Carbine as I most likely will only go outside and shoot 10 times or so every 2 or 3 weeks,if that much.
Anymore I do a lot more talking about shooting than I do actual shooting.

'

I am sorry to hear of your health issues but I find it encouraging that you keep at it as much as you can! Good for you! Running the action, handling it, dry-firing ... it all helps. Order yourself some SNAP CAPS for it and practice with those. And order the DVD ROSSI 92 from
https://stevesgunz.com/action-video/

He has forgotten more about Rossi 92's than most have ever learned.

[GunnyMack]

Working the action will smooth out any burrs left from machining, only shooting will smooth out the bore. After cycling the action repeatedly take it apart as far as you are comfortable and look for bright shiny areas and stone/file/ polish those BUT DONT do the hammer notch, sear, trigger too much and don't change those angles ! You'll see where parts are rubbing. Don't use grease to lube, oils are a better bet. I use powdered graphite in my revolvers.
Dry firing can in some instances damage a firing pin so snap caps are a good idea. Or you can deprime a case then fill the primer pocket with hot melt glue gun glue and use that as a snap cap.

[COSteve]

NKJ’s DVD on slicking up and improving the Rossi 92 has a lot of good and easy and inexpensive suggestions. He even sells the parts if you want to do it that way.

I used Steve's DvD and parts to slick up 3 Rossis, a 20" .357mag carbine and two 24" .357mag rifles back in 2009 when they were all NIB rather than spending hrs cycling the action. (My friend liked my rifle so much he bought one and asked me to slick his up like mine.)

I added the metal mag follower and reduced power spring and then followed his easy to follow instructions on the DvD. All three have been smooth as silk and a joy to shoot. My two; the carbine and rifle, have over 7K rds of .357mag handloads through each and perform beautifully.

I originally also installed the bolt safety plug in all 3, however, I removed the plug in my carbine and added Steve's bolt peep sight kit instead to both increase the sight radius and take advantage of the peep sight's better sight picture and accuracy.

[mickbr]

good advice from all above. I have no DIY skills, the most I did on my own with my Rossis is work them a lot of times whilst watching TV as you intend. I did have a bevel in the mag tube, sharp load gate and extractor which was nicking rims on one of my Rossi's. I had this attended to by a gunsmith I know. The last Rossi I bought, a 44 mag stainless was a lot smoother from factory than my others. Enjoy your gun, 44 is a great little thumper and you can load from cat sneeze to big game level.

[Malamute]

I dont know how heavy the firing pin is in the Rossi, the older Winchester 94s had a fairly heavy pin. I broke the tip off mine dry firing. I used an empty shell, but they dent in quickly and dont do much good after maybe 3 or 4 strikes. I took it to a local gunsmith, the first thing he said when i showed him the gun was "Been dry firing it, havent you."

You may or may not get away with dry firing it, I choose not to without a good snap cap.

Later 94 firing pins were thinned down quite a bit, I dont know if it was to help reduce dry fire breakage or to help ignition reliability with the rebounding hammer setup.

[bcraig]

.
NKJ’s DVD on slicking up and improving the Rossi 92 has a lot of good and easy and inexpensive suggestions. He even sells the parts if you want to do it that way.

I will give some serious thought to the Dvd.

Some would argue that you shouldn’t have to slick up a new gun, but that’s the way most affordable new guns are these days, and even some of the expensive ones. The old ones have already had this slicking up done by years of use, and if taken care of the vintage Winchesters are functional works of art.

Yea I slick up any gun that I have gotten with the exception of a UNiverersal 30 carbine that I killed my first deer with when I was 9 or 10 and a fie 20 gauge single shot shotgun.

However, I have put my Rossi lever guns through storage and use conditions that would be an insult to a high-quality vintage Winchester 92 levergun, so I think there is definitely a role for the Rossi.

Besides, the process of doing some minor home gunsmithing to improve them is a learning experience, and will give you more confidence if you need to do a minor repair on that or any other gun.

I have always enjoyed working on my own guns,Deburring inside guns,rebluing with cold blue,Re profiling and refinishing rifle stocks and handgun grips.Cutting old bolt action rifle barrels.
The gun I the most to was a Ruger stainless Blackhawk 4 3/4 barrel that I fire lapped using Veral Smiths Advice from his book to smooth the inside of the barrel and to get rid of the barrel frame constriction and opened up the cylinder throats to a uniform diameter and Provide just a slight press through fit for the size cast bullets that i got from casting from a LBT WFN Plain based bullet mold.
I also round butted the grip frame with a File and dremel tool and various grades of emery paperand reprofiled and thinned the grips and refinished them.
Man those Ruger Stainless guns have some hard steel !
I got the idea for the round butt grip frame from John Taffins Book Sixguns.
So done the sixgun shot like a house on fire and leading was a non issue as when the lead inside the barrel got to a certain point it would push lead out the front of the barrel and it could just be broken off ,this with water dropped wheelweights.

\




I have had a few that I just took out of the box and shot a bunch, and that slicked them up quite naturally; I’ve had a few that I didn’t do anything to in particular because they were pretty good as-is, and some that I swapped out parts on fairly extensively and did a lot of slicking up with. Some of it depended on what they intended use was for the gun.

The main thing I changed on all of them was the sights. Any of the octagonal 24 inch ones just seemed to beg for a Lyman Globe front sight paired with a Marbles or generic Marbles tang sight. The more natural vintage look and taking advantage of the long site radius generally made those accurate and fun shooters that I mostly used at the target range. The more commonly used for hunting 20 inch ones seemed natural to put a Williams FP 92 sight on for the rear, which is rather easy to drill and tap for, usually with a fire site, fiber-optic front in green or yellow. Once sighted in with the aperture in place, the rear aperture can be removed for a natural and quick shooting ghost ring effect that is perfect for hunting, plus the easily repeatable adjustments of the Williams FP make it easy to change site settings for different distances or hunting loads. And for the 16 inch barrel versions which seem to be a natural for home protection, the ultra-fast Marbles Bullseye rear sight combined with a fiber-optic front in orange is great, or if might need to venture outside at night, for instance, to protect livestock, a 16 inch Rossi with a compact, holographic red-dot like the Burris Fastfire-2 combined with a flat little LaserMax pistol sight mounted just in front of the red dot, and a bright LED compact flashlight under the barrel, as at least as “tactical” in the goat-pen or chicken-pen environment as any AR-15 I’ve ever seen, plus won’t deafen you upon firing it, or shoot a bullet 700 yards if you miss your mark. It’s nice to have a gun that you can shoot and pitch black darkness using 38 special or 357 magnum lugs and get a 1 inch group at 50 yards, especially when it as light, and handles as easily, as a 16 inch levergun, because it IS a 16 inch levergun…!

I have lights on several shotguns .
I have a Kel-Tec Sub 2000 9mm that with a 32 round Glock mag full of Federal HST 147 grain weighs less than 5 1/2 Pounds with an overall length unfolded is about 30 inches.
Now that is ahort and light !
But I wanted the lever actions as well , well just because they are Leveractions.

I tried the aperture sight thing with a Skinner rear sight and an Xr front sight blades on a couple of Marlin 30-30 rifles but ended up being more accurate and preferring the standard semi buckhorns rears and bead front sight.

I have several posts on the above topics that you should be easily able to find on this forum. Search for the terms, “Tonsofpeeps”, “Tonsofnightscouts” or the two terms “carbide” and “Williams”.

Thanks for your input.

[bcraig]

Several years ago I bought a brand new SS Rossi .357 and did the sitting on the couch working the action, it did help smooth it up a bit, I rarely dry fire anything so can't answer about that or the length of the mag spring other than I would be cautious about cutting too much. Just like any new firearm shooting it as often as possible is the best way to go.

Thanks

[bcraig]

I dont know how heavy the firing pin is in the Rossi, the older Winchester 94s had a fairly heavy pin. I broke the tip off mine dry firing. I used an empty shell, but they dent in quickly and dont do much good after maybe 3 or 4 strikes. I took it to a local gunsmith, the first thing he said when i showed him the gun was "Been dry firing it, havent you."

You may or may not get away with dry firing it, I choose not to without a good snap cap.

Later 94 firing pins were thinned down quite a bit, I dont know if it was to help reduce dry fire breakage or to help ignition reliability with the rebounding hammer setup.

Thanks

[bcraig]

good advice from all above. I have no DIY skills, the most I did on my own with my Rossis is work them a lot of times whilst watching TV as you intend. I did have a bevel in the mag tube, sharp load gate and extractor which was nicking rims on one of my Rossi's. I had this attended to by a gunsmith I know. The last Rossi I bought, a 44 mag stainless was a lot smoother from factory than my others. Enjoy your gun, 44 is a great little thumper and you can load from cat sneeze to big game level.

Thanks

[bcraig]

NKJ’s DVD on slicking up and improving the Rossi 92 has a lot of good and easy and inexpensive suggestions. He even sells the parts if you want to do it that way.

I used Steve's DvD and parts to slick up 3 Rossis, a 20" .357mag carbine and two 24" .357mag rifles back in 2009 when they were all NIB rather than spending hrs cycling the action. (My friend liked my rifle so much he bought one and asked me to slick his up like mine.)

I added the metal mag follower and reduced power spring and then followed his easy to follow instructions on the DvD. All three have been smooth as silk and a joy to shoot. My two; the carbine and rifle, have over 7K rds of .357mag handloads through each and perform beautifully.

I originally also installed the bolt safety plug in all 3, however, I removed the plug in my carbine and added Steve's bolt peep sight kit instead to both increase the sight radius and take advantage of the peep sight's better sight picture and accuracy.

I think I may add the Metal follower and a bolt plug
Thanks

[ethang]

If it is new take the buttstock off and hose down the action well with your favorite aerosol cleaner(non-chlorinated brake cleaner), give it a little shot of lubricant, then pick a nice Saturday and put a few good Westerns on and cycle the action. Mine bought a few years ago had enough left over crud in the action that the scrubbing helped, then the cycling and now it is every bit as smooth as my 45 Colt that has been worked on.

Also, I know some have other opinions but I have dry fired mine thousands of times with no harm to the firing pin. Not saying it can't happen, just saying mine has been fine.