Rossi 92 reliability feeding specials

[mickbr]

Not sure if its of interest, but being Ive owned 6 or more of these I thought I would post up how well they fed the shorter specials in 357/38 and 44 mag/44 special. Everyone likes to compare whether Henry, Uberti, marlin, rossis handle specials better and it seems all get good and bad reports.

Anyway regards Rossis-

All three of my 357's fed 38 specials, (even short COAL 38 with WFN) no problem at high speed.

All three 44 mags fed 44 special at 'deliberate speed' but one would hang up part way through emptying the mag if I tried to lever them at cowboy action speed.

Conclusions, maybe none with such a small sample group but it seems the 357 are more likely to handle all COAL/speeds than the 44 mags.

I just edited this post as the Rossi 44 I just bought was failing with some 44 special feeds as its pretty rough out of the box. I ran the lever a few hundred times, started smoothing it out and no problems now cycling better. The load gate is still darn sharp scratching cases up and the extractor is nicking rims. This one will need some smoothing.

[flightsimmer]

Some do, some don't. It would be nice to know why.
I wonder if Steve at Steve's guns has the answer?
I would think bullet style has a lot to do with it.
My Rossi 92's run smooth and easy, i had to work it but I enjoyed every minute of it but still some bullet styles are smoother than others.
Long Keith style semi- wadcutters can sometimes be a problem where as round nose are not. Fiqures.

[mickbr]

i recall Steve posting on it a couple times and the main theme was that the 1892 was designed around tapered rounds

[JimT]

In the Model 1892 Winchester the cartridges come from the magazine to the barrel at a fairly steep angle. To make feeding smooth, the rear of the cartridge must be lifted to be in line with the chamber. This is done by means of a Left and Right Cartridge Guide. As the cartridge is pushed up the lifter to the chamber, the rims of the cartridge enter the Guides. As the cartridge is pushed forward the Guides lift the rear of the cartridge, aligning it with the chamber.

If there is excessive clearance, the lifting takes place later in the chambering stroke. The tighter the clearance the earlier the lifting takes place during the chambering stroke. Balky chambering .. where the lever must be actuated back and forth a little to get the cartridge to chamber .. is often caused by excessive clearance at the rim end of the cartridge WHEN IT IS LAYING IN THE LIFTER, ready to be pushed.

I am not sure what the clearance is supposed to be. I am working with what I was told by Steve Young. Installing a shim on the right Cartridge Guide, just behind the screw, smoothed the feeding. My Rossi rifle would not feed .357's smoothly. I checked the clearance and it was .015" or .016" as close as I could tell. I cut a small piece of shim from the .008" blade of my feeler guage and installed it. Immediately feeding was smooth and normal! The gun feeds Sem-Wadcutter bullets in both .38 Special and .357 Magnum. I am happy with it.

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[Ysabel Kid]

Thanks Jim! Very informative!

[Griff]

Not just the clearance in the cartridge guides, but sometimes the fore & aft placement and angle of the guide slots. My son's .38/.357 Rossi stovepiped rounds pretty regularly. Closing the gap between guides and reducing the "snappiness" of the carrier virtually eliminated that phenomenon.

[JimT]

Thanks Griff. Things have to be pretty close to make the transition smoothly. But it can be done!

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[mickbr]

very informative JimT, thanks. The angle of mine seems a bit steep feeding to the chamber. I know you cant baby Rossies but my others I can work the lever a lot more gently and still get rounds into the chamber. This one unless I am working the lever briskly they get squeezed or stuck halfway in the chamber and bind up. I thought this was just with 44 specials at first when I posted, but same thing is occurring with 44 mag full COAL.

I have a stainless 20" 44 rossi with pic rail and night shooting hardware on it which runs like grease. This latest one is blued and was going to be my traditional looking day time gun. Not sure whether to put some work into it or take it back to the store... Ive maybe done the Rossi dance one time too many...

[rossim92]

my rossi 92 in .357 magnum was fairly smooth out of the box. only problem, it was ammo picky. some brands ran great, some had a fte. sent it off to stevegunz and now extracts and feeds anything i throw at it, from hollow point to snubnose.

[Paladin]

I have two Rossis that Steve rebuilt, one .45 and one .357, that are amazing. My newer Rossies in .357 and .44 Mag run anything but the .357 is a bit of a pain to load at times, and I haven't adjusted it yet. I still have Steve's CD.
The newer Rossies.

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The new 22 LR very smooth action that feeds everything I have tried.

22 Rossi.jpg