Rossi 92

The Rossi 92 action is said to be stiff and ... well, sort of a "project gun." The faults are addressable and they can be smoothed out.
I have the "Ranchhand" which is the 92 action in a shortened "pistol" type configuration. Sort of like Steve McQueen's "Josh Randall" used in that old western.
I also have a Miroku made Browning B-92. Mechanically the same action but the Browning is soooooooooooooooooo much smoother and the overall workmanship is much nicer.
Not that the Rossi is garbage, it isn't, it's still a nice enough gun.
From what I've heard Marlin quality has gone a bit down recently (maybe more recently improving??) but I would expect most of the big-name lever rifles to be better and slicker.
Having seen an old Rossi from the early 1990s I do think the current Rossis are in fact a lot better than they used to be, just not up to par with those aforementioned bigname guns.
All that said there's a lot of people out there liking & lovin' (and shooting) their Rossis.

I've got an older Rossi 92 in .38/.357 that I shoot all the time. The actions aren't that smooth out of the box, but it is still a fine rifle. I love being able to plink with cheap .38 reloads, or have .357 power when needed. The biggest problem I had was jamming when trying to chamber a fresh round, but that issue can be resolved.

I love my 16" carbine. It was a little rough but nothing that a little range time didn't fix!

I have a new one in 20" ss, it honestly wasn't bad out of the box, I did however shorten the mag spring, it makes it much easier to load the gun w/o all the extra spring that comes factory. I also got the DVD from steve'sgunz.com regarding smoothing out the action DIY style, but I found I really haven't needed it.

The difference between a stock Rossi and one with the Steve Gunz modifications is unbelievable. Made a HUGE difference in my 16" .357, which wasn't bad to begin with. Well worth the $35.

I have what must be an older Puma in .44 mag, and it is a VERY nicely made gun. I had a 'Legacy' Winchester in .357 that really wasn't nearly as nice. It was a '94, of course, but the '92s are just more solid IMO. The action stiffness on '92s is mostly due to the ejector spring which is really stout (too stout) and is easily remedied. As fare as bore, accuracy, and trigger pull, it's better than my brothers Marlin 1894 in the same caliber, although that action on the Marlin is REALLY smooth. (different action of course)

I had an old, old, old 92. It broke after just a few rounds of .38 special. I'm a fan of Rossi revolvers, but for my money, I'll stick with my Marlin 1894C.

From what I've heard of the Rossi lever guns, they're fundamentally good guns and can be made even better. In other words, you won't go wrong by buying one, and with a little bit of work and money you can make them much nicer, ultimately for a lot less money than most other brands.

I don't own the older Puma models as mine are Braziltech guns. Now I've sure seen, handled and shot a lot of the Pumas and frankly I like the newer guns a bit better once the lawyer safety is removed. As for having problems with them if you can't fix it yourself or don't want to simply call Rossi if purchased with in a year they will send a mailing label with a pickup order on it. Ship it back and wait for 1 week to 3 months for it to be returned. My 45 Colt 92 took 7 days from the day it left till it was returned when it would chamber a round out of the box new. After shooting a few hundred rounds through it I purchase the Steve Gunz DVD and tune kit and had at it. Two days later I had the gun I wanted with less than $500 invested including the price+tax+kit with delivery costs. That was 3 years ago now with close to 3000 rounds through it from black powder to full load 290-325 gr hunting loads.

Only complaint I have with mine is the rear sight. If I can ever find the moolah to replace that thing it'll be in business.

Seems like mine likes 300 gr bullets. Gotta find those as well.

+1 on replacing the springs. Mine is so much smoother after replacement it's like having a different rifle.

Ten Driver I installed large ivory bead front sight $25 and the full buckhorn rear sight $30 from Steve Gunz site for the octagon barrel but also available in round barrel. I had no problem other my old eye but this made it easier for me to sight down.

Missouri Bullets for the 300 + gr bullets and Carolina Bullets for the Ranch Dog 290 gr with loading information on Ranch Dog Outdoors for the Rossi 92 as well as the Marlin 94 models. I used the Gun Slinger set sold by Brownells for some of them as I'm not into cutting springs as Steve DVD suggests. They worked as well as his cut springs and it no longer launches the brass 10 ft behind me but right at my feet.

I replaced the rear with a little flip-up blade that has some windage and elevation adjustment. Works very well, I wish I could remember the maker. A nice tang sight would be great, but pretty $alty!
+1 on the 300 gr cast bullets. Mine will shoot LBT WFN's more accurately than I can hold it for sure!

I have detailed knowledge of two M92 clones.

One is marked Puma/LSI, the other Braztec.
One is stainless,the other blue.
One has open sights, the other came from the factory with a cheek piece and scope mount (which now holds a Leupold Deltapoint 7.5MOA red dot).
One has slightly nicer wood, the other is a bit muddy.

Other than that they are basically identical. I wouldn't swap parts between them but they are very similar. If there is a quality difference it isn't clear which direction it goes.

Let's see if this works....


It's kinda a ying/yang thang.

My 454 Puma M92 it makes a great little bush gun

I have a Rossi 92 w/ oct bbl in 44 mag and it's fun to shoot but my Henry lever gun action sooooooo much smoother. I need to work the Rossi more, but dang, that 44 mag ain't cheap!

Gate loading is a nice feature. I'm not that familiar with the Henry, but I would argue that the '92 is a stronger action. I'll be corrected if I'm wrong, but isn't the Henry based on the 1872? Toggle action not that strong, originally made for the black powder 44-40.

The original Henry Rifle, the Improved Henry, or Winchester 1866, the Winchester 1873 and the 1876 model were all refered to as "toggle-link" Winchesters because of the basic design of the repeating lever mechanism. There was no "1872" model.
In 1886 Winchester began buying John Moses Browning designed lever actions which were much stronger design than the toggle-link design.
The toggle designs were good enough for what we consider "pistol" size cartridges (.44-40 size) but the 1876 extended the design to its limit.

I knew I'd be corrected! I actually meant 1873. Thanks, Tommygun. At any rate, how do you think the current Henry's stack up compared to a Puma/Rossi '92 as far as strength with regard to modern top loads? I honestly don't know.

joecil said:

Ten Driver I installed large ivory bead front sight $25 and the full buckhorn rear sight $30 from Steve Gunz site for the octagon barrel but also available in round barrel. I had no problem other my old eye but this made it easier for me to sight down.

Missouri Bullets for the 300 + gr bullets and Carolina Bullets for the Ranch Dog 290 gr with loading information on Ranch Dog Outdoors for the Rossi 92 as well as the Marlin 94 models. I used the Gun Slinger set sold by Brownells for some of them as I'm not into cutting springs as Steve DVD suggests. They worked as well as his cut springs and it no longer launches the brass 10 ft behind me but right at my feet.

Click to expand...

Thanks.

Apparently I have more work to do to mine. When I got it the receiver was rusted inside and wouldn't feed. After stripping it 3 times ans staring at it for a while I finally got it functioning. I just loaned it to a friend a couple of days ago and he reported after loading 5 rounds in the tube it wouldn't take any more, and wouldn't feed what was in it. Sounds like I'll be taking the magazine apart this weekend. He says the follower is stuck.

This rifle has been maintenance intensive, but it was obviously not well cared for before I got it. It was also a gift and aesthetically my favorite (well, maybe behind my Garand). Still no complaints even though it's acting like a helicopter. Fly it for an hour, work on it for 10.

First thing is I highly recommend dumping the standard Rossi plastic mag follower and getting one of the many metal ones. I also replaced my spring with one from http://www.thesmithshop.com/magfollow.html and start every time you clean it remove the end cap, remove the spring and follower and dump some gun scrubber down it. I use a 20 ga soft padded swab to clean it after regular patches. They do get gummed up especially if you reload and use Alox or some other kind of tumble lube with lead cast bullets. The plastic over time will swell and get tight also hence I went with the stainless one but aluminum or brass also work well. Steve Gunz also sells the magazine follower in aluminium I think as I didn't use his that came with my DVD and tune kit since I already had the one from the Smith Shop.

joecil said:

First thing is I highly recommend dumping the standard Rossi plastic mag follower and getting one of the many metal ones. I also replaced my spring with one from http://www.thesmithshop.com/magfollow.html and start every time you clean it remove the end cap, remove the spring and follower and dump some gun scrubber down it. I use a 20 ga soft padded swab to clean it after regular patches. They do get gummed up especially if you reload and use Alox or some other kind of tumble lube with lead cast bullets. The plastic over time will swell and get tight also hence I went with the stainless one but aluminum or brass also work well. Steve Gunz also sells the magazine follower in aluminium I think as I didn't use his that came with my DVD and tune kit since I already had the one from the Smith Shop.

Click to expand...

I was going to replace it when I had it down last time, but mine has a metal follower. It's an early, 6 digit s/n Puma. I figured I was ok leaving it in there. Could be it's just gummed up. I'll find out tonight I guess.

In that case it is probably just gummed up. If that doesn't work check the screw if you have a round barrel as they sometimes put a dent in the tub if over tightened. Mine is an octagon barrel so it has a different magazine tube holding system.