Rossi Leverguns? Personal experience?

I picked up a stainless Rossi 92 16" barrel in .357 about two months ago.
Fit and finish are nothing to write home about. (small gaps between the stock and the rear tang of the receiver on one side, wood is slightly higher on the other)
BUT,... it has flawlessly digested every round I've fed it it (both 158 gr .38 Spl and .357) holds decent groups at 100 feet from a seated (not bench rested) position.
Picture is fresh out of the box grouping.

I love my Rossi 92 in 357. If I could only have one rifle (God forbid!), it would be that one.

The Rossi 92 I got about 4 years ago had a really nice exterior and slightly rough'ish interior.

The Rossi that a friend got to use in CAS just a couple of months back had the finish and fit issues mentioned already and that you've read about. But the insides were VERY nicely done. It took almost nothing to slick the action up using the online information and switch out the spring kit and have it working as smooth as my 4 year old well used Rossi.

Accuracy wise both are excellent. They won't win a bench rest competition but they shoot every bit as good as a good regular shooter can hold and would expect.

Directly out of the box both were OK but rough to cycle to the point where it was a little hard on the backs of the fingers. Once slicked up even with the basics and with the spring kit swap the levers cycle slick as a fresh caught fish on a wet board.

You don't NEED to get the basic slicking up work done. But for my money the price for the work is well worthwhile.

I have a stainless Rossi 92 in .454 Casull I bought NIB about a year ago. When I tried to sight it in, it was all over the place. Come to find out the dove-tails for both the front and rear sights were oversized and the sights wouldn't stay in one place. The rear elevation adjuster moved all around also.

I made an attempt to tighten up the dove-tails to no avail. It is sitting in my safe until I can decide what sights I want to have my local 'smith install.

As others have stated fit and finish is a bit crude. The action and feeding work well.

To me it is worth investing in to get good, high quality sights installed. I'm looking at a rear receiver mount aperture sight and a front hooded hi-viz but I haven't decided yet.

Dan

'Bout a year ago got the Rossi in .38/.357 after holding out 6 months trying to find a decently priced Winny or Marlin. One of the best moves gun wise i ever made. Maybe I lucked out, maybe they had a good run, maybe they changed their quality control. Yeah, has that "Brazalian wood" everybody for some reason complains about, but it was flawless, as was the bluing and octagon barrel. Shoots factory or my own reloads VERY well, even with their factory sights, which is the only thing i don't like about it. If you do further research, you'll find alot don't like the factory sights either and have had some trouble with them. I know Steve's has a rear type peep sight that you have to remove the safety switch to attach it. I wish it was tapped on the left side of the receiver like the '92 Winnys were to accept an aftermarket Williams or Lyman. At appx. $540 delivered it couldn't be beat.

I was forced (I just couldn't wait anymore) to settle for a Rossie after waiting over a year for something else to come into stock... nothing ever seemed to come in so I bought a Rossi 92 in .357. It quickly became one of my favorite guns but did NOT come 100%. I had an initial problem with the feed tube wandering out of place which would make the rounds hang up when trying to load them into the feed gate.

After reading all kinds of information about the horrible experiences with Taurus/Rossi support, I just fixed it myself, the screw going through the feed tube cap was supposed to sink into a hole in the barrel that had been botched. Instead of trying to modify the barrel, i JB welded the feed tube to the forward barrel ring. It still allows for easy take down and all is well.

It still bothers me though that a gun out of the box would have an issue like this. To me, it just speaks volumes about their QC since the issue was obvious.

Having said that, it is a great, reliable and accurate gun. It cycles .38s a little better than ok and never has issues with anything .357.

I've owned my Rossi Puma 92 SRC in .357 since the late 80s. It's been one of my all time favorite rifles. It has seen its share of use and has never given a problem. I have been extremely happy with mine.

Got it before the SASS craze took over...LOL. I think I gave around $220.00 for it.

I strongly suggest using the search feature here. There have been many, many discussions about this already and would likely answer your questions at a more fulfilling pace. That said: If you dont mind cleaning up the action/light gunsmithing, Rossi's are good. If you want a turnkey rifle, get something else.

I bought an Rossi Puma used in .44mag 20 inch barrel that already had the safety removed and a metal follower installed for $410.00. Thought I had it sighted in and went Hawg hunting in Tx. Really embarrased myself by missing two broadside shots: one at 30 yds the other at 60 yds. Subsequent range work showed it to be 18 inches high. A call to Steve'sgunz in Tx and bought the proper sights, installed by a gunsmith locally, all totaled less than $100. It now shoots 2 inch at 50 yds. It has a metal butt and does it kick. Bruises my shoulder after 5 rounds. It isn't a range gun, but it does carry well in the field, and the report is very mild to the point that hearing protection isn't necessary.
ll

It has a metal butt and does it kick. Bruises my shoulder after 5 rounds.

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Boy does it ever. I have the 22" stainless .44mag and while I am a sturdy fellow (6', 230lbs, by no means a sissy), the little bugger seems to pack a more offensive recoil than a 12ga slug gun, using 240gr full house loads. About equal in my experience to the recoil of a 3" 1oz slug, but with a sharp sided steel buttplate. Oh well, hurts them more than me I guess.

My Rossi 92 .357Mag serves well for 6 years now.

Mine is about 4 years old now and I have no issues with it at all.

Bought a 16" blued 357 5 months ago. Cycles 38's and 357's perfectly and fit and finish are good. I bought it sight unseen off of the internet. I was worried but it turned out fine.

I have a Rossi 92 in 45 Colt that I took apart and tuned using Steve Gunz DVD and tune kit. Been a great rifle now for 4 years running flawlessly shooting everything from black powder to high power hunting loads. Its fit and finish where excellent though it had a feed problem out of the box. Called Rossi, got a shipping label and sent it back. Total turn around time was 7 business day at which point I put a few hundred rounds through it then the Steve Gunz tune. I've since redone the stock with a Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil treatment.

I also have a Rossi Rio Grande 45-70 which is the best finished guns I've owned in over 40 years of buying guns. All it required was a bit lighting of the loading gate as it was simply too strong and would eat your finger. I've also done the stock treatment on it.

I now have a 44 and 454 in 20" carbine and am hunting a 357. I have a Winchester 92 of early 1900's vintage so I will have a good representation of the original in which to compare.
Kind of going crazy for the companion gun thing and am hunting for an affordable 32-20 SA. Had a guy suggest getting a Ruger in 32H&R and having the cylinder reamed, anyone done or heard of this?

Love mine! 16", bigloop, saddlering carbine in .357.

My .357 has a .355 bore -- it shoots 9mm bullets really well.

Maybe I got lucky.

I have had one in 357 and one in 45LC for 20 years. Both are flawless in operation. The 357 is a pre-cowboy action gun and fit and finish is excellent.....chris3

Most of the Rossi rifles now coming out of Brazel and not under Puma branding have pretty much straight SAAMI specs for chamber sizes. My 45 Colt like .452 cast bullets or .451 jacketed for the most part. I've shot some .454 however lost accuracy with it a bit. The same is true with my Rio Grande in 45-70 gov. as it too prefers .458 cast and .457 jacketed bullets. Again, I've shot .459 but notice no real difference in accuracy with either of them unlike the 45 Colt.

As for the Circuit Judge guns the 410/45 Colt will be a bit inaccurate with 45 Colt due to the distance before the forcing cone I would guess. Don't know about their single caliber models as I've never shot one.

Greetings
I have had an Interarms Rossi model 92 45 Colt for years. It was used when I got it and has never failed, jam or been any sort of a problem.
I have had for a shorter time a Rossi m92 45 Colt that was used. It was stiff and not as slick in function. Required disassembly and cleaning out burrs and rough spots. That seems to be average for newer Rossi model 92's.
I have to say if you buy a Rossi you will need to clean it and maybe do some polishing. But just cleaning it out does help.
I heard a feller say "fill" a new Rossi with metal polish or toothpaste. Cycle it alot for a while. Disassemble and clean and it will work like it should.
So that is my info on a Rossi made within the last 5 years. The old Interarms were made to that importers specs.
Mike in Peru

Some of the BrazTech "Tarus Rossi's" M92's in 45 Colt have the feed ramps extending into the rear portion of the chamber,it makes for flawless feeding of most bullet types, I can mix Winchester Silvertips, cast RCBS LSWC, Lee LSWC, Lee RNFP, and all will cycle, chamber fire and eject all of them.

BUT it leaves the case unsupported and bulges the brass , if you reload as I do your brass takes a beating, even with mild loads (TrailBoss).

I did a few mods, ejector spring, stainless magazine follower, sights and a real intensive disassemble and cleaning with some stoning to smooth out some rough spots. The trigger was a little heavy but no creep or grittiness so I left it alone.

Right now it's a slick feeling lever action and shoots darn good if I do my part. I can ring a 4"gong all day off the bags @ 100 yds, and can keep the 2" swinging pretty good off hand @ 50 yds, using the tang sight.

Jackal said:

Boy does it ever. I have the 22" stainless .44mag and while I am a sturdy fellow (6', 230lbs, by no means a sissy), the little bugger seems to pack a more offensive recoil than a 12ga slug gun, using 240gr full house loads. About equal in my experience to the recoil of a 3" 1oz slug, but with a sharp sided steel buttplate. Oh well, hurts them more than me I guess.

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Fortunately the .454 Casull model comes with a recoil pad:



It sure needs it.

Dan

I've heard mostly positives as a shooter. My personal experience was limited. Action was stiff but serviceable, trigger ok, accuracy was good. Still don't like the safety arrangement.