Rossi 357 6" at $300 = best deal in town

I think Rossi is a much under rated gun. I had a 2" 971 back in 2004. I think it was a Twin to the Mdl. 66 S&W. It seamed to be built every bit as good.

Rossi 357 6" at $300

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With the days of finding a used S&W 686 or Colt Trooper at that price are long gone, I'd say you have found the next best thing.

I handled a new Rossi of that model in a LGS a few months back. Handsome gun.

When in lock up , trigger fully depressed , the cylinder side play seemed excessive to me , and , when wiggling the cylinder I could feel and see the depressed trigger move side to side under my index finger.

Probably a good shooter and a good value at that price , but all that slop in a new revolver was a red flag to me.

To each his own experience.

I've owned about 7 over the years. The newer ones are good quality. They went through a period during the interarms days, early 90s, when they were pretty lousy in fit and finish and had some firing pin problems with a 971 stainless and a M88 .38 special stainless. The fix was to fit a S&W K frame firing pin to them.

I still have an early 80s blued M68 3" .38 that is marvelous, fantastic quality fit and finish and no problems, though it doesn't have that high a round count. I bought it for 100 bucks for my step dad so I could get the M10 my grandpa willed me away from him. He just wanted something around the house. Well, he passed on 10 years or so back and I got the gun back. It's for sure had less than 1000 rounds through it, most of it done by me. I think the old man put about half a box of old 158 round nose through it at a local indoor range just to make sure it worked. It does, quite accurate.

The quality of fit and finish of that old Rossi I bought in 1981 is as good as any S&W M36, but I cannot say that about the early 90s ones. The new ones have gotten a lot better since then, but the early 80s ones were marvelous. They all worked well and were quite accurate, aside from firing pin issues.

My Rossi 972 .357 with a 6" full lug barrel taken in trade shoots really great, much better than I can. I was considering cutting the barrel down to 3" but my 2 buds talked me out of doing that. I have found that used revolvers are broken in really well. They are generally a great deal. I also have picked up a Taurus 6" .357 half lug barrel that is also a great shooter and very smooth.

My Rossi 972 .357 with a 6" full lug barrel taken in trade shoots really great, much better than I can. I was considering cutting the barrel down to 3" but my 2 buds talked me out of doing that. I have found that used revolvers are broken in really well. They are generally a great deal. I also have picked up a Taurus 6" .357 half lug barrel that is also a great shooter and very smooth.

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You can buy a Rossi 3" carry for a bit over 300 bucks, probably cheaper than cutting down a 6" barrel and doing it right.

That Taurus is likely a M66. I have two of 'em and they're fantastic quality guns. One's a 3", the other a 4", and they both out-shoot my old Ruger Security Six and are built stronger than the old K frames, especially the newer 4" gun which has a larger frame, close to L frame, if a bit heavier. The older 3" is basically a K frame size, but has a round forcing cone, major bonus as I've had trouble with K frame's and their flat bottom forcing cones.