Rossi 1892- worth it?

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TTv2

I love mine, 16" barrel, large loop M92 in .45 Colt. Picked it up some time back, used but like new in the box (even found the original receipt in with the paperwork), at a local gun show. It was the only one I had seen in a long time so I picked it up along with a Beretta Stampede also in .45 Colt. The action itself was already very slick and ready to go, right out of the box. Really like the short barrel for getting it on target very quickly.

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My 16" 44mag SS R92 is my main deer hunting rig. It'll put 5 rounds of my 240gr XTP/4227 hand loads into one ragged hole at 50 yards. It's put a few bambi in the freezer.

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The longer barrel only gets you more capacity and a longer sight radius. With the drop of the pistol cartridges, and their accuracy (or lack thereof compared to bottle necked cartridges) I don't see alot to gain with the long barrels. The 16" handles so great that's what I went with.

Feeds specials and SWC's, great slick action. I'm not getting rid of mine.
The horror of a dot sight on a lever gun...
I mounted a 2-7 scout scope on mine too do a load work up. It stayed for 4 years before I removed it.
To the people having issues finding parts. Some Winchester 92 parts can be modified to fit. That's how I finally got an ejector.
 
You can see a pattern here, everything worked fine as is, I just changed things to meet my personal wants. In my experience, if you're looking for a light, accurate well made lever action, I don't think you'll go wrong with a Rossi.
What I'm looking for is a repeating rifle that shoots the hot Ruger/TC .45 Colt.
 
I don't see why not, the 92 style action is very strong, especially with modern steel. Rossi makes a .44 Magnum version which should be equal to the hot .45 loads in the .45 version. They also made a .480 Ruger version, although there was always controversy on different boards over whether that version had special material or heat treating.

This site has detailed info on the Rossi R92's: www.rossi-rifleman.com
 
I have a 16” .454. I love it. No problems through 600 rounds. My most carried rifle. Ive checkered the stock, drilled and tapped the barrel band for a sling, got a brass bead front sight, and filed my rear buck horn sight down into a very shallow v “express” sight complete with a painted vertical white line.
 
I bought a new Rossi .44 mag, 20" round barrel, about 2 months ago. The wood is so so, but the fit and finish are good. Out of the box, it cycled, fed and fired 40 rounds of Federal 240gr JSP very well and at 25 yards was showing good accuracy off hand. No issues with the loading gate being sharp, no issues at all, until...

Round number 41 would not feed all the way in the gate. I thought the follower was sticking until I noticed the problem.
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The magazine tube worked loose and moved forward of the barrel. Through research I found out that it's not common but not unheard of.

So it's back at the mother ship after 40 rounds. They sent me a shipping label for free and said the current turn around is 12 weeks. It arrived last week at the repair center. I'm hoping they get it fixed because the rifle was a lot better out of the box than I expected it would be, and if the problem I suffered can be resolved, I'll be happy with the purchase.

Edited to add that research shows this issue is only common in the .44 mag version of the rifle. I read the .454 version has the mag tube screwed into the receiver to avoid the problem. The other calibers are only held in by the bands and the little dimple or set screw seen hanging on the mag tube in my pics.
 
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I also found the area around the loading gate to be sharp. What I did was use the smooth upper part of a drill bit to peen the sharp edges down. Just running the bit over the sharp parts using hand pressure was enough to smooth them out.

The hardware store spring I used to tame the ejection was a Century C-530. You can find them on Amazon.
 
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I have a 16-inch round barrel version in 44 Mag. The wood is fairly plain but the fit to metal is pretty good. The action was a little rough at first but a couple hundred rounds later it's pretty slick. Accuracy is minute of deer vitals out to ~100 yards with my hand loaded 240gr HP. Great rough terrain brush gun or for throwing in the UTV/tractor.

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I've got 2 Rossi 92 carbines, 16 1/2 inch blued 357 (maybe the handiest centerfire rifle I've ever held...5 lbs) and 20 inch SS in 45 colt. Both fine right out of the box, and good shooters. I like that the barrel is drilled and tapped for a scout scope (under the rear sight), and I've put one on each of them (old eyes don't do well with semi-buckhorn sights, with the picatinny rail, you can mount an XS ghost ring sight on the rail for use when the scopes are removed using Warne quick detach rings). I also have a Miroku Winchester 1892 in 45 colt. It's fancier, but bullets come out the barrel just like the Rossi's. It's going to stay original. Don't worry about dinging the Rossi's, do about the Winchester. I actually like the funky safety on the Rossi bolt, jacking bullets through a lever gun is a risk, and a hunter in a nearby town shot his son in the leg doing that with a Winchester 94 in 30-30. I also like the Taurus lock on the hammer, quick and easy way to make the firearm safe around the house. Locks on most lever guns are problematic.

Three Henry rifles cohabit with the 92's, and they're fine guns too, with the advantage of being able to unload without jacking cartridges through a chamber with a cocked hammer. The "steel" in 45 colt was easily scoped with a conventional eye relief scope (Henry provides a rail base at a very reasonable price, however the one I got had mounting screws that were too short), no scope on the brass 357 model, because I don't trust the screws to not strip out in that softer metal. The H001 rimfire is just a hoot, what can I say, inexpensive to buy and equally inexpensive to shoot.
 
I have a stainless Rossi 92 w/ a 20" octagon bbl in 357 that was rough cycling the action. There are several good YouTube videos out there on how to slick them up. I followed one and used stones to take down all the rough and uneven areas. Once I put her back together is was much smoother, which made it enjoyable to shoot. Overall I'm pretty happy with the gun now.
 
My wife’s stainless .357 Rossi ‘92 locked-up tight, as in frozen solid, with live ammo inside it. Someday, we may deliver it to a ‘smith, with driving distance, if my wife can remember where she hid the thing. (Hurricane Harvey was not kind to us; we forgot where we hastily stored some things.)

I would not have a Rossi, if someone offered it, for free,
 
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My .454 feeds 45LC great, in fact, that's what I normally shoot. But you need to clean the chamber before shooting. 454 again. I think that's due to the shorter case leaving carbon where the .454 case needs to be.

That's good to hear! You might be able to make a "chamber scraper" if you slightly bell a unloaded 454 case and just chamfer the heck out of the inside of the case mouth.

Either way, it's a small price to pay for the once-twice I'd need the utility.
 
I've owned two, both with 24" octagonal barrels, one blued in .357 and my current one a .44 Mag in stainless. Are they Winchesters, no, but they don't cost near as much as a new Winchester either. The .357 was exceptionally accurate and like a dummy I sold it. It functioned like it should with no jams and the fit and finish was very good. Well worth the money. My current one in .44 Mag is not quite as accurate as the .357 was but does very well. I have had no malfunctions with it. I shoot metallic silhouette with it and my misses are me and not the rifle. When I aim properly it hits the silhouette. Every manufacturer has it's hits and misses on quality but from my experience and what I've read, the hits with Rossi are far more than the misses.
 
How can you comment of how well they function when you haven't shot them? Or how they compare to other manufactures? You bought them, refinished them but don't shoot them? Sounds like more of an art project than shooting. jmo

Not an art project. More like good looking dump material if the need arises.
Just caught this reply. Sounds like a used car dealer more that a shooter. As always buyer beware of used guns.
 
My 20" 45LC was purchased about 17 years ago and has been flawless in reliability and durability. Mine is the pre-safety version. The mystery hardwood is fitted proudly but the metalwork is quite good. Probably over 1000 rounds without a hiccup. Now I want to add 16" to find me of dad's original 1892 trapper.
 
A story of fate. About 4 or 5 years ago I had been eyeing a Winchester trapper in .44 mag at the pawn shop in the next town over. Think the price was around $ 700 or so. Finally decided and sold a rifle for $500 to go put down on it. Well I got to the pawn shop that Saturday afternoon around 4 o’clock only to find out they closed at 3. Well while in town I decided to ride by one of the gun shops and they had a new in the box Rossi 16 inch big loop lever in .357. Out the door at $ 470 something. Has ran like a champ with .357 or .38 fit and finish was and is great.
 
I presently own six lever action carbines. Many are Marlins, with one Miroku, but it is my blued 16" .357 Rossi 92 that is perhaps the greatest firearms value in history. I took it apart and stoned some bits, swapped the springs, staked the ejector pins and Bingo! I have a reliable, fun shooter than is also one of two firearms used in a home defense role.

My son liked it so much that I bought him one as a surprise for his 25th birthday five years ago. Supply dried up after that, and now they're back! Grab a couple!

And if whoever it was that might junk his NIB .45 Colts, send them to me! (actually, my local FFL) and I'll send you some money.
 
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