Cowboy Guns

[red rick]

What do you think of Chiappa rifles ? I am mainly looking at the 1892 . How does it compare to Uberti .

 

[WYOMan]

I bought one of their 92 take down rifles. I love mine.

 

[Tommygunn]

I don't believe Uberti makes a repro of tthe 1892, only Henry, the 1866 version, the 1873 and 1876.
I have heard good about the Chiappa 1892s
Rossis are a little rough but they can smooth up with use and if you're a gunsmith type then you can do a little smoothing up work.
Miroku is a Japanese company that is making repros of the 1892 and '73 .... well, They are made "by" Winchester, except Winchester as such is no longer manufacturing their guns. Nevertheless Mirokus are marked Winchester and the Japanese company makes very good repros.
I have the Deluxe Takedown version of the 1892 in .32-20 by Miroku and it is a very very nice rifle.

 

[bannockburn]

red rick

Love my Rossi Model 92 in .45 Colt. Didn't require any extra effort at smoothing up the action. Fit and finish are very good, especially the bluing and the wood to metal fit. All in all one very slick and handy little carbine.

 

[dh1633pm]

Your Rossi and mine must have been built on two different planets. I have the 20 inch stainless model in 45 Colt. Mine was rough and coarse. I took it apart and polished the moving parts, and now its a different rifle. Changed the shiny polished finish to matte while I was at it. Not its a shooter and I have very little extra invested. Yes the Rossi is an nice purchase. I would do it again anytime.

 

[Speedo66]

My .357 Rossi 92 had good fit and finish and worked great out of the box. Cycling the action a number of times made it smoother.

You can get a better cosmetic finish by buying higher priced brands, but I don't know if the mechanics will be any better.

 

[Cowhide Cliff]

My wife has a Chiappa 92, it is a more accurate copy of an original 92 than the Rossi but honestly the Rossi rifles seem to be more reliable and feed better for quick handling and cowboy action shooting. Most any of them need some smoothing and action work and are usually rough feeling out of the box.

 

[stubbicatt]

There is a difference in price between say the Uberti 1873 clone and the Chiappa or Rossi 1892's, which reflects a vast difference in fit and finish. The wood and the metal on the Uberti are nicer. As I understand it, one or both the Chiappa and Rossi have added mechanical safeties, which detract from their overall appearance, and add a redundant and (IMO) unnecessary level of safety. I say unnecessary as anyone I know doesn't load the chamber until it is time to fire, and, if one doesn't fire, one places the hammer on half cock.

I am sure others will differ with my view.

 

[BCRider]

A local gunsmith that does a good amount of cowboy action gunsmithing cringes when a Chiappa comes in the door. Apparently if it's in .45Colt it can be tuned up. But their .357 models rely on some shortcuts that make them impossible to slick up for cowboy action shooting.

Another issue I have with Chiappa is that i personally know of 9 shooters, with me being one of them, that have bought Chiappa firearms and all 9 of us had some major issue with our guns. So I'll have to be excused if I consider those with nicely operating Chiappas to be the lucky ones and the rest get duds.

 

[justin22885]

just keep in mind real cowboys didnt use .45 colt or 357 in their lever actions, 357 didnt exist yet and .45 colt had extraction issues due to a very small rim that made them too unreliable to sell.. .44WCF (44-40) would be the most popular.. .32-20 was used a lot too, so if you want one, and you want to go authentic those are a couple good choices.. otherwise just pick which of the available calibers you like

 

[red rick]

Lets expand this some . Would you rather have a 1892 or 1873 and what caliber ?

I do have a press , but I am a amateur at it though . I have .45 colt , .357 and .44 dies .

My main interest with it is plinking , but I might want to take a deer with it but I don't know why because I have a 30/30 .

Lets hear yea .

 

[The Alaskan]

I only have experience with a Rossi 92 in 357, so I won't pass judgement on the others.

My Rossi is OLD, pre lawyer safety, imported by Interarms, so my experience may differ dramatically from others. I can't say enough good things about that rifle. My dad picked it up at a gun show cheap decades ago, and I've been shooting it ever since. The action is smooth and crisp, acceptable trigger pull, and actually really darn accurate-especially with hand loads. In fact, I can load weak 357's to the point the gun doesn't move on the rest when fired, and you can plink all day long cheap and easy.

I have a friend who has the newer Rossi 92 in 454 Casull as a moose and bear defense gun. He had the safety removed and filled the hole with a peep sight. He feels about his gun the same way I do about mine.

There is a guy down in Texas or Oklahoma or someplace that specializes in tuning Rossi 92's for CAS. Might be worth an internet search.

As for the Miroku guns, I generally denigrate them, not because they're bad guns, but because they're Japanese made Winchester and I find that abhorrent. However, I've never personally fired one, but every person I ever met who has had nothing but praises for them, and I think that says a lot. I didn't know that Miroku made one in 32-20. I really like that caliber, having a revolver in that cartridge. It's an accurate little cartridge and fun to shoot. Good small game caliber, too. I carry one for grouse at my cabin. If I could buy a Miroku gun for a lot less than an original, pre-64 Winchester in 32-20, I might swallow my American made pride and give it a try.

 

[Mosin Bubba]

My Rossi is OLD, pre lawyer safety, imported by Interarms, so my experience may differ dramatically from others. I can't say enough good things about that rifle. My dad picked it up at a gun show cheap decades ago, and I've been shooting it ever since. The action is smooth and crisp, acceptable trigger pull, and actually really darn accurate-especially with hand loads

I'll vouch for this. I shot a friend's pre-safety Rossi 92 in 357. It's a rough-looking gun, so poorly finished that the front of the forearm is just bare plywood. It might be the tackiest thing I've ever seen on a production rifle. But that gun is just slicker than snot. It's smoother than any Marlin lever action I've handled, and as good as a nice Winchester.

I just shot it offhand at plastic jugs, so I can't say much about accuracy, but between the Rossi's incredibly light weight (that thing just points) and the smoothness of its action, it was a very fun plinker. I don't see how you could go wrong for $500. A 92 of my own is definitely on my short list of guns to buy.

 

[The Alaskan]

I'll vouch for this. I shot a friend's pre-safety Rossi 92 in 357. It's a rough-looking gun, so poorly finished that the front of the forearm is just bare plywood. It might be the tackiest thing I've ever seen on a production rifle. But that gun is just slicker than snot. It's smoother than any Marlin lever action I've handled, and as good as a nice Winchester.

I just shot it offhand at plastic jugs, so I can't say much about accuracy, but between the Rossi's incredibly light weight (that thing just points) and the smoothness of its action, it was a very fun plinker. I don't see how you could go wrong for $500. A 92 of my own is definitely on my short list of guns to buy.

WOW. The woodwork must have been some bubba-fied something. I've never seen anything like what you described. (I briefly owned a Mauser 93 on a stock that looked to have been carved by a Cub Scout with a hatchet, but that's another story.)

Yeah, it does point well. I recall a day at a friend's property shooting it with the stock against my upper leg like Chuck Connors in The Rifleman, and being able to actually hit targets. (rather large targets but you get the idea)

 

[az_imuth]

Don't know much about the Chiappa, but...

I picked up this '92 Rossi a few years back and it has run like a champ since day one. Chambered in 38/357, the action was stiff coming out of the box. Working the action through a couple episodes of gunsmoke smoothed it right up. Feeds and fires 38 and 357 without a hitch, and being the 24" model, it holds a bit more than a dozen rounds to boot. Seems plenty accurate at 50 yards and the sights were set dead on for 38 when I got it. I'm very happy with the rifle and wouldn't hesitate to buy another.

 

[eastbank]

a real cowboy gun, win 1892 38-40 takdown. i paid 800.00 for it. eastbank.

 

[dh1633pm]

I took my Rossi 92 in 45 Colt apart the day I purchased it. I may have removed the safety (that little do dad on the top of the bolt), replaced the sights with ghost rings, metal follower in place of the plastic one and some new springs. A matt finish and I called it a day. Its a good shooter. At 25 yards it makes a swinging metal target swing up almost 90 degrees. The 45-70 makes it swing around four or five times. I like the Rossi. You can see where shortcuts were taken in making the rifle. Sharp edges and roughly finished parts. A little smoothing goes a long way. The trigger didn't need any work at all.

 

[Speedo66]

I think lots of the stories about Rossi's being crude are old info. The newer ones are coming through with no problems and decent fit and finish.

I got mine new 7 months ago for $415 in .357 and have no complaints. The ejector threw empties a little far, a 70 cent hardware store spring now has them falling at my feet, but no function issues whatsoever. Nice accurate shooting little gun.

 

[MEHavey]

From experience with

- `92 Rossi in 44Mag - utterly reliable, no complaints. Basic Chevrolet of a rifle. At 16" a little brutal on the shoulder. Light & strong.
- `92 Chiappa in 357Mag - utterly reliable, no complaints. 20" Beautifully made & stocked. Light & Strong. A real lady.
- `73 Uberti in both 44-40 and 357. Both works of true art. But the `73 action is heavy, inherently weaker in design, and self-limiting.

For a 1-Gun choice, stay with the `92 design.

 

[The Alaskan]

From experience with

- `92 Rossi in 44Mag - utterly reliable, no complaints. Basic Chevrolet of a rifle.

I like this comment. This a feature I look for in just about every piece o equipment or tool I own. Solid durability, for me, even trumps performance in many cases.

On a side note, if you go with a Rossi 92 in 45LC, and if you hand load or know someone who does, I am reliably told that one can hand load hardcast, wide flat nose (WFN) lead projectiles with the right type and amount of powder to come pretty close to 454 Casull performance, and the Rossi 92 will handle it.

So that would give you the added option of a pretty darn good deer and hog rifle that will bust through brush and bone without hardly slowing down. And from experience, I can tell you that those lever guns are pretty good for climbing and sitting in tree stands. Real compact.

 

[Speedo66]

On a side note, if you go with a Rossi 92 in 45LC, and if you hand load or know someone who does, I am reliably told that one can hand load hardcast, wide flat nose (WFN) lead projectiles with the right type and amount of powder to come pretty close to 454 Casull performance, and the Rossi 92 will handle it.

Based on what I've read on www.rossi-rifleman.com a dedicated Rossi site, the word seems to be the .454 model is built to different strength standards. You cannot just rechamber a .45 model and use .454's in it.

Hot .45's seem to be OK due to the inherent strength of the action, but I would not overload them to .454 standards.

 

[Crunchy Frog]

Lets expand this some . Would you rather have a 1892 or 1873 and what caliber ?

I do have a press , but I am a amateur at it though . I have .45 colt , .357 and .44 dies .

My main interest with it is plinking , but I might want to take a deer with it but I don't know why because I have a 30/30 .

Lets hear yea .

My response is "it depends".

If you don't need a heavier caliber for hunting, it's hard to beat a lever action .357 as a fun plinker. Top rifle for cowboy action shooting too, if you are so inclined.

The 1873 is mechanically simple and can be made VERY slick if you want to spend a little more money on it. This is why it's so popular as a competition rifle.

The '92 action is more compact, and stronger, although I have no qualms about shooting .357 ammo through my '73. Problem is, it seems a little more difficult to get the '92s to work as well with .38/.357 than with the larger calibers, but there are plenty of folks out there that have '92s in .357 that work fine.

 

[The Alaskan]

Based on what I've read on www.rossi-rifleman.com a dedicated Rossi site, the word seems to be the .454 model is built to different strength standards. You cannot just rechamber a .45 model and use .454's in it.

Hot .45's seem to be OK due to the inherent strength of the action, but I would not overload them to .454 standards.

I didn't mean to suggest you load a 45LC to the same power as a 454. (I'm not sure that's even possible.) Neither did I mean to load actual 454's into a 45LC chamber.

What I was suggesting is that you can load a 45LC to near 454 performance. And that's pretty darn good.

All that said, my hunting and bear defense lever gun is a 44 magnum. But I'm just offering ideas. My ideas are worth exactly what you paid for them, and I offer a money back guarantee.

 

[Choctaw]

A Rossi 92 can easily handle Ruger Only loads in 45 Colt. My rifle is perfect for hunting in Texas.

 

[bannockburn]

red rick

I got my Rossi in .45 Colt mostly because I already had a Ruger Vaquero and a Beretta Stampede in the same caliber. My handloads are pretty much of the middle of the road variety, mainly for plinking and target practice.