Ordered a Rossi 1892 today, great price

[eldon519]

For years I have equivocated over getting a Marlin 1894 or a Rossi 92 in either .44 or .45. Ideally, I think I would have liked a 1894 in .45 Colt, but I don't see them often, and when I do the price is very high. On the other hand, a stainless 16" Rossi also sounded like a great general purpose rifle for the woods. I ended up somewhere in the middle. Whitaker Guns has 20" blued Rossi 1892s in .44 and .45 Colt for $380 right now. That price pretty much made up my mind for me. I figured I would pass along the deal in case anyone else is in the market.

In honest self-reflection, I spend many more hours a year at the range shooting for offhand accuracy than I do wandering the woods hunting, and the 20" barrel probably will serve me better for that purpose than a 16", as much as I do admire the portability of the smaller package. The 20" Rossi is still only about 5lbs as well. I hope to replace the safety with a peep from Kiowa which ought to make it easy to punch holes in paper at 100yds or so.

 

[Ibmikey]

I hope yours will work, most of the older ones required extensive internal work, Steve's Rossi's makes a living out of making them function. My current trapper carbine is nicely stoned inside, had the plastic follower replaced with a steel one from a 92 and the idiotic safety on top of the bolt replaced with a plug from Steve's. He also makes a peep sight to go into the safety hole.

 

[HankR]

Did you get it in .45 Colt, or...?

 

[200Apples]

Nice to hear. You should love it.

I've a 16" R92 in .357 that I've slicked and sprung. It's a ton of fun ringing steel silhouettes with it. Incredible practical accuracy, and feels like shooting a .22.

Then there's the 20" B92 in .44 that, while possessing quite a bit more horsepower, doesn't have anywhere near the recoil of the .30WCF Win '94 I had for a spell (unlike everything else in my armory, it did not shoot well)... you should have a great time with either of the two chamberings you mentioned, and for what it's worth, the 20"-barreled '92s are still shorter overall than an 870 pump wearing an 18" barrel. In other words, it will still be quite handy.

 

[RugerBob]

You will enjoy it. I have 3 rossi 92s. All 45lc. 20" rnd, 20" octagon and 24" octagon. The rnd belongs to the wife. Use them for cowboy shooting.
Most issues I see are people using 38 when chambered for 357. Some work. some don't. Not my caliber, so not an issue here. The biggest thing to remember is when shooting to go extreme forward and all is well. Many try and not going forward to stop position get failure to reload next rnd.
Good luck, have fun.

 

[eldon519]

To clarify it is the .45 Colt version rather than the .44 magnum. I reload for both, so sort of a toss up.

For $380 I don't mind doing a little work, throwing in some springs, and doing a fluff and buff. I like my Marlin 1894C a good bit, but it is far from a smooth cycling rifle, and it cost a whole lot more than that. Besides I out a Skinner sight and a Wild West Guns Trigger Happy Kit on every Marlin I own, so it isn't like they come out of the box how I like them either.

 

[Saddlebag Preacher]

I have a .45 20" carbine I bought in the late 1990's that I have used deer hunting, on horse back, as a western reenactor and has shot everything from blanks, black powder loads, cowboy factory loads, XTP HP Self Defense loads and most recently the Hornady Leverevolution rounds. The stock broke on horse back and had to be repaired once. It has been the absolute best fast handling point shooting rifle I've ever owned. I foolishly sold it back in 2001 and in 2002 regretted it so bad I tracked the guy down and bought it back instead of getting a different one. It's never had an action job or spring set in it. It has been used and used until it has smoothed itself out. Now that my horse is gone, it is relegated to my jeep gun, and bedside companion.

 

[HankR]

...it is the .45 Colt version

That would have been my choice also. Well done.

 

[BCRider]

A Rossi 92 is my main match cowboy action rifle. And I've managed to slick it up enough that I've had a pretty good number of compliments about it over the years. That's led to me slicking and installing spring kits in four more since my own for close friends.

The good news is that most of the work I needed to do to mine from 8 years ago is already done in the four I've done over the past 3 years. You'll still want to check over the bolt for burrs and stone away any that you find. But the four "improved" models I've worked on were just fine right out of the box. The most I've done is to install the spring kit.

One gun turned out to have a very non typical poorly finished and fitted loading gate and attached spring. I'm not sure what the case was but it's turned out to cause problems in the most recent gun. I suspect it's a pretty isolated situation since all the other guns were fine.

In any event the 92 is the proper platform over the 94 for handgun caliber use. No one that shoots cowboy action stays with the handgun caliber 94's for long because they act up when cycled fast. At least it's the typical issue that shows up. So don't feel like you got second best for any reason.

 

[Speedo66]

Great price, thanks for posting.

 

[bannockburn]

eldon519

Nice choice at a decent price! I picked up a Rossi Model 92 at a local gun show a few years back. It was LNIB and had a 16" barrel and the large loop lever. What cinched the deal was that it was in .45 Colt, same caliber as three of my single actions. The overall fit and finish was great. The action was already slick as can be and I can't think of another lever action carbine that I have used that is as handy and as quick on target as this one is.

 

[Rom828]

I picked up the twenty inch version in 357 a couple of months ago and love it. I went into it thinking I would have to tinker with it for it to run right. I was wrong. Nothing had to be done. I think they are paying attention at Taurus.

 

[DHart]

I picked up a Puma 92 Trapper in .454 Casull/.45 Colt. Great little rifle. I mostly shoot .45 Colt with it. Its not the rifle my Browning B92 was (sorry I sold that one!), but it's a good rifle. .45 Colt is an awesome caliber. .454 Casull is a real powerhouse!