Picked up a Rossi 44 mag today.

[CoalCrackerAl]

I like the dark finish on the wood. Im going to give it a couple of coats of tru-oil then

 

[LoonWulf]

Good looking rifle! 20 in?

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

Yes a 20 inch. Im thinking about a 357 mag next. I already have 45 colt.

 

[ThomasT]

You will like that gun. When it gets a little dinged and skinned up strip the stock and refinish. I have seen several that have been refinished and the wood under the factory finish has some grain that really pops with a good stain applied.

 

[ThomasT]

Yes a 20 inch. Im thinking about a 357 mag next. I already have 45 colt.

If its helpful loong ago I had the 357 version and while it shot jacketed bullets very well I never could find a lead bullet load it would stabilize. The bullets were tipping at 30 yards and full on sideways at 50 yards and I tried every lead bullet I could test. I guess the 1/30 twist just didn't like lead.

I sold it and bought a Marlin 357 that shoots lead as well as it does jacketed bullets. Rossi has used the 1/30 twist for decades in the 44 mag and 357 mag but oddly enough uses a 1/24 or something close to that for the 45 Colt which should be a very good choice.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

I hope mine shoots coated cast good. My CVA hunter does good with them.

 

[Riomouse911]

That is a good looking ‘92 as @LoonWulf said! My .45C and .357 Rossi’s have more of a funky reddish stain on their rather bland hardwood stocks. Yours reminds me of my old 1990’s era ‘92 .357, which had deep bluing and stocks made from really nice, dark wood with a nice grain.

If your other PCC lever is a Rossi ‘92 also, you are probably familiar with Steves Gunz. He sells metal magazine followers and bolt-top safety deletes, along with springs and how-to stuff, if you desire.

Looking forward to reading about how it shoots for you when you get a chance to stretch its legs a bit.

Stay safe.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

Here is my Rossi 45 colt.

 

[Enfieldier]

My 92s in .44 and .357 shoot lead just fine. I use 158gr LSW in the .357. I also put a red dot on the .357. The barrel is factory tapped under the rear sight for a mount that Rossi sells (and others on Ebay).

 

[Frulk]

Few months back I handled several Rossi’s in a pawn shop in eastern Washington. Was visiting my mother and took the opportunity to window shop. Cycled everything they had in the rack. All felt good and .454 version felt SLICK. All of them were brand new.

Since then I’ve warmed up considerably to them. My personal feelings are they’re currently the bargain leader (in a good way) in the lever segment.

If I NEEDED a lever in a pistol cartridge I’d be looking long and hard at them. That’s coming from a Win/Marlin fanboy.

 

[ThomasT]

I hope mine shoots coated cast good. My CVA hunter does good with them.

I tried to look up your CVA Hunter but they have been discontinued. It seems like I considered one myself and IIRC they had a 1/20 twist barrel which is probably why yours shoots as well as it does with lead.

 

[NorthBorder]

I have a Henry, Winchester, 2 Marlins and a Rossi 45 Colt. The Rossi is my choice when I go snooping up in the national forests around here. I don't feel like I need to protect it from the bumps and dings, I guess. And it works and carries well. And affordable. Its kind of an everyman's rifle. Congrats @CoalCrackerAl on your new purchase.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

I think the CVA scout took it's place. The rain is stopping. And it's not going to be crazy hot this weekend. I'll take it out. And shoot it with 200 and 240 grain cast and Berry's 240 grain hollow points and see how it does.

 

[troy fairweather]

Nice, I'd really would like a stainless 44 and sand blast it for crap weather days hunting in the brush.

 

[ThomasT]

I think the CVA scout took it's place. The rain is stopping. And it's not going to be crazy hot this weekend. I'll take it out. And shoot it with 200 and 240 grain cast and Berry's 240 grain hollow points and see how it does.

I can't wait for your results especially with the 200gr cast bullets. My Lee 200gr RNFP mold got here a couple of days ago and I have my pot set up so I can cast a couple hundred this weekend. My hopes are to take advantage of the 1/38 twist in my Marlin 44 mag and try and make a poor boy 44-40 type load. The original 1873 rifles had a 1/36 twist and worked well with 200gr bullets. I would love an 1873 Uberti copy but not enough to buy one and start loading for yet another caliber.

So I am hoping I can use what I have and make it work like the original 44-40. My gun also has Ballard rifling and does good with 240gr lead at least out to 50 yards. So I am hoping these 200gr loads work well with lighter recoil. I have a thread about this over on the Marlin Owners Forum with a little more detail. I am looking to get around 1300fps and decent 100yard accuracy. A 4" open sighted group at 100 yards would be fine. Tighter is better. But really not needed.

I remember one Mike Venturino article where he came here to Texas on a doe cull hunt and brought an original 1873 in 44-40. He shot 5 deer most at around 100 yards and said every bullet was a pass through and he didn't see where more power would have been any better. I like thinking like that. After the 1873 hit the market it was used all over the US to hunt deer. Lots of deer. I think it took the always popular 30-30 a while to pass the score left by the 44-40.

 

[3Crows]

My R92 is nery nice and very smooth. It was a little clunky and did not want to feed when new but quickly settled in. I am sick of digging lead out of barrels. I am shooting the Hornady 240XTP in mine and it is accurate. The metal butt had to go as it left crescent shaped purple bruises on my shoulder.



I did install the Steves Guns hammer spring but has to shim it to ensure reliable ignition to my satisfaction and also the ejector spring which IMO is a little too soft but it is in there now. I also installed the safety delete. Do not have my books in front of me but I think I have 10 grains of Unique behind the 240XTP for a mild load.

My CVA in .44 Magnum:

 

[doubleh]

My Rossi has a much lighter finish. Looks like a clear coat and the wood grain is visible. The wood is nothing specially but you can see it. I found the stock to be shorter than I prefer and added a Tourbon leather one with 1/2" of padding that has Velcro fastening. The Rossi stock is small and I couldn't find a slip on one that wasn't too large. The 1/2" pad was not enough to make me happy and just happening to have a piece of 1/2" high density foam laying around I cut a piece to add to the pad. That made the length perfect and the leather pad kind of goes with lever action rifles.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

Ok back from the range. I need a recoil pad for the 44. I took my 45 colt along too. I took the scout scope off. And needed to re-sight the irons. The 2 high shot were 1st shots for each. I didn't bother drifting the 44 back sight. It did good with cast i think. No key holes. I shot from 25 yards. I need to adjust my seat crimp die. The 240 grain Berry's plated set back into the case. But it didn't seam to cause pressure issues. I loaded them at 10 grains of unique. 12 grains for the 180 and 200 grain cast. Only had 4 rounds of the 180 grain. The 45 colt with 8 grains of unique. I shot 250 coated cast and 230 grain plated hollow points with it. I'll take the 44 back out again after i pad the stock lol.

 

[Show Me]

My R92 is nery nice and very smooth. It was a little clunky and did not want to feed when new but quickly settled in. I am sick of digging lead out of barrels. I am shooting the Hornady 240XTP in mine and it is accurate. The metal butt had to go as it left crescent shaped purple bruises on my shoulder.



I did install the Steves Guns hammer spring but has to shim it to ensure reliable ignition to my satisfaction and also the ejector spring which IMO is a little too soft but it is in there now. I also installed the safety delete. Do nit hqve my books in front of me but I think I have 10 grains of Unique behind the 240XTP for a mild load.

My CVA in .44 Magnum:

Can we "circle back" to the part about digging lead out of barrels.

 

[3Crows]

Can we "circle back" to the part about digging lead out of barrels.

Sure, I am tired of cleaning and scrubbing lead out of my barrels. You do you, I will do me . In my Rossi .44M, Ruger BH and CVA Scout I prefer the Hornady 240XTP.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

3Crows were you getting lead with coated bullets? I was getting lead from the using tight group. It was the worst with 9mm and 380 for me.

 

[3Crows]

3Crows were you getting lead with coated bullets? I was getting lead from the using tight group. It was the worst with 9mm and 380 for me.

I cannot say and did not mean to imply that leading is a particular problem with the Rossi, do not know, it has never seen a lead bullet yet. I have just sworn of lead for most of my rifles. The Rossi .44 barrel is a little on the larger side so will likely need custom sizing. It is shooting the jacketed bullets really nice, feeding good and good accuracy. And the 240XTP is just a good all around bullet and has worked well for me in the past for deer and hogs and I imagine just about anything a .44 magnum rifle would be useful for.

I have used several different coated bullets for .45-70 loads. I have ordered custom sizes, I have slugged barrels, this going back decades. I am not into cheap and I just reached a point one late evening where I decided that for most of my purposes, lead is just not worth the pain anymore. I do have some gas checked bullets in .44 and .45 caliber I will continue to use.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

Cool thanks for getting back to me. I cleaned mine last night after it's 1st shots. I'll look and see if i can see any lead fouling.

 

[ThomasT]

I cast a couple hundred 200gr 44 mag bullets yesterday. They are ready for loading as cast. They measure .431 so that should be good for both rifle and Ruger SBH. And I didn't water quench them. I want them soft enough to go down my 44 mag lever barrel without extra pressure. My barrel measures .430 as close as I can tell. I slugged it with a water hardened bullet and thought I would never get it out of there. Lesson learned.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

Tom i think you will be good to go. My cast are .431 too. Im going to order some fiber optic front sights too. Just need to measure mine 1st. I also ordered a recoil pad. From researching. Folks are using 10/22 ones.