Polishing an action

[WNC Seabee]

I picked up an inexpensive Rossi Model 92 lever gun that needs some "smoothing" to the action. I am not a gunsmith, but am reasonably handy. I'd like to give it a go on smoothing the action.

Does this consist of quite literally taking a rag and some polishing compound and simply smoothing out rough edges and giving the mating surfaces a nice bright polish? I would not feel comfortable reshaping any metal with a file at this point, but may give that a go at a later time.

Key point....I don't really care about this rifle. One of the main reasons I picked this rifle up is to see if I can do this action smoothing job. If I screw it up, so be it. So, answers along the lines of "send it to somebody that knows what they're doing" aren't really what I'm looking for.

The only mentor that I have for this would be my father (a machinist), but he's 600 miles away.

Any advice that can be given regarding cleaning up/polishing an action is general would be most welcome. Videos? Books?

thank you in advance.

 

[rcmodel]

There is a lot more involved then rubbing it with a rag for sure.

Progressivly finer stones are used to remove machining buurs and rough spots, followed by polishing with very fine emery paper & oil, or a buffer. You must fully understand where and what to polish or you can quickly ruin some parts by removing metal in all the wrong places.

Here is a fairly good step by step guide.

http://marauder.homestead.com/files/Rossitune.htm

rc

 

[WNC Seabee]

rcmodel...that link is outstanding! thank you.

I understand that I risk ruining some parts along the way, I'm willing to accept that as a cost of learning.

 

[donjr5]

on my Win 94 trapper, I just cleaned all the parts. Then I smoothed off all flat surfaces with a hard knife sharpening stone. I also smoothed the tongue/grooves where the bolt slides in the action. reassembled with good lube. 100 percent improvement in smoothness of the action

 

[BCRider]

SeaBee, I recently tuned up my own Rossi using those write ups as a guide. The key is that the parts fit already so you don't need or want to remove a lot of metal. What helps though is that rubbing a lot of the faces on a known flat oil stone will provide smooth crests that will glide far better than the rough machine marks. But the idea is to just remove the crests and no more.

In particular you want to watch it if you polish the trigger and sear hooks. A little goes a long way and it is best to use a jig to ensure you don't alter the engagement angles. In my case very little was needed as the trigger became wonderfully light just from the spring clipping outlined in the writeup.

Other than these two reminders just follow what the write up says.


Oh, if you use .357 cases loaded to .38spl power like I do then getting or making the lighter ejector spring is pretty much a must. During spirited lever cycles in the CAS matches I shoot in the empties are going up about 10 feet over my head. Some of them are still on the roof of the shed at the first pit.... A softer spring is on the To Do list for this winter.

 

[WNC Seabee]

Thanks BCRider...I picked up the rifle today (yesterday now I guess...) and tore it down. At this point, I've just given the internals a good inspection so I know how they work and a serious cleaning/lube.

I noticed some rough spots, but for now I plan on just shooting the heck out of it for a few weeks to get a feel for it. Then, break it down again and see what there is to see. At that point, I'll feel more comfortable taking a stone to the high spots.

Cheers,

tim

 

[Chas.]

Seabee, If you're real serious about slicking up that gun, go to www.stevesgunz.com and order his DVD. It's a step-by-step dis-assembly/assembly guide, and also demonstrates where and how to fine tune the parts. I did and I'm on my third Rossi. Without it, I 'm not sure I would have gotten the first one back together. He also offers some parts, like lighter ejector springs, which I'm using.

 

[mxl]

I have no idea if a Rossi's action is anywhere close to a Winchester 9422, but there is a good sticky in WWW.rimfirecentral.com [Winchester section --I think] about using a Ruger revolver spring in a Win. and I think there was some info about polishing the action. I did it and the difference in smoothness and trigger pull was amazing.