R92 Stainless... Or how to weather-proof Win92

[Jackal1]

Are the new Rossi R92 better quality than the older ones produced before the factory re-tooled a few years ago? Good-to-go for home defense and an occasional friendly (non-super competitive) CAS match?

I like the idea of the R92 stainless version but stories of poor internal quality control, poor (or non-existent) customer service, the floppy safety, and fragile screws have me very concerned. I am at an age where I really do not want a 'kit gun' like shown in the StevesGunz video, I just want the rifle to work properly as-bought. I do not want to remove the safety, I just want it to work positively.

Alternative is the Winchester/Miroku 1892... I like everything about it except the blued finish, would rust so fast on me out here in the tropical swamp... I have a dehumidified storage area but had a blued Cimarron grow surface rust overnight. The only idea I have to weather-proof would be an expensive hard chrome refinish.

Uses would be lightweight rifle for:
stalking swamp hog hunts, home defense, and perhaps an occasional friendly (non-competitive) CAS match just for fun.

Ideas welcome!

 

[doubleh]

Paste wax is your friend for protecting guns from rust. I have a Rossi 92. Out of the box it was difficult to load and ejected it's brass to parts unknown. Otherwise it's a nice gun.

 

[dh1633pm]

Safety was the first thing to go on mine. Don’t have time for lawyer mandated safeties. Others might like them, I don’t. So I can say if it was good or not. Mine has been good day to day. Won’t extract well at zero or below. Action is smooth enough. Empties fly straight up, you can catch them on the way down if you want. Happy with my purchase.

 

[Speedo66]

I'm happy with mine, operated perfectly out of the box.

While not something that prevents it from functioning, the ejector spring is over sprung. I changed it to a hardware store spring, and it now drops empties at my feet instead of the next time zone. Also made the action easier to operate.

Century C-530 spring if anyone is interested.

 

[bannockburn]

Picked up my Rossi M92 at a gun show some 9 or 10 years ago. It was like new in the box and the action was already slicked up so I really didn't have to doing anything else to it.

 

[Speedo66]

Picked up my Rossi M92 at a gun show some 9 or 10 years ago. It was like new in the box and the action was already slicked up so I really didn't have to doing anything else to it.
View attachment 1070332

The reflection in that photo unfortunately hides the grain.

I seem to recall seeing another photo of your gun and thought the wood was beautiful, the nicest I'd ever seen on a Rossi.

 

[bannockburn]

Speedo66

Do you mean this photo? It has a little less glare on it:

 

[Speedo66]

Speedo66

Do you mean this photo? It has a little less glare on it:
View attachment 1070347

Better, not trying to make your life difficult. lol

It's a very nice piece of furniture.

 

[bannockburn]

Speedo66

Not a problem. Found another photo, though this one is more of a close-up:

 

[gotboostvr]

I'm on my second Rossi 92. First one came with a great trigger and OK action. It slicked up nicely just through normal usage. Never needed any fiddling.

My second one came to me used, trigger equally good, action just as smooth as the first one but maybe a little lighter.

Both run like tops without issue.

A SS 16" 44mag and a 20" blued 357mag. The 44 loved 240gr XTPs, still feeling the 357 out but it looks promising so far.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

I picked up an older one in .357 that feeds and functions perfectly with both .357 and .38spl. I don't believe it has ever been tuned. But, there were some other gunsmith "touches" on it that were not done very well, such as the front sight being ground off the forward barrel band, and then a dove tail cut into the barrel ahead, yes in front, of the barrel band. !!! Then it had a peep on the rear of the receiver, which the hammer was hitting, (still fired) and a really big gross front sight. I returned it to buckhorns, even though I usually prefer peeps.

Has some of the lightest colored wood I've ever seen, and I like deep dark walnut. I did refinish it, and it came out pretty, if you like really light wood. Would not take a stain. Just kind of barely did. The '92 sure is a joy to carry all day, I really like the rifle. Accurate too.

From my research the Rossi is a hit-n-miss deal, some come out of the factory working fine, some not so good and require a lot of tuning. The design of the gun probably requires careful hand fitting of the parts to ensure each one works perfectly. The Rossi, like many modern guns are only assembled. I doubt if they do much more than run a couple dummy rounds through them to check for function.

 

[Riomouse911]

Your more budget-friendly option is holding out for a stainless Rossi .44 and possibly having to tinker with it a bit. The Miroku 1882’s aren’t cheap and the matte chrome plating adds another $275-300 to the bill for takedown, prep, plating and reassembly.

My .357 Rossi has too stiff an extractor spring and even with some tinkering it often chews the cartridge rims up a bit. The .45 Colt version is A-1, no issues. Both got the useless safety removed/plug installed and a steel follower I bought from Steves.

Stay safe.