I'm sure this one has been worked over before, but I thought I would ask anyway. A friend of mine recently purchased a Rossi 461 .357 magnum revolver. He likes it. I guess his father in law bought one as well, and likes it. I looked at the price and thought maybe I would consider one as well. They seem to get mixed reviews on various gun forums. Any thoughts? Thanks, in advance.
Rossi 461?
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FLNT4EVR
Member
My brother purchased one also. He likes it a lot. I have gone to the range with him and he has put a couple of hundred rnds of 357 and 38 +P thru it with absolutely no problems.
MCgunner
Member
I've owned Rossis over the years, some good, some I sold or traded. IMHO, the best ones were built in the early 80s. In the early 90s, they went to crap, fit and finish were pretty pathetic. NOW, since Taurus bought 'em out, they've improved dramatically and I have considered one, but don't need it as I have other snubby and 3" .357s I like.
DougW
Member
We have a 462 (SS version) that is the wife's "car gun". Shoots well, locks up tight on 5 of the cylinders, 6th has a little wiggle but doesn't affect it's shootability. Easy shooting heavy duty little gun. We like it a lot!
Hoppes Love Potion
Member
Not as refined as a S&W but gets the job done.
weblance
Member
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I recently bought a 462. Same as the 461, but its the high polish stainless. I shot it today for the first time. Its an excellent little revolver, and the only small frame, 6 shot 357 currently available. I would recommend it to anyone. I have paid a lot more for revolvers, but the Rossi 461/462 will stand up to any of them, for many dollars less.
I most always purchased S&W revolvers . Much of my shooting and hunting as well as buying was done back in the late 60's and up until the mid 80's.
I didn't consider Rossi as much of a player . I worked part time as a repair (moderate gunsmithing) and gun cleaning person for a local Gun shop and my first look at them was in the form of their Winchester copy .22 rimfire rifle (M62?) . They had at that time what I considered crude machining and poor metal/tempering.
About a decade ago the owner of the shop handed me a Rossi Model 720 revolver that he planned to keep and use as his carry gun. He wanted me to go thru it and give it a basic action job .
I was impressed with the gun , and he wouldn't sell it to me ,so I went in search of one. I now own two of the M720's (5 shot .44 specials) as well as their counterpart in .357 magnum. These are stainless guns imported by Interarms ( I think in the 90's). A little honing and polishing makes them run very well .
I got a good chuckle yesterday when the S&W 696 I was tracking on GB went for $1,255.00 . That's more than I have in the three Rossi's I have.
Long babble just to say I think they are not bad guns - particularly for the money you pay in comparison to higher name brands.
I didn't consider Rossi as much of a player . I worked part time as a repair (moderate gunsmithing) and gun cleaning person for a local Gun shop and my first look at them was in the form of their Winchester copy .22 rimfire rifle (M62?) . They had at that time what I considered crude machining and poor metal/tempering.
About a decade ago the owner of the shop handed me a Rossi Model 720 revolver that he planned to keep and use as his carry gun. He wanted me to go thru it and give it a basic action job .
I was impressed with the gun , and he wouldn't sell it to me ,so I went in search of one. I now own two of the M720's (5 shot .44 specials) as well as their counterpart in .357 magnum. These are stainless guns imported by Interarms ( I think in the 90's). A little honing and polishing makes them run very well .
I got a good chuckle yesterday when the S&W 696 I was tracking on GB went for $1,255.00 . That's more than I have in the three Rossi's I have.
Long babble just to say I think they are not bad guns - particularly for the money you pay in comparison to higher name brands.
bikerdoc
Moderator In Memoriam
Heed the time frame warnings above.
Had an 2002 SS snub. Used it as a truck gun. Lots of rounds down range. Now it is on loan to a nephew that needed a snub, but with 3 kids he never wants to spend money on himself. It is still chugging along fine.
It is what it is ( a rossi), and it not what it isnt (a smith or even a ruger), but they work fine.
Had an 2002 SS snub. Used it as a truck gun. Lots of rounds down range. Now it is on loan to a nephew that needed a snub, but with 3 kids he never wants to spend money on himself. It is still chugging along fine.
It is what it is ( a rossi), and it not what it isnt (a smith or even a ruger), but they work fine.
Hit and miss. I had 3 Rossi revolvers from the 80's. 2 let me down ; 1 was quite good.(model 851 , ss .38 special)
I handled a new ss 357 in a lgs recently ; the lock up was poor , and when I wiggled the cylinder in lock up the trigger wagged back and forth.
No more Rossis for me. I hope you get a good one.
I handled a new ss 357 in a lgs recently ; the lock up was poor , and when I wiggled the cylinder in lock up the trigger wagged back and forth.
No more Rossis for me. I hope you get a good one.
Thank you all for the input. One thing I forgot to consider was customer support/service. I have dealt with Ruger, Smith, Henry, and Glock, and I think their service has been great. I wonder how a company like Rossi would back up their product with warranty work/service etc. Hmmm....but Rossi's are only around $300 for the .357 mags here, so how much can one expect? Thanks again folks.
mdThanatos
Member
My experience as objective as I can make it:
It was Super Bowl weekend, probably about 5 years ago, and Academy Sports was having a sale so I decided to go in and take a look. I saw the Rossi they had, 46103 (.357 blued with a 3 inch barrel, 6 shots). I fell in love with the way it felt in my hand. Asked how many they had, about 6 or 7, and asked to inspect them. I took a feeler gauge with me to measure the gap between the cylinder and barrel and finally after finding one that was pretty uniform across and within the specs I wanted, I snagged one.
It had a hammer mounted firing pin so I loaded up six snap caps that were fairly new, and proceeded to dry fire to get a feel for the trigger pulls. Well something went wrong because the firing pin broke. Contacted Rossi and had a little trouble getting them to arrange a pick up for the pistol with FedEx but they did. Sent it in for repairs and was told 4 weeks before it would be delivered back. At that time their website had a tracking system where you would enter the serial number and it would show the status of the repair, mine was never updated properly because it finally showed it was being in process, two days after I received it back(kudos to a very fast turn around time).
I loaded a new set of snap caps(I was using sets to cycle a marlin 94 and decided to have a dedicated set for this pistol) and proceeded to dry fire and the firing pin broke again(yes same day I received it).
Long story short I had to send it back 4 times for a broken firing pin, and after the fourth time they were very hesitant to take the gun back for repairs and held it for testing to see what was going on. I was told they were trying to determine on whether to return the gun repaired or refund me my money. They made the choice of repair and return and I sold it after the final return trip with full disclosure of the issues I was having.
The only time I spoke with anyone was to get a pickup arranged and the overall time I had the gun was about two months. No complaints were filed, no bad attitudes on anyone's part, no threats or gripes were made. I never got a chance to fire the gun with live ammo because I couldn't make it past twenty practice pulls. (Each time it broke it was during a DA pull, I am not sure if there was an issue with it not hitting the "primer section" of the snap cap or what.)
I really wanted that gun to work out because of the way it felt in hand, was fantastic, but it didn't and I had to part ways with it.
It was Super Bowl weekend, probably about 5 years ago, and Academy Sports was having a sale so I decided to go in and take a look. I saw the Rossi they had, 46103 (.357 blued with a 3 inch barrel, 6 shots). I fell in love with the way it felt in my hand. Asked how many they had, about 6 or 7, and asked to inspect them. I took a feeler gauge with me to measure the gap between the cylinder and barrel and finally after finding one that was pretty uniform across and within the specs I wanted, I snagged one.
It had a hammer mounted firing pin so I loaded up six snap caps that were fairly new, and proceeded to dry fire to get a feel for the trigger pulls. Well something went wrong because the firing pin broke. Contacted Rossi and had a little trouble getting them to arrange a pick up for the pistol with FedEx but they did. Sent it in for repairs and was told 4 weeks before it would be delivered back. At that time their website had a tracking system where you would enter the serial number and it would show the status of the repair, mine was never updated properly because it finally showed it was being in process, two days after I received it back(kudos to a very fast turn around time).
I loaded a new set of snap caps(I was using sets to cycle a marlin 94 and decided to have a dedicated set for this pistol) and proceeded to dry fire and the firing pin broke again(yes same day I received it).
Long story short I had to send it back 4 times for a broken firing pin, and after the fourth time they were very hesitant to take the gun back for repairs and held it for testing to see what was going on. I was told they were trying to determine on whether to return the gun repaired or refund me my money. They made the choice of repair and return and I sold it after the final return trip with full disclosure of the issues I was having.
The only time I spoke with anyone was to get a pickup arranged and the overall time I had the gun was about two months. No complaints were filed, no bad attitudes on anyone's part, no threats or gripes were made. I never got a chance to fire the gun with live ammo because I couldn't make it past twenty practice pulls. (Each time it broke it was during a DA pull, I am not sure if there was an issue with it not hitting the "primer section" of the snap cap or what.)
I really wanted that gun to work out because of the way it felt in hand, was fantastic, but it didn't and I had to part ways with it.
Liberty1776
Member
I like mine - sturdy, accurate, reliable...
Hoppes Love Potion
Member
I have heard about the firing pin issues with Rossi revolvers. Somebody said to have a gunsmith put a K-frame S&W firing pin on the Rossi and that should solve it.
Dan-O
Member
Bought a 461 in May. Liked it so much I bought a 462 in July. Great guns, that become even better with some J Frame springs and a new set of grips.
CajunBass
Member
I had a Rossi 38, (851 I think it was) not to long ago. I thought it was a really nice gun. I guess it was from the 80's or so...it had the name "Interarms" stamped on the side anyway. I shot it a few times found it to function and shoot just fine. Looked good to. I sold it pretty quickly because I saw another bright shiny thing I wanted, but I liked the gun.
Because I almost always buy used guns, I never, ever think about factory service, from either Rossi, or Smith & Wesson. Just not on my radar.
Because I almost always buy used guns, I never, ever think about factory service, from either Rossi, or Smith & Wesson. Just not on my radar.
"I took a feeler gauge with me to measure the gap between the cylinder and barrel and finally after finding one that was pretty uniform across and within the specs I wanted, ....."
Now , that's a red flag. They should have ALL been within specs.
Now , that's a red flag. They should have ALL been within specs.
Just sold a 32SWL Rossi revolver made in the early 80s. I too had a firing pin issue. My gunsmith could not get a Rossi part from Taurus so he finally put a S&W FP in it (had to modify the pin a bit). Seemed to work just fine. CS and parts availability may be an issue with Rossi for older guns. No experience with the newer ones.
Dan-O
Member
Nice!! I'm sure you'll like it.
My buddy has the stainless version. I think it is a r462 or something like it.
He has more rounds than I can count through it. It was a little crunchy when new but its pretty good now, maybe a little loose but it still runs great. Its primarily seen all magnum loads as well.
He has more rounds than I can count through it. It was a little crunchy when new but its pretty good now, maybe a little loose but it still runs great. Its primarily seen all magnum loads as well.
I purchased a Rossi with a broken firing pin off Gun Broker. I found a parts source from a person who used to work for Interarms.
As I was installing the new pin I noticed the likely cause of the firing pin breakage. The pin did not have sufficent vertical travel . I had to relieve a small amont of metal from the slot to allow proper travel. It has ran without issue ever since.
MCgunner
Member
That was likely me 'cause that's what I did. I don't know if the gunsmith relieved any slot, but he had to fit the K frame pin to the hammer, so it worked.
It was a 971, nice light little hiking gun and I took camp meat rabbits with it using .38 wadcutters and had to track a javelina through heavy brush, ones, shot the thing with the Rossi when I got to it and it charged as the brush was so thick I had to crawl in spots and couldn't maneuver the rifle.
I traded that gun plus some case for my Ruger .45 Colt Blackhawk which I really wanted. I have other medium frame .357s now, but that Rossi sure was light on the hip. I don't really miss it, though. I bought it in the early 90s and it was pretty rough with tool marks and such and never was as accurate as my Ruger SA and Taurus DA .357s or my old Smith and Wesson M19. Was a heck of a handy belt gun for the hiker, though, and shot reasonably well, well enough to shoot rabbits with providing the range wasn't much over 15 yards.
That limits is more me than the gun, though.
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