Rossi 92 38 special feeding

[trekker73]

how do you fellas find your Rossi is with the shorter special cartridges. My new Rossi 92 in 357 seems to load 38 special right down to about 1.4" length and meplat wide bullets, eg wadcutters seated out a bit, or bullets loaded base forward.

Also impressed with some recent velocity tests. Remington UMC 38+P 125 grain SJHP advertised at 945fps from a pistol get 1285 ftps from the 20" rossi. Checked the powder inside, about 6.5 grains.

Didnt expect a 300+fps boost from the rifle with only a 6.5 grain powder charge. Actually turns that cheapo 38 special round into a decent small game shooter around the property.

 

[Speedo66]

If you want to see a nice velocity gain, try some Buffalo Bore .357 in your Rossi.

38Spl. in seemingly all variations also feed perfectly in my 20" Rossi 92.

 

[trekker73]

357, yep, I see 500fps+ plus from my own handloads, thats generous loads of 2400 powder. Was just surprised at getting 300fps from a 6.5 grain load in a 38. I was expecting more like 150-200

 

[Alaskamike]

Yep, the flexibility of the little .38/.357 model 92 is really impressive. A little 125 gr. semi wadcutter over 4 grains of 231 is like shooting a .22, and as you mention it's an excellent small game load. At the other end of the spectrum, my 170 grain RNFP bullets over a heavy load of Alliant 300MP gets up into .30-30 territory and makes a beautiful deer load.

 

[Bfh_auto]

Mine doesn't choke on any 38 load I've tried. (HBWC hasn't been tried)
I modified the lifter so I can cycle 360 Dan Wesson loads.
I've found aggressive cycling does best with long overall lengths and WFN bullets.

 

[LoonWulf]

Mine would flip the live round on rhe lifter out if you ran the action with any speed.
Shimmed in rhe cartridge guides and all was well.

 

[Bfh_auto]

Mine would flip the live round on rhe lifter out if you ran the action with any speed.
Shimmed in rhe cartridge guides and all was well.

Was that 38's or 357?
I noticed if I short stroke mine with 360 DW and a 180 WFN. It will push into the feed ramp before going into the chamber.
Working the lever forward until it stops makes it feed with less force.

 

[LoonWulf]

Only did it with 38s I think the longer 357s were dragging on something, and the noses weren't just flipping straight up and out. I honestly can't remember now I haven't had the gun for a few years.

 

[czhen]

Mine would flip the live round on rhe lifter out if you ran the action with any speed.
Shimmed in rhe cartridge guides and all was well.

May be the round is tag short fix my issues with larger OAL.

 

[Rex in OTZ]

how do you fellas find your Rossi is with the shorter special cartridges. My new Rossi 92 in 357 seems to load 38 special right down to about 1.4" length and meplat wide bullets, eg wadcutters seated out a bit, or bullets loaded base forward.

Also impressed with some recent velocity tests. Remington UMC 38+P 125 grain SJHP advertised at 945fps from a pistol get 1285 ftps from the 20" rossi. Checked the powder inside, about 6.5 grains.

Didnt expect a 300+fps boost from the rifle with only a 6.5 grain powder charge. Actually turns that cheapo 38 special round into a decent small game shooter around the property.

I had a 92 Puma 38/357 I bought in a moving sale (1993), it wouldnt cycle .38 wadcutters, had to load them singleshot style.

 

[derek45]

mine tends to like 38special more than 357 magnum

It will feed these load nosed NOE 178gr Keith bullets very smooth in 38 brass, and choke on 357 brass.





these LEE 158's feed very smooth also



with 357 magnum brass, RNFP's and JHP's feed very well.

357 mag loads with H110/win296 have much higher velocity

2241 fps with a 125gr XTP

 

[Armednfree]

I shoot a powder coated 125 grain Lee RNFP. Never a single issue feeding. 3.5 to 4.8 grains of 231, accurate. But I don't cowboy the lever action. Not that fast. And there's a slight delay at the end of the stroke.

 

[LoonWulf]

May be the round is tag short fix my issues with larger OAL.

The .357s fed fine, so length obviously helped if it didn't outright "FIX" the issue. I actually only shimmed in the cartridge guides because I was selling the gun, and wanted it to work with all the over the counter ammo one was likely to find here....Even if .38 special is about twice the cost of cheap .357s
Other wise all I ever loaded for it were .357s with 180XTPs

 

[Mosin Bubba]

I feed my Puma 92 38 SWCs and it never complains.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

My Rossi will choke a little bit with .357's that are at the the max OAL. It seems to feed fine with .38spl, although I haven't run anything but one type through it. I have not tried a lot of different loads in it, but again seems to feed anything that is than the .357Mag maximum/standard OAL. The Rossi's all seem to be a bit "different" when it comes to feeding problems.

Really the only load I shoot in it is a 200 grain cast gas check bullet over a healthy helping of WW296. No problem seating that deep enough, even though I've heard others complain that they can't seat a 200 grain bullet deep enough. ?? Don't know what speed it's going, but I figure a 200 grain bullet out of a rifle barrel, pushed by 296 will take care of any problem I might encounter when out in the woods.

Having said that, in a rifle, the 180 grain is probably the "best" choice, all things considered, but I really liked the design of this 200 grain that I got a mold for. I believe it's a LEE.