Rossi 92 carbine, mixed use options

[revolversrbetter]

I'm interested in being able to quasi-accurately place a .357 magnum bullet 200 or 300 yards out from my 16" Rossi 92 carbine. This is my near-distance self-defense rifle that I take camping, but I'm camping more and more in the open desert. I have not kept up on all of the innovation in sights and optics. What is the best direction to pursue to both retain near-distance and urban-type response capabilities, but also give me some long-distance evasion capability? Tang sight, red dot, ghost sight, or scout scope?

 

[Speedo66]

A Weaver 4 power scout scope is a nice option I employ on my R92.

Rossi has been sold out of scope mounts for some time, and they may well have even stopped production. Another company has just started producing them, none of the big scope mount companies do.

NOE, who makes bullet molds, is the new producer, and they're almost sold out. If you're thinking of going in this direction, I'd grab one fast. Here's their link:

http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/index.php?cPath=103&osCsid=25t3cm0034s41tgffa133ofce1

 

[.452]

That's a great little gun for close in defense/ iron sight distances.

 

[Charles S]

Speedo66,

Would you mind posting some pics of your rifle?

Thanks,

Charles

 

[Speedo66]

Sorry, unable to. Mine's mounted with Weaver med. quick detachable rings on a Rossi mount. Fits nice and low and allows for a good cheek weld on the stock. I understand the NOE mount is a little higher, so not sure what ring height would be required with it.

The Weaver scope isn't too big, and doesn't overpower the size of the rifle. I also had the rifle drilled and tapped and a tang sight installed.

Lots of info and some pictures here on Rossi-Rifleman: http://rossi-rifleman.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4358

 

[Charles S]

Thanks for the info. I have ordered one for my Rossi. I have a Burris 2.25 IER scope in Warne QD rings that should work perfect for this.

 

[Speedo66]

Yup, that sounds like a great setup for the Rossi.

To the OP, a scout scope with QD rings and a tang, peep, or ghost ring sight should cover all options.

Skinner Sights makes a nice peep sight for the Rossi: http://www.skinnersights.com/rossi_firearms_23.html

Steve's Gunz makes a peep sight that replaces the bolt mounted safety: http://store.stevesgunz.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=19_20_27&products_id=5

Personally I prefer the tang mounted sight that folds out of the way when not in use.

 

[Sunray]

200 or 300 yards out of a .357 lever action is optimistic. Moreso out of a 16" barrel. And scoping it does not make it shoot farther.
A 158, sighted in at 100, drops 16" at 200 and 57"(4' 9") out at 300. Insufficient energy at either distance. And that's with a 20" barrel. Your's will be significantly less.
However, Midway lists a Weaver Side mount bases for Rossi's at $15.99. $29.99 for the rings to go on 'em. Then think low magnification scope with a small front ocular(20mm or 32mm. Anything else requires high rings that put the scope too high), on the receiver where it belongs.
Your budget will matter a whole bunch.

 

[The Alaskan]

200 or 300 yards out of a .357 lever action is optimistic. Moreso out of a 16" barrel. And scoping it does not make it shoot farther.
A 158, sighted in at 100, drops 16" at 200 and 57"(4' 9") out at 300. Insufficient energy at either distance. And that's with a 20" barrel. Your's will be significantly less.

You beat me to it.

I ave one of those in a 20" barrel, and I wouldn't even dream of shooting at anything past 100 yards. To be honest, I'd be pretty reluctant to shoot past 50-75. Even if I did hit my target at 200 yards, what damage would it do at that range? Not much.

That said, I'm a big fan of the Williams peep sights, but I"m not sure if their Winchester 92 sight will fit a Rossi; I haven't tried it yet.

On a side note, you might consider picking up a lever gun in 44. I have one of those also. It shoots real tight at 100 yards, and carries more power out to 150 than a 357 will.

Lastly, if you want something to be a "close in" defense gun, AND shoot at longer ranges, and if you like the lever gun package, I suggest you look at a 30-30 or a Savage 99 in 308. The 30-30 will drop less than the pistol bullets at longer ranges and the 308 is pretty much self explanatory.

 

[revolversrbetter]

I'm trying to extend the use of my existing kit. My kit consists of a very handy, discreet black zipper case that looks like it has a mini electric keyboard in it. If it wasn't for the brass lock to conform with local law when in the Jeep, you wouldn't know different. Inside is a stainless Security Six in .357, IWB holster, some speed loaders, different types of ammo, and the stainless Rossi 16" in .357. I used the word 'evasion' intentionally because if I actually found myself in a situation where I had to resort to using that kit, I'd prefer to simply dissuade a threat and retreat.

 

[200Apples]

.
FYI, fellas, just about all off-the-shelf .357 will slow down after 16"... he certainly won't need a longer barrel unless he rolls his own cartridges.

Still, yes; .357 from a carbine is most useful through 100- 125 yds, if that.

I second The Alaskan's nod towards a .44 carbine. I too have one; a 20" Browning 92. It's so much fun to shoot because it's so accurate (like my 16" .357 Rossi) but hits that much harder that I wish I could use it for every role a rifle might fill.

 

[revolversrbetter]

Oh, I've considered replacing the Rossi with one of those Marlin youth .30-30's. If Marlin made one in stainless, I would. This case is tossed around, never opened and improperly stored for climate control, so I don't want a blued firearm in there. So, that's the reason I'm trying to stick with the .357 carbine, both the revolver and carbine are stainless. The case contains both 158 gn JSP, as well as Buffalo Bore HC.

 

[Water-Man]

It should be mentioned that the NOE mount is for round barrels only.

 

[Nuclear]

A 158 grain 357 mag out of a 16" barrel will still be traveling over 1000 fps at 200 yards.

That's about the same as a 147 grain 9mm +P at the muzzle with an additional 10 grains of weight. "Insufficient energy" for what?

 

[Neo-Luddite]

On my list of to-buys this year.

 

[redbullitt]

I stayed with irons, but went with the peep site from Stevesguns. It replaces the safety switch. I took the aperture out and use it like a ghost ring. Very fast and plenty accurate at iron sight 357 distances. The little aperture can go in if I want to tighten things up a bit of course.

I like the feel of the rifle much better without optics on it.

 

[Coyote3855]

If the threat is at 200-300 yards, I might be considering other options unless they are shooting at me from that distance.

 

[kBob]

Well you went and did it before I could get my 2centavos in.

I could have sworn the Rossi had mounting holes like a Win 94 for a Lyman FH peep but I was wrong.

I understand it is not that hard to have one drilled and tapped for the same though it does add cost. The nice thing there is you get a lot of range and windage adjustment. There are visible markings and index lines so you can zero your rifle at various ranges and just rapidly crank in the needed elevation.

The only thing good I can say about side mounts and lever actions is they don't block the sights so for instance you can have you regular old '94 for the deer woods iron sight zeroed at 75 yards and the low power scope at say 200 and just tilt you head to use which ever you need.

I had a buddy once that had a old late 1800's Marlin lever action in .25-36. He had the barrel mounted Irons zeroed for 50 yards. He also had a folding tang sight he left at 100 yards but knew where to set it for longer ranges and it also had an external adjustment scope that recoiled free at each shot yet returned to zero as those old things did when you pulled the scope back into its V notch that was in a side mount and zeroed for 200 yards. Let me say that the cheapest Chinese plastic scopes today have better light gathering than that little old tube, but it had a high cool factor and worked.

Made me want to cry when I found out he had traded it away........

-kBob

 

[stubbicatt]

I don't have the Rossi. I do have a Uberti 1873 replica chambered in 357 magnum that I have shot the lever action silhouette game. If I hit the rams, those I hit at 200 meters go down fairly often. Some don't. It's still fun.

Never attempted a shot at 300.