Sorry in advance for the long response,
Realgun,
Believe that applies to Taurus actions and might or might not apply to your particular Rossi, I got that from Grant Cunningham and his book on revolvers. I have seen it confirmed by my gunsmith in town. Cunningham is one of the few nationally recognized revolver smiths around. I know that Taurus bought Rossi at some point and do not know whether Rossi switched their older action to the newer Taurus action. Rossi originally copied Smith and Wesson lockwork while Taurus simplified it at some point. Does your Rossi have the transfer bar and the Taurus security system lock hole? Then it probably has the Taurus design lockwork. If not, then it might have the old S&W copied lockwork.
But back to the main point, sometimes just like Ford/Mercury used many of the same parts on the Taurus/Sable, sometimes arms manufacturers will do the same. Sometimes, however, they will use different parts, different steels etc. A lot of that info you won't get from the manufacturer or even their sales reps as they want to maintain price differentiation. Some manufacturers build to a price point (hint Murray mowers for Wal-Mart). The wholesaler tells the manufacturer how much they want to pay and then the manufacturer has to figure out how to make a profit at that price point. This often results in cheapening the features.
If the gun is not labeled +p, I would hesitate to do so without contacting the manufacturer directly. For example, I have a pre-model S&W Model 15 with a rare 5 inch factory barrel. S&W posts that it is okay to shoot Model 15's with +p. But, my model was built exactly in the year that S&W switched to the numbering scheme (1957). Now, it could be fine, but it might cause increased wear and tear on the lockwork. Timing jobs can be relatively easy if parts are available and a smith will work on it (aside from Colt's original double action lockwork). But, there are fewer and fewer smiths that like to work on revolvers and they usually see Rugers and Smiths as these are the most popular. Fixing cheaper revolvers often involves having to do some research--at your expense. Also, not sure if this has changed, but Taurus/Rossi/Braztech does not have the speediest turnaround on parts orders in the past. All of this will add to your gunsmith bill. Thus it can often cost more to fix an issue than a cheaper revolver is worth. For that reason, I personally would not consider the minor performance bump from the +p to be worth firing it on a regular basis. Would a couple of cylinder loads of +p per year hurt it? Probably not. I carry +p in a Smith snubbie that is safe to fire it. However, most of my range firing with it is regular .38 special. When it comes time to use fresh ammo, I will shoot up a twenty to twenty five round box of my +p defensive ammo about one a year. Firing +p on a regular basis like weekly range trips, will accelerate the wear and tear on the firearm.
Added: found the Grant Cunningham quote http://www.grantcunningham.com/2006/07/why-i-dont-work-on-taurus-revolvers/
I believe that he has said something similar about Armscor revolvers which is a shame because they make a 6 round snubbie.
Realgun,
Believe that applies to Taurus actions and might or might not apply to your particular Rossi, I got that from Grant Cunningham and his book on revolvers. I have seen it confirmed by my gunsmith in town. Cunningham is one of the few nationally recognized revolver smiths around. I know that Taurus bought Rossi at some point and do not know whether Rossi switched their older action to the newer Taurus action. Rossi originally copied Smith and Wesson lockwork while Taurus simplified it at some point. Does your Rossi have the transfer bar and the Taurus security system lock hole? Then it probably has the Taurus design lockwork. If not, then it might have the old S&W copied lockwork.
But back to the main point, sometimes just like Ford/Mercury used many of the same parts on the Taurus/Sable, sometimes arms manufacturers will do the same. Sometimes, however, they will use different parts, different steels etc. A lot of that info you won't get from the manufacturer or even their sales reps as they want to maintain price differentiation. Some manufacturers build to a price point (hint Murray mowers for Wal-Mart). The wholesaler tells the manufacturer how much they want to pay and then the manufacturer has to figure out how to make a profit at that price point. This often results in cheapening the features.
If the gun is not labeled +p, I would hesitate to do so without contacting the manufacturer directly. For example, I have a pre-model S&W Model 15 with a rare 5 inch factory barrel. S&W posts that it is okay to shoot Model 15's with +p. But, my model was built exactly in the year that S&W switched to the numbering scheme (1957). Now, it could be fine, but it might cause increased wear and tear on the lockwork. Timing jobs can be relatively easy if parts are available and a smith will work on it (aside from Colt's original double action lockwork). But, there are fewer and fewer smiths that like to work on revolvers and they usually see Rugers and Smiths as these are the most popular. Fixing cheaper revolvers often involves having to do some research--at your expense. Also, not sure if this has changed, but Taurus/Rossi/Braztech does not have the speediest turnaround on parts orders in the past. All of this will add to your gunsmith bill. Thus it can often cost more to fix an issue than a cheaper revolver is worth. For that reason, I personally would not consider the minor performance bump from the +p to be worth firing it on a regular basis. Would a couple of cylinder loads of +p per year hurt it? Probably not. I carry +p in a Smith snubbie that is safe to fire it. However, most of my range firing with it is regular .38 special. When it comes time to use fresh ammo, I will shoot up a twenty to twenty five round box of my +p defensive ammo about one a year. Firing +p on a regular basis like weekly range trips, will accelerate the wear and tear on the firearm.
Added: found the Grant Cunningham quote http://www.grantcunningham.com/2006/07/why-i-dont-work-on-taurus-revolvers/
I believe that he has said something similar about Armscor revolvers which is a shame because they make a 6 round snubbie.
