Rossi R971 dry firing and trigger questions

[esquare]

Hey guys - I'm interested in the rossi R971 .357 revolver. I heard the Rossis are based on an old SW design - is this true, and if so which one? Also, is it okay to dry fire without snap caps?

The other thing I've heard is that the trigger pull is very heavy. Does it smooth out over time, or should I just plan to get new springs or plan take it to get it worked on? What have other owners of this revolver done?

Thanks!

 

[MCgunner]

I would not dry fire without snap caps. Hard on the fixed firing pin. Yes, it's very similar to the Smith, but uses a coil spring, not the Smith's flat spring, so it's not identical. The triggers on Rossis (Ive had 7 over the years) are a little heavier than most, but generally smooth. The DA on the little .22s is not up to snuff, but the 971 is okay, not great, but controllable. The SA trigger is generally light and crisp, has been on all of mine, anyway.

They are good little guns, plenty accurate and serviceable. My 971 was mostly an outdoor carry at the time. It would have made a pretty good IWB, though, even with the 4" barrel as it was fairly light, sort of half J frame, half K frame in size. I didn't fire a lot of hot stuff through it. It mostly saw .38 WCs and +P SWC handloads. It was quite accurate with a 140 Speer JHP handload in .357, though.

 

[esquare]

Thanks MCgunner. Snap caps it is. Other than lots of dry firing, is there anything else that you can recommend to smooth out and/or lighten up the DA trigger pull? Are there spring kits available and worth the effort, or will the action just smooth out on its own from your experience?

 

[dovedescending]

It'll smooth. I've got a 972 (the 6" version, which is now 4" b/c I shamelessly bubba'd it) and i've put roughly 650 rounds through it, plus dry firings. The trigger is much smoother than it was. Lockup is still great, accuracy passable (I'm to blame). I love it.

It is named Glamdring Foe-Hammer.

 

[esquare]

Thanks guys!

 

[MCgunner]

Wolff doesn't appear to offer a spring kit for Rossis. One could trim the hammer spring a tad, but you risk over-trimming and causing failures to fire. I wouldn't do that until I had a spare hammer spring in hand to fix it if you get carried away. I've done this successfully, before, on a Security Six and greatly improved the trigger. I haven't messed with the M68 I have now, keep it stock, it shoots fine. It's not really one of my main carries. I have other guns I kinda prefer, but it's a really well built little revolver.

The procedure I used on that security six was to trim ever so little bit, pop a primed empty brass case, compared to the original. Trim, pop a primer, compare to the original. When I started to see any difference in depth of the firing pin penetration, I stopped. I used CCI primers for this, too, since they're a bit harder than most brands. I managed to get it done inside an hour, was real careful and trimmed very little each try.

 

[esquare]

I just ordered some snap caps so I think I'm going to do a fair amount of dry firing with it, and after that, I'll make the call on whether or not a trigger job is in order.

No joke on the SA trigger pull. That is a beauty and very light indeed. I could hardly believe it when I tried it!