Rossi Single Shot .243: Worth it for $120?

[Macchina]

I am looking for an inexpensive beater rifle to loan out on some up-coming hunts. I have seen the Rossi .243 single shot Youth rifles on sale for $120 at a couple of places. Seems to be a closeout sale and I have read some not-so-great reviews on them from a few years back.

Has anyone bought one of these recently? Do they function well and have decent enough accuracy? I would be very happy with 2" at 100 yards.

Are they worth the $120?

 

[damienph]

My nephew bought a Rossi three barrel set for his daughter; .243, .22LR, 20g. The fit and finish isn't the best but it shoots surprisingly well.

I think just about any centerfire rifle is worth $120.

 

[GRIZ22]

I would buy it in another caliber. No use for 243. If you like 243 go for it.

 

[243winxb]

Its the luck of the draw. Hope you get lucky. Some shoot , some don't.

 

[mokin]

For a beater rifle you can loan out, I'd say that fits the bill. I have a .22LR/.410 and really like it. One of the better hundred dollars I've spent. Although Rossi generally gets mixed reviews, I have the impression more are positive than negative. At $120.00 you shouldn't have great expectations but I reckon you'll get your money worth.

 

[ridgerunner1965]

buddy of mine had one. every deer season he would bring it down for me to site in for him.

every year it would not shoot for **** even when i shot it. tried a diff scope every year. diff ammo and even handloads that worked fine in my guns.for 3 years

i finally told him i did not want to see that pos anymore. his crew missed and wounded idk how many deer with it.

but to be honest for 125$ id take a chance on it. they cant all be that bad.

 

[TruthTellers]

For a single shot centerfire rifle, that's quite good. Can't say Rossi is great quality, but it's not poo poo and it's expensive.

Before the devils known as Cerberus got hold of H&R, I would have said the Handi Rifles are the best quality single shot you can get that doesn't cost you an arm and your trigger finger, but those Handi Rifles are no more.

 

[Lord Teapot]

i'd buy just about any non-.22lr rifle for $120 assuming it was in good condition

 

[denton]

I had the 22/20ga combination, and sold it before long.

22 was inaccurate and very heavy, and the 20 ga had such nasty recoil that nobody would ever shoot it a second time.

 

[HB]

My buddy has one in 270 with wood stock. I don't really get the point of buying a gun because it is cheap and you can afford it. For a loaner you'd still be better off with an axis. The rossi's are really crappy. My friend's rifle will open on firing and the stock cracked at the wrist on it's 10th shot.

 

[redneck2]

Never had one. Never shot one.

But, just remember .......there's a reason they are $120

 

[Arkansas Paul]

My nephews both have them in .223 and both are plenty accurate.
They aren't sub MOA guns by any stretch but plenty for deer hunting. They both killed several deer with theirs before graduating up to a larger round when they got older.

I borrowed one of them when my daughter was 10 and wanted to kill a deer. She got her first one with it.

Are they extremely nice rifles?
Of course not.

But the 2 I've had experience with were decent shooters. I'd take the chance.

 

[JSH1]

Never had one. Never shot one.

But, just remember .......there's a reason they are $120

Rossi single shots are a very simple design manufactured in a low labor cost country. That is the reason they are cheap.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

^ Exactly.
There's a reason Hi-Points are inexpensive as well. Yet they go bang every single time with acceptable accuracy.

Inexpensive doesn't always mean unreliable junk.

 

[Esoteria]

The shooting community has historically been very suspicious of cheaper guns, and there are certainly some legitimate reasons why, but a lot of it has to do with the solid build quality and hand fitting of yesteryear having become the "standard," but nowadays better metallurgy and over a hundred years of metallic cartridge firearms manufacturing history means we can make good guns for less money. A single shot rifle with a simple break action is not expensive to manufacture, and it is an inherently accurate design.

I'd go for it if you wanted a .243 anyway. I have a Rossi break action pistol and I've been perfectly happy with it. I really miss the Rossi Wizard and I'm nearly brought to tears every couple of weeks when I realize that Handi Rifles are no more. I hope the Handis come back in a few years when Remington realizes they don't know what they're doing with H&R and sells it off.

 

[alexander45]

I would avoid the rossi In 243 the other calibers are fine. I was at one point going to pick up a combo set that included a barrel in 243 but after digging around rossi seems to have a issue cuting chambers properly for the 243 round so I just ended up buying it in a two barrel set up as opposed to 3

 

[Gsh333]

Stay away from Rossi single shot .243

I bought one for my grandkids to bag their first deer. Took it to the range to sight it in, what a pain! I couldn't get it to zero. I changed the scope, with a Bushnell Banner 3-9x40. No help! With alot of ammo of different manufacturer and weights, I figured out this rifle is only accurate for the first shot of the day when the rifle is completely cold, a second shot doesn't come close to the first shot. I call it a severe case of barrel whip. Do yourself a favor, spend a little bit more money and go with a higher quality rifle.

 

[horsey300]

For a little more you can get a solid Cva. Rossi wizard has the interchangeable barrels going for it so you could swap em cheaper but Cva lacks that spring loaded ejector that gets stuck with the slightest bind in pressure. Mine shoots straighter than anyone I'd lone it to and I've already dealt with customer service once (for nothing that was Cva's fault) to great smiles on my end and whilst I was looking for a cheap Rossi at the time I'm glad the Cva was the only thing in stock that day. You can get a Cva hunter for about 200 in youth calibers with scope mount included and mine and my coyote buddy's are solid. There's another model that comes with iron sights and scope mount but I can't remember it. Having shot Rossi and new NEF guns, I'll just spend 200 on another Cva if I'm in the market for any more single shots. My kids and friends love this one enough that in 3 years I'll probably be picking up another one anyway so the oldest two can hunt.

 

[Ohen Cepel]

There are many good bolt guns out there now around $300, I think I would look at those first.

I think I would do the Rossi only if I could shoot it first and knew it would shoot OK.

 

[badkarmamib]

A long time ago, I had the .223/12ga interchangeable combo. Got it sighted in fine. Missed my first shot at a groundhog with the .223 barrel. Took 15 minutes to get it to break open. Never found out why, just sold it. I like the idea of the rifle, but I would pay a little more for better quality. Of course, maybe they have improved in the last 10 years, YMMV.