Rossi R92 range day

[dm1333]

Last week I picked up a stainless steel 20" Rossi R92 and finally took it to shoot today.

I shot in a gravel pit at 25 yards, partly because I've been hacking up a lung and didn't want to walk any further and partly because everything beyond 25 yards was a soggy mess.  I didn't have to mess with the sights at all, with 158 grain .357 it was shooting just about an inch high at 25 and that should put me spot on at 50 yards.  When the gravel pit has dried out a bit more I'll shoot at 50 and confirm that.  The windage was also right on.  I put 40 rounds through the rifle and it never failed to feed, fire and eject the rounds.

After that I started in on a box of Winchester White Box .38 130 grain FMJs.  This is where I was pleasantly surprised.  It fed and fired all of the rounds with no issues.  The point of impact was higher than with the .357 but out to 50 yards or so I should be able to load either and still hit a gallon milk jug sized target easily.  If anything my groups were a little bit tighter with the .38s.

Things I like about the gun - the wood to metal fit is good.  I've heard of and seen some horrible examples of poor fit from Marlin in the not so distant past.  The sights were pretty easy to use.  I had been considering buying a peep sight but I'm going to hold off on that for now.  The tang mounted safety is an abomination to purists but I'm going to keep it for now.  It was easy to manipulate.  The trigger is pretty crisp and light.  The lever was easy to work and the action felt pretty smooth.  There have been plenty of complaints about the R92s in the past but it seems like they have gotten those problems fixed.

Things I don't like about the gun - the edges of the loading port are sharp.  .357 can be a little hard to load.  I'm going to have to mount my own swivels and sling.  I see myself buying a Ruger single action and a coach gun in the near future and maybe trying some cowboy action shooting which means more money flowing out of my account.   

[MechAg94]

I have an older Rossi 92 in 357 and those cartridges sometimes hang up a little when sliding into the chamber so I guess it is nothing unique.  I never used it for competition so it wasn't a big issue.  My Marlin 1894 probably does that a little better. 

[robear]

I've always admired the lines of the 1892.    My brother has a Browning B92 in .44 mag that is one of my all-time favorite guns.    Kicks like a mule with the straight stock, though.

[Gewehr98]

Will that Rossi levergun feed .38 flush-seated HBWC rounds ok?

[roo_ster]

Yep, the loading gate can be a bit sharp.

Lead round nose flat points feed more smoothly than LSWC shapes, but my wife's .44mag feeds LSWC reliably, nonetheless.

[dm1333]

I have an older Rossi 92 in 357 and those cartridges sometimes hang up a little when sliding into the chamber so I guess it is nothing unique.

I should have been more clear.  The rifle chambers the .357 I used just fine.  It was a little tough to load the .357 through the loading gate, partly because of the sharp edges and it seemed like some rounds were a lot tougher to load than others. 

Will that Rossi levergun feed .38 flush-seated HBWC rounds ok?

Send me some and I'll let you know how it went!     I have been looking around for some wadcutters or other cast loads to see how they will work.

 

I've always admired the lines of the 1892.    My brother has a Browning B92 in .44 mag that is one of my all-time favorite guns.    Kicks like a mule with the straight stock, though.

I like the lines too, and how handy the gun seemed.  I didn't notice any recoil with the .357.  I did put 20 rounds of .30-06 through a M1903 right before that and my f'ed up old shoulder was complaining about the recoil while shooting that.

[Balog]

How faithful are these to the original Browning design? Exact copies, or just kinda sorta the same ish?

[TommyGunn]

How faithful are these to the original Browning design? Exact copies, or just kinda sorta the same ish?

Verrrrrrryyy close.  Most differences are due to the use of new calibers the '92 wasn't originally chambered in.
Additionally, original Winchesters aren't necessarily "identical."
For the 1873 model, there were 4 major variations noted by historians, and that doesn't take into account musket, rifle, and saddle-ring carbine versions.
I don't know specifically about the 1892 but I imagine Winchester changed things on this design as well.

[roo_ster]

How faithful are these to the original Browning design? Exact copies, or just kinda sorta the same ish?

My wife's pre-dates the damnable safeties put on later Rossi's.  After I bought it, I thought I had wasted $160 as it would not cycle a .44mag round into the chamber.  Turns out, it was just fouling from shooting thousands of super light cast lead .44spl rounds the SASS-shooter who owned it had shot downrange.

I downloaded a Winchester 92 disassemby/assembly guide with pictures and it was identical part for part.  I don't know if I could take one of my wife's R92 parts and use it in a Win92, but they were all there and they all looked the same to my eyes.  Also, what an elegant design!  Thank you JMB!  I tore it down, cleaned and lubed it with CLP, and re-assembled it.  Slicker than owl scat.  I did not remove bbl from receiver or anything like that.  I did rig a redneck Outers Foul Out to get the lead out of the chamber and bbl.  There was A LOT that coated the rod afterwards. 

[Balog]

Did they make any in stainless pre-safety? Conversely, if one does the safety removal deal how noticeable is that? Been thinking we need a house long gun my wife is more comfortable with than my 12ga.

[dm1333]

I don't know about a pre safety gun in stainless but a guy named Steve Young makes a peep sight that goes where the safety was and he also makes a plug so you can pull the safety off and fill the hole with the plug.  Here's a link that shows a decent picture of the plug.

http://store.stevesgunz.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=4

[roo_ster]

Did they make any in stainless pre-safety? Conversely, if one does the safety removal deal how noticeable is that? Been thinking we need a house long gun my wife is more comfortable with than my 12ga.

Not sure about the stainless guns.

Although it violates the "What would JMB do?" rule, the R92 safety is not a big ugly thing, like Winchester & Marlin went with.  Frankly, it is hte least ugly and easiest to remove.  Take a look at the safety and the fix:
http://www.gunblast.com/SteveYoung.htm

Safety


DIY Fix


Sent to Stevesgunz Fix



Here is what Marlin and Win offer:

Marlin



Fixed Marlin



Winchester "No, we couldn't make it any bigger and uglier, thanks for asking" safety



"Fixed" Win



See what I mean?

[dm1333]

Will that Rossi levergun feed .38 flush-seated HBWC rounds ok?

A little bit of thread necro, but no.  I just got back from shooting and tried some Remington 148 grain wad cutters with no luck.  It feeds and fires everything else I've put through it.  I can live with that.

[AJ Dual]

Well, the nice thing about stainless is you can knock down, file, and gently stone the loading port edges, and there's no refinishing to be done.