Exactly what the title says.  Just bought a Rossi R92 .44 Lever Action and want to find a nice plinking ammo and also a hunting ammo.

No re-manufactured loads please

I like Federal AE 240 gr jhp's for deer, it's a full house load approaching 1,800 fps from my Ruger 77/44.  For plinking ammo Magtech seems to be more reasonable cost wise and it's not a full house round either, their 240 gr jsp runs in the mid 1,500's velocity wise from the same rifle.

+1 on the federal 240's, or really most decent 240-grain loads in the magnum category. You can figure to typically expect 1500-1600fps from the carbine or thereabouts, or ~1300ft/lbs.

For less-than-magnum needs, the Blazer .44 special 200-grain JHP is a very mild load that still puts out ~700-750 ft/lbs from a carbine (vs. ~300 ft/lbs from a handgun), running something like 1200-1300fps iirc.

For plinking Georgia Arms has inexpensive (.44 Magnum case) 200gr  cowboy loads that are about the same velocity and pressure as their .44 special loads.  I found the longer case of the .44 mag feeds more consistently in my Rossi 92 than do 44 special cases.  They are in Starline cases which tend to have better rims than all the others and that helps.

This.

I would definitely stay away from .44 spl cases, as that is just looking for trouble.

If your rifle fucks up with .44 spl cases, you have only yourself to blame.

Feed it what it is designed to use, even if you shoot Bunny-fart Cowboy loads, do not use shorter cases.

That Georgia Arms ammo does look like a very good deal for plinking. I'd also echo your recommendation to stay away from 44 spec in a lever gun, especially since 44 special is often just as expensive, if not more, than magnum.  

For target loads 44 and 45LC just beg for reloading. The cost savings when reusing those big chunks of brass is quite significant.

I don't understand a 44 mag shooter who isn't a hand loader.

He just bought the rifle, and his brother reloads.

A little more information, Please!  I know nothing about the Rossi!
You posted not to shot 44 spl! You don't say why?
Are you referring to only the Rossi? My Marlin 44 feeds both Mag and Spl just fine.
To the OP: My loves Blazer 44spl 200gr JHP.  When I can fine it.
For hunting look at Buffalo Bore. Yes price is a bit high.
But if your brother reloads he should be able to work up a load.
If you still can not fine what you want.
Google: John Taffin I'm sure he will have a few loads for you!
Good luck!

PITA45

Do what you want, it's your rifle.

Just as a matter of principle, I don't think it's good practice.

The Rossi 92 design in .44 Magnum has guide rails that function better with the ever so slightly longer .44 Magnum cases (specifically the longer overall length or OAL of the loaded .44 Mag cartridges).   Some are fine, others choke every so often on the .44 special typical OAL cartridges, and all of the ones I am familiar with will all choke on the even shorter .44 Russian cases and the typical shorter OAL for those.

There is a way to shim the rails if you want to routinely run .44 special loads in that rifle that mostly mitigates the feed issue that some exhibit.  It is hard to load a .44 special cartridge to that longer OAL of the .44 mag with most common .44 bullets, but that would be possible with some of the heavier ones, and it would mitigate the problem in the same way.

Yeah, modify your rifle to solve a non-existent problem.

On this, we agree completely. It's definitely been a "non-problem" in my guns.

Maybe I've just been abnormally lucky or maybe the newer guns are less forgiving, but I've never had problems using either the long or short versions of their respective cartridges in any of my three Rossi 92's; ranging from 6 at the newest, to probably 18-20 years for the oldest. One 357, one 44, and one 454, and they all do fine with pretty much anything other than wadcutters or other extremely-short loadings. Most of what I shoot are SWC's in the non-magnum loadings, and JHP's & flat-meplat JSP's in their magnums.

To be fair, the 44 is by far the one I shoot the least, but never had issues that I recall in that gun with any normal-length loads in either magnum or special. Now, I also don't speed-run mine the way the cowboy-action guys do; that might cause problems that I haven't experienced. I'll get them running relatively quick when playing around on steel or just 'making the water dance' at the pond, but not really like the serious sass guys do with their 73's.

I just use the online search engines to find the best deals on standard 240 gr loads.  Find the full up magnum loads don't recoil too badly in a rifle and I like the way they obliterate whatever my plinking targets are.  And yea, you need a .357 as well.  Welcome to the fun world of the lever actions with modern pistol rounds.

BTW.. there's a lever action rifle section under 'Armory' on this forum you might enjoy.

A .357 too??? LOL there goes my paycheck.  Got any suggestions for one?

My only reason for owning one of these things is to shoot NCOWS competition, and I assure you that running one fast is where "the non existant problem" will rear its head if it does.

Serious SASS competitors rarely run a '92 because they are so much slower than the 66/73 designs.  Since NCOWS does not allow short stroke rifles, the 92 can be competitive in that game.  If you are never going to run one hard and fast the problem with cartridges jumping the guide rails is not a problem for you anyway.

Well...

Rossi's in 454, 44, and 357:


The .357 is by far the most-used of the three. Had it modified a little with a scout mount and suppressor threading (which meant shortening of the magazine tube). VERY happy with the result; it's one of my favorite carbines as well as one of the most capable:


And lest someone think I'm monogamous solely to leverguns, an even smaller, lighter, and less expensive carbine in .357 magnum, an H&R Handi-Rifle with the barrel shortened to 16.5" and threaded for the same suppressor. As small & light as it is, it's still more powerful than a .44 magnum handgun, pushing 140-grain JSP's at 2,000 fps or so. Without the suppressor in place, it does look odd, but the barrel's still over 16" and so avoids any NFA issues on the gun itself:


With the unusually short barrel, the addition of the suppressor makes it looks almost like an off-the-shelf gun: