Finally found myself in a position where I couldn't talk myself out of a levergun, so now I've bought one I thought I'd stop by, say hello, and ask a question!



It's nothing fancy I'm afraid, Rossi Puma in .357/.38 with a 16" barrel. I was actually really tempted by a .44 with a 20" barrel they had in, but the licensing system here gives you pre-allocated slots (ie, I had a free slot for a .357/.38 rifle but not for a .44 rifle) and it's a pain in the arse to get slots changed.



Reading around it seems that Rossi haven't got the best build quality so a bit of time smoothing out some of the internals might be needed - it's not exactly smooth at the moment but I'm hoping that putting more rounds through it might help break it in, after which I'll look at what else I can do.



My question, however, is about grease. I've got a big pot of molyslip lithium grease with moly that I use on my mill. Next time I take it apart (because I have a compulsion to take things to pieces ) is there any benefit/detriment to using grease on some of the internals compared to the finer oil I usually use on my AR?

Hi, you may want to check out Steve's for your Rossie, he specializes in them.

http://store.stevesgunz.com

A lot of people swear by his action job DVD as you mention yours is rough. For lube, I like Brownells friction defense on all my actions, Hoppes elite for cleaning and a light coat of rem oil for protection on most. If its a coated one like my 642, I switch to S&W synthetic products.

Nothing wrong with white lithium or red wheel bearing grease either.

I ask because I'm in the process of reorganising the workshop, which is also going to involve stripping down, moving, regreasing, and reassembling the mill. It suddenly occurred to me that the lithium/moly might be useful for all the big chunky moving parts in the Rossi.



Many thanks for your replies, it really is appreciated.



Worse case scenario, it all goes horribly wrong and I die a slow and agonising death as a result

I always went by the adage "If it slides, grease it. If it rotates, oil it". It has worked fine for all my guns. My Winchester 94 runs flawlessly like this.

Perfect  slides then grease it and if it rotates oil it. There you go. It has worked for me also for years and years.

Now I'm intrigued to know why rotating components should be oiled instead of greased....



 

Because they are usually in very tight places that oil can reach such as holes.

...makes sense, thanks



 

Congratulations!!
If you disassemble and completely degrease the rifle, reassemble it, cycle it a hundred times or so, and then disassemble it again, you'll see where yours needs some TLC with a fine stone and/or some 400/600/800 grit wet-dry paper backed by something rigid.
A rough surface that doesn't bear on anything is meaningless. Conversely, all the grease in the world won't fix rough surfaces that bear on each other; in fact, the little bit of "slip" grease provides just extends that painful "break-in" period unnecessarily.
After you've attended to the rough spots, your big pot of grease is just as good as any $100/gram specialty stuff. Mobil-1 is good gun oil, too.

I have a .44 20" barrel that has become one of my most favorite rifles.  The most dramatic improvement in the smoothness of the action is to replace the ejector spring with one from

http://store.stevesgunz.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=31_32

Steve is excellent to deal with and is generous with his time and experience on many web boards.

I bought his DVD, metal mag tube follower, safety delete (this may only be applicable to USA imported rifles) and spring kit.

You have a fun, practical and formidable rifle, enjoy.

I appreciate what you're saying, I have a habit of slapping on grease as an alternative to truing surfaces and quality control



I have spent a bit of time with the rifle, actually feels ok as it is (compared to other more worn rifles I've tried), but sounds like a good excuse to sit in front of the TV when the kids are in bed and the wife is on a night shift, watching Firefly and cycling away



I was tempted to dig out a bit of engineer's blue and seeing what high spots stood out, but I think it's better to run it for a while first and then assess it.



The loading gate really doesn't like to open and it's a bit of a struggle to get more than 4 rounds in, though that might be partly down to me being to gentle with it.



I'm actually pretty impressed for such a cheap rifle. I was originally wanting a 20" but the 16" feels good. It certainly stopped feeling so toy-like after the first shot!