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Posted: 2/7/2013 2:36:23 AM EDT
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Good morning, I'm not new to firearms by any means but slightly ignorant on some lever action questions. I'm aware of the issues with late Marlins and the Winchesters can get expensive. i would like to have a nice .44 mag lever mainly for hunting and whatever other chore it may be tasked with. What is the actual experience with those who have been shooting the Rossi's in regards to reasonable accuracy, mechanical longevity and overall fit/finish quality?
I appreciate it. Mark |
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I have two blued ones,.357 and 45 Colt. Exterior appearance is just fine in my opinion. The insides can be a little rough though sometimes, that's why their less expensive. The parts are fine but often could use a little TLC, burrs and sharp corners and the like along with springs that are often to strong. I had a fun time getting to know mine and cleaning them up inside and they are slick as a whistle now.
There is lots of info on the net about them and if you like tinkering with guns you will enjoy them. I now consider them my "GO TO" guns for the urban environment. |
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I have two blued ones,.357 and 45 Colt. Exterior appearance is just fine in my opinion. The insides can be a little rough though sometimes, that's why their less expensive. The parts are fine but often could use a little TLC, burrs and sharp corners and the like along with springs that are often to strong. I had a fun time getting to know mine and cleaning them up inside and they are slick as a whistle now. There is lots of info on the net about them and if you like tinkering with guns you will enjoy them. I now consider them my "GO TO" guns for the urban environment. This! If you get a chance to buy one, and can try it out to see how it feels, grab it. You will cherish it forever. PS The best bbl length is 20". |
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Mine is a .44 with 20 inch octaganal barrel. I had it slicked up with some gunfighter springs installed, and
then put on a taller front sight and a StevesGunz peep sight. That thing is just a ball to shoot. Its probably the most fun gun I have. One problem has been that the mag tube would move forward past the muzzle under recoil. The screw that passes thru the end plug into the bottom of the barrel would pop out. Local gunsmith, a real good guy, says its fixed. I havent gotten to shoot it since i got it back, maybe tommorow. I like it, and may buy a carbine, either .44 or .357. |
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My 45/70 RioGrande was not functional out of the box. I had to debur all the parts and fit the lever to the elevator.
It should have never left the factory like that. It shoots perfectly now. I have a 5 year old stainless .44 octagonal m92 that was flawless out of the box. |
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My .45 Colt Rossi 92 also functioned flawlessly out of the box, and was much smoother than my Winchester 94 trapper was (also .45 Colt). However the Rossi 92 was even smoother with a lighter ejector spring ad some polishing of the bolt camming surfaces, the lever detent pin and the lower detents for the cartridge guide.
Loading is easier if you shorten the mag spring a bit so that it does not extend more than 3-4" out the end of the magazine tube, replace the plastic follower with a metal one and thin the spring on the loading gas by about half. The exterior metal polish is fine and the bluing is very nicely done - but you don't usually see that in the shop as they are rather liberally coated in some sort of protectant goo that makes them look a lot less well finished than they really are. The internal metal work is rough, but (usually) on non critical places, and any roughness in critical spots is easily polished up. The stock finish on most is more along the lines of brown shoe polish, leaving a nice color in the stock, but also leaving it looking pretty flat and lifeless. The good news is that since it's so porous you can just remove the wood and apply tru-oil over the original finish. The first 3-4 coats will soak in but another 3-6 coats with some judicious wet sanding with 0000 steel wool after every couple of coats will will the grain and leave the stock looking great with either matte (after the steel wool) or gloss (just leaving the last coat as is) finish per your preference. Accuracy wise, the rifles are a little more accurate than the carbines, but I'm still getting 3" groups at 100 yards with a Marbles tang sight with my 20" Carbine. In short, they don't look like much in the store, but they clean up exceptionally well and you can't beat it on the bang for the buck scale. 
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I have a Rossi M92 in .45/.454 with the 20 inch barrel. It did not need to be slicked up. I have not had any problems in 5 years of deer hunting, target shooting and plinking. I give it:
7 - 10 for wood appearance. This is easily fixed with some Swedish oil. 9 – 10 for fit & finish 9 -10 for metal work 10 – 10 for value for money 10 -10 for fun Highly recommended. |
| I just bought a Rossi Ranch hand in 45 Colt that was slightly used, meaning it's mint inside and out and the former owner must of put a few rounds through it max. That being said, the action is as smooth as the Uberti 1873 that I had so it may be hit or miss. The best advise I can give is to buy one at a store instead of buying on-line so you can check it out yourself before purchasing. |
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I have one of the Stainless Saddle Ring carbines from Hartford Arms / Rossi and I love it. It's very smooth and handles great
Hartford 92 |
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Well, Sounds like I need to check one out when I get caught up. A buddy does have an older Marlin .44, if I can talk him out of it, I will snag it. I think the SS with a bead blast would be a nice looking piece? Did Ruger ever make a lever 44? Try to compare before you jump at the Marlin. A Marlin Model 94 and a Rossi Model 92 do NOT feel and handle the same just because they are both pistol caliber lever action rifles. The Marlin is significantly heavier and more "chunky" in profile. |
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Ruger made the lever action model 96/44 from 1996 to 2007. They were pretty creative with the model number there, eh?
Well, Sounds like I need to check one out when I get caught up. A buddy does have an older Marlin .44, if I can talk him out of it, I will snag it. I think the SS with a bead blast would be a nice looking piece? Did Ruger ever make a lever 44? If you imagine a Ruger 44 Mag semi auto rifle (itself looking like an grown up 10/22) and then envision it with a lever, that's what it looks like. If you do an internet search for Ruger 96/44 you'll get plenty of hits and images. I'll second the "clunky" comparison of the Marlin 1894 to the Winchester/Rossi 92. That's especially the case with the recent iterations of the Marlin where the stocks are even clunkier than before. |
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Okie, I will take a look at Rossi. A local shop had one in .357, same place I found that Winchester 30-30 from the 40's. I didn't even look at the Rossi just because of the caliber, but I will to see overall quality, etc.
Any issues with the Rossi and bullet weight, power level, etc? |
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I recently purchased a Rossi 16" 92 in .357/38 Spl.
Nice exterior metal finish, good looking wood, and smoother than I was lead to believe it would be. Took it to the range last Saturday after a good cleaning, and was surprised at it's accuracy, especially with my old eyes. I shot Magtec 158gr. SJFP .357 and Remington 125 gr. SJHP .357 ammo with no issues of any kind. It was slightly more accurate with the Remington load. 
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Ruger made the lever action model 96/44 from 1996 to 2007. They were pretty creative with the model number there, eh?
Well, Sounds like I need to check one out when I get caught up. A buddy does have an older Marlin .44, if I can talk him out of it, I will snag it. I think the SS with a bead blast would be a nice looking piece? Did Ruger ever make a lever 44? If you imagine a Ruger 44 Mag semi auto rifle (itself looking like an grown up 10/22) and then envision it with a lever, that's what it looks like. If you do an internet search for Ruger 96/44 you'll get plenty of hits and images. I'll second the "clunky" comparison of the Marlin 1894 to the Winchester/Rossi 92. That's especially the case with the recent iterations of the Marlin where the stocks are even clunkier than before. The Ruger lever is chunky, but very light. Its nice to have a magazine fed lever. |
| Cool, I was poking around and saw a link from the ones provided on the top of this forum. The one with ballistics showed virtually no difference in the velocity/energy between the 16 and 20" barrels. I guess sight radius is the benefit, maybe handling? I do like those "Skinner" sights(rear peep. So it's not lost, any issues with bullet weight/velocity using heavies in .44 mag with the Rossi? I guess the longer barrel would help out. |
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Cool, I was poking around and saw a link from the ones provided on the top of this forum. The one with ballistics showed virtually no difference in the velocity/energy between the 16 and 20" barrels. I guess sight radius is the benefit, maybe handling? I do like those "Skinner" sights(rear peep. So it's not lost, any issues with bullet weight/velocity using heavies in .44 mag with the Rossi? I guess the longer barrel would help out. I have a .45 Colt, that quote frankly gets loaded to .44 Mag velocities, and with a Rossi 92, the recoil can get interesting with heavy bullets in the 240-300 grain range at velocities above about 1300 fps. At that level 50 or 100 rounds per session is still fine. Above that level, it's starts to get progressively less fun. In that regard, I really do prefer the extra 0.2 pounds of a 20" barrel as in a .44 or .45 a 20" Rossi 92 still only weighs 5.0 pounds compared to 4.8 pounds for a 16" Rossi. Perhaps more importantly, the barrel diameter on the Rossi's is the same regardless of caliber, so the .44 or .45 barrels are pretty thin walled. Consequently, I think a 20" .44 or .45 balances extremely well, and better than a 16" barrel, making it more enjoyable to carry and more accurate to shoot offhand. The extra couple rounds of mag capacity is also nice as is the longer sight radius. The increase in velocity may or may not be significant, depending on the load. If you are shooting commercial ammo intended for a pistol, then the difference in velocity is slight. If however you load your own and are using a slower powder like 2400, H110 or IMR 4227 to maximize velocity in a longer barrel while keeping peak pressures low, then you may well find that the extra 4' makes a difference worth having. People also treat different lever actions interchangeably when talking barrel length. For example my 16" Winchester 94 Trapper has a longer action and a slightly longer length of pull than my 20" Rossi Model 92, and it weighs a full pound more. So the Rossi 92 with 4" more barrel is only 2.5" longer and weighs a full pound less. It's not really a trade off at all. |
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Nice to know. My main interest in the heavies would be for hunting, just wanted to be sure, there's no safety issues running some hot Buffalo Bores, etc. I load and for practice, lower them down to not beat up myself and the gun. I see this being fun, of course getting any new gun is fun!
So, SS or blue? I would bead blast matte the SS if I get that. Will do the 20" and add the Skinner rear peep and would like to do sling swivels. |
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The Model 92 is a very stout action, especially by lever action standards. The Model 92 is basically a scaled down 1886 Winchester. The receiver are comparatively short by lever gun standards and the dual lugs are quite deep with ample receiver contact. The Model 92 is in fact much stronger than the Model 94.
Nice to know. My main interest in the heavies would be for hunting, just wanted to be sure, there's no safety issues running some hot Buffalo Bores, etc. I load and for practice, lower them down to not beat up myself and the gun. I see this being fun, of course getting any new gun is fun! So, SS or blue? I would bead blast matte the SS if I get that. Will do the 20" and add the Skinner rear peep and would like to do sling swivels. Paco Kelly indicates he's been running his Rossi 92 in .45 Colt at 50,000 psi with no ill effects. And of course the .454 Casull has a SAAMi spec of 65,000 psi. Buffalo bore bullets are not going to break it, even a steady diet of them. Legacy 92 I like blue steel and oil finished walnut. The Rossi 92's have very nice bluing once you get the gunk off the surface and the wood looks great with a try-oil finish over the top, so I'd vote "Blue". If I went with SS, I'd still do several coats of tru-oil just to seal the stock and increase durability, but I'd wet sand it with 0000 steel wool for a nice matte finish. |
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I just picked up a NIB model 92 stainless 16" carbine in .357. I love it. So does my 11 year old boy.
I was led to believe they were finicky with 38's. So naturally the first rounds I loaded were hand my own hand cast 158g boolits loaded into a .38 spl. My son broke her cherry and after firing a magazine full there weren't any hiccups like I was expecting. Sweet little rifle. I want the MOLLE scabbard for it. And the peep sight. |
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After putting a spring kit in both a stainless 92 and a blued 92, the machining on the blued one was much better.
Both paled next the the older Puma 92 that was also on the table......... I think Taurus has turned the wick up on 92 production since they bought out Rossi. THAT SAID, with a little stoning, appropriate springs and a little Flitz accelerated break in, for $450 or so, the 357 92's are a hoot to shoot. |
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I have an older 92 Stainless and its slick as snot AFTER a good deburring and lube session. It worked out of the box but was far from smooth. Now is a LOT smoother than my friends Winchester and my Marlin lever guns.
I did remove the cheese "safety" on the bolt. 
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Ruger made the lever action model 96/44 from 1996 to 2007. They were pretty creative with the model number there, eh?
Well, Sounds like I need to check one out when I get caught up. A buddy does have an older Marlin .44, if I can talk him out of it, I will snag it. I think the SS with a bead blast would be a nice looking piece? Did Ruger ever make a lever 44? If you imagine a Ruger 44 Mag semi auto rifle (itself looking like an grown up 10/22) and then envision it with a lever, that's what it looks like. If you do an internet search for Ruger 96/44 you'll get plenty of hits and images. I'll second the "clunky" comparison of the Marlin 1894 to the Winchester/Rossi 92. That's especially the case with the recent iterations of the Marlin where the stocks are even clunkier than before. The Ruger lever is chunky, but very light. Its nice to have a magazine fed lever. I never liked them due to the cast lever unit. Nice but definitely feels lower budget |
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