Rossi/Puma "Night Scout" is now finished...

[AJMD429]

I was very happy with the (link) Marlin "Night Scout" rifle I made a few months ago, especially after firing a (link) nice 2", 50-yard group in pitch-black darkness, but of course after having one in .357 Mag, I happened to fire a 16" .45 Colt with Cowboy Loads in it, and realized how quiet they were, certainly on a par with the .38 Specials out of the Marlin.

So, naturally I had to make me a Rossi .45 Colt "Night Scout"...!

The scope-mount options for the Rossi are limited, vs. the Marlin, but since I was using a Holographic sight, position and eye-relief are not at all critical. I had a B-Square 'no-gunsmithing' mount I wasn't using, which has the added 'advantage' that you can take it off quickly and make the gun look all 'normal' again (I'm not sure why I would particularly want to do that, mind you, but it is important to some folks).

For the light-mount, I wanted either something quick-detachable (because the light is something I may want to remove sometimes, for instance hunting with a light is illegal where I live). So, I thought about a 'scalloped' version of the PVC-mount I used on the Marlin, but found an unused 'weaver scope base' that just happened to have the same radius concavity on the underside as the radius of the .45 Colt magazine tube. After considering sweat-soldering (thanks for the edjumication on that, guys ) I realized that wasn't a good idea since the base was aluminum, and I considered 'dimpling' the magazine tube and putting flat-head screws in it, but that would require drilling holes in the tube, and risking cartridge-hang-up even if I polished and filled afterwards. So, I turned to J-B Weld, and just 'glued' it. The LIGHT comes off just as fast as you can turn the two knurled 30mm scope-ring screws..!

The forend already bears scars from my previous Bubba-smithing of the forarm band when I mounted a sling swivel stud in it. Every time I do that I have two problems - I seem never to get the stud centered, so it cants off to the right or left, and I never can get the darned thing on without opening up the hole in the wood a bit. This particular one was worse, in that the wood was swollen so tight I had to rasp it down to even get the band off and gun apart. For some reason now, the forend won't absorb any stain (or at least the stain I had). Anyway, it looks light on the tip due to that, but it's important to note that I would NOT have had to do any reshaping of it to do this particular magazine-tube 'rail' project. Other forearms could be even thicker, and might hit it and thus need slimming on the tip part.

Anyway, Here's the Pics:

The Rossi with just the rail:


Rail Close-ups:




The Coast (link) LED-Lenser (Model P-7) 190-lumen light

(One nice thing about the LED-Lenser is that the first button-push gives you bright 190-lumen light, then the next button-push gives you a dim, battery-saving, non-blinding, light option. The scope rings hold the 'focus' ring in 'spotlight' mode.)
(One thing - I should have got the black one):

Sights:

• Burris Fastfire-II - http://www.burrisoptics.com/fastfire.html
  LaserMax UniMax Rail-mount Pistol Laser - http://www.lasermax.com/product.php?id=104
  B-Square Rossi Puma quick-detach mount - http://secure.armorholdings.com/b-squar ... ifles.html

I switched the Burris mount screw so the knob was on the left, keeping the ejection (& iron-sight) area uncluttered:



View through Sights (laser dot is brighter center part, co-incident with Holo-dot):


Gun with only the Sights:


Gun with Sights & Light:


Here's the Marlin for comparison:



The three-shot group which follows was shot at 50 yards - nothing all that exciting, even for a 'levergun' - - - BUT WAS SHOT IN PITCH BLACK CONDITIONS AT MIDNIGHT... Sure, a gizmo-equipped $2,000 AR-15 Shorty with night-vision CAN do that or better - but with blinding muzzle flash, deafening muzzle blast (unless you actually want to wear hearing protectors whenever you go out to check your livestock), and four or five times the cost. Hopefully, I can 'hit the quarter' next time I shoot in the dark...

[RKrodle]

That's a cool setup Doc. Assuming a right hand shooter, can you use your left eye for aiming through the Burris?

[3leggedturtle]

That is really sweet Gander MTN has LED flashlight that runs on 1AA for $30. It is bright, and has an almost square beam. It last almost 2 hours on a battery. Has push button switch on rear.

[3leggedturtle]

PS instead of buying a black light just go buy a stainless 45 lever

[junkwrencher]

I've beat you and this forum to death with my 92 scope mount questions, here's another. Does this mount have one large knurled screw/nob that holds the mount to the gun and then two ''set'' screws come down on top of the reciever? I'm just about to drop the cash on my own 92. The photos and ideas you present are great and I appreciate your sharing and patience with me.

[AJMD429]

That's a cool setup Doc. Assuming a right hand shooter, can you use your left eye for aiming through the Burris?

You can if desired (I've tried it just to see, because I'm left-eye-right-hand dominant, although I've learned to 'squint' reflexively when shooting so I use my right eye).

You can also use your right pretty easily; I don't know what the differences are, maybe I tilt my head a bit to the left, but it's pretty 'natural' to use the sights right-eyed. Maybe it is a more muzzle-forward vs. muzzle-to-the-left stance (vs. the axis of your torso).

Since there's no magnification, i just keep both eyes open.

In the dark, it's easy for a branch or fence-wire or something to between you and the chicken-eating-possum, so the laser helps there, because if your eyes are both open, it's easy to see when the laser-dot and holo-dot are on the same 'thing' or not.

Now for those folks who never anticipate shooting in low-light or no-light, I'd just use the Burris Fastfire-II by itself, because unless you want magnification (or 'light-gathering' from a large-bell scope), or prefer aperture sights (I do, except for this application), you don't really need a light or laser.

On the other hand, if you're on a ranch/farm, or you anticipate a post-sunset shot at a fleeing varmint between 10 and 100 pounds, you really need both the laser and the flashlight.

I do carry a separate flashlight, though, because even though 99% of the time I'm alone, and only use the 'dim' light mode to watch for branches to trip over or see if there's water in a stock tank, there ARE times you need to shine a light on something you wouldn't want to aim a gun at. A gun-with-a-light doesn't replace a flashlight, it just allows you to see what you're shooting at when the light is poor.

Also, in terms of protection against 2-legs, there are pros and cons about having a light on a gun. The "pros" tell you to hold the light out to your side at arms length, and that way the bad-guy will miss you when he shoots. I'm not convinced that's very practical, but your mileage may vary.

[AJMD429]

PS instead of buying a black light just go buy a stainless 45 lever

Hmmmmm. . . I really LIKE that line of thought. . . Of course I need a stainless one.

That's even better than buying a holster or box of ammo for a gun you don't have, then buying the gun, so I can 'save money' . . .

[olyinaz]

For the purpose you have in mind that's a pretty cool setup!

Oly

[AJMD429]

I've beat you and this forum to death with my 92 scope mount questions, here's another. Does this mount have one large knurled screw/nob that holds the mount to the gun and then two ''set'' screws come down on top of the reciever? I'm just about to drop the cash on my own 92. The photos and ideas you present are great and I appreciate your sharing and patience with me.

Thanks for the compliments.

Many other members of this forum set the 'example' for me, with their 'how-to' posts, and sometimes 'how-not-to-do' ones...

The B-Square for the Rossi is just like the one for the Mini-14, and has a large knurled (no screwdriver ever needed) knob for attach/detach, and there are two allen set-screws bearing on the top of the left receiver, which allow a gross 'up-down' adjustment, and allow making the mount not 'wiggle' at all once the knurled screw is finger-tight. There are also two other allen set-screws which impinge on the first set, so once adjusted, you use the second ones to lock the first ones in place.

There's even a place IN the mount to put your removed Rossi lever-bolt pin access-screw (or whatever it's called), so you don't lose it. (Nonetheless, I failed to do that, and lost mine anyway... )

Here's a picture from MidwayUSA of the Burris mount:



$38 from MidwayUSA - http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?p ... ber=492683

[AJMD429]

I woke this older thread, because honestly the post doesn't merit it's own thread, but still. . . I just had to brag...

I took the .45 Colt Rossi out just a few minutes ago (totally dark out here), and from 60 yards away fired three shots standing, offhand, no sling, at the gongs:

• 1st shot - 12" gong - HIT.!
  
  2nd shot - 8" gong - HIT..!
  
  3rd shot - 4" gong - HIT...!

Man, hitting that 4" gong from a standing position in broad daylight is always hard for me; I never thought I could pull it off at night.

Some folks say it "looks stupid" to put a holograph sight on a levergun, and that it is blasphemous to put a laser on one, much less a 'flashlight', but when it's time to go close-up the livestock for the night, and the coyotes are howling, I'm NOT going to take a pistol and flashlight, and I sure wouldn't want to touch one off from my Guide Gun or AR-15 in the middle of the night, even IF they had a decent light on them, unless I had on hearing protectors. On the other hand, the light weight and quiet little 'pistol-caliber-lever-guns' are just the ticket.

I just LOVE my "Rossi Night Scout"...

[3leggedturtle]

Great l'il lever. Thanks for the photos and update. Todd

[Alan Wood]

No one that puts together a proper working gun for there situation will get any flack from me. Sounds like just the ticket for your needs!
Alan Wood

[piller]

And, the .45 does have the power to do most things you need done. Cool setup.

[Old Savage]

Very interesting - how did I miss this thread?

[Blaine]

That should keep the goblins at bay

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

Hi Doc,
That is a cool setup if you can keep the mag tube stable. The only thing that holds the mag tube in place is a shallow notch that the two band screws fit in. I have seen where the screws have broken because of things like the clamp-on-the-tube sling stubs causing the tube to turn breaking them. For that reason I have always been reluctant to mount onto the mag tube, at least until recent.

Here is what I'm doing now. It's not perfect but it will help stabilize the mag tube.
Take the bands, mag tube and forewood off then reassem epoxy-ing the tube into the forewood. Install on the gun replacing the bands before it sets up. I actually use some epoxy to bed the forwood into the receiver at the same time.
If you ever have to take the tube out of the wood, just use a small propane torch with the flame inside the tube to loosen the epoxy.

[Pisgah]

A tool well-adapted to the job at hand. Sweet!

[jeepnik]

Interesting. I've got a light mount from WWG floating around here somewhere that I had intended to mount on my GS, but never got around to it. It already wears a holo sight, so I could make my own version fairly easily. But, being it's 45-70, it would not be quiet, and I've noted the muzzle flare, at night, is on the scale of a small nuke going off. I wonder if anyone has any sort of "flash hider" that would work?

[AJMD429]

But, being it's 45-70, it would not be quiet, and I've noted the muzzle flare, at night, is on the scale of a small nuke going off. I wonder if anyone has any sort of "flash hider" that would work?

Thought about doing a .444 Marlin this way as a 'hog gun', and same issue surfaced. I think one could get a .45 caliber suppressor and use it IF you limited it to 'cat-sneeze' loads, but the other possiblity would be a 'flash suppressor' that would just mildly reduce the blast - the key would be assuring the ATF goons didn't decide it was a suppressor (thus making you a 'terrorist' of the worst degree, of course... ).

Take the bands, mag tube and forewood off then reassem epoxy-ing the tube into the forewood. Install on the gun replacing the bands before it sets up. I actually use some epoxy to bed the forwood into the receiver at the same time.
If you ever have to take the tube out of the wood, just use a small propane torch with the flame inside the tube to loosen the epoxy.

THAT is a really cool idea; the slip-on mount I used on the .357 version just 'slides' a bit with recoil, and since it is just a light and not an aiming device like a laser, it doesn't matter, but the other two are more rigid, and would transmit recoil-forces more. I have these guns set up so I ONLY use low-recoil rounds in them (.38 Special, .44 Special, and .45 Colt 'Cowboy' loads) routinely, though I occasionally use heavier ones - usually without the light mounted though. Still, I really appreciate your idea.

Reminds me - I need to order some more of your Rossi safety replacements... I'll be in touch...!