rossi r 92 lever guns

[oldebear1950]

I would like to purchase rossi lever guns 38/357 mag and 45 colt.
And I will remove the safety, keep the parts, my granddads were city marshalls in Oklahoma in the 1920s and 1930s one in Shawnee, and the other in Enid. taught is when we were just kids to use lever guns both Winchester and Marlin.
There was no safety on those guns, and just what you had between your ears.

HAS anyone had any experience with either the 38/357 or 45 colt rossi lever guns?

[Old Savage]

I have both and they have been fine. The 45 needs larger bullets for accuracy.

[mickbr]

I dont have the experience of others here but did use 357 rossis as my only hunting centrefires for several years. The basic feeling is they are about the strongest action in lever actions, decently accurate. the lightest and handiest of most leverguns, they can be stowed about anywhere.

Downsides are they can be rough from the factory, but usually this can be sorted out. Also they have 1:30 twist barrels across all calibres which is a little slow. The longest bullets for calibre may not stabilise well at low/subsonic speeds(180-200 grains in 357) , but normal speeds its okay.

I owned 3 x 357 rossis, 1 x 24" stainless octagonal barrel and 2 x 20" blued. They all cycled 38 special as well as 357. One of the 20" needed work on the load gate and magazine tube mouth as both were a little sharp. Also extractor was chewing rims originally. With shorter 38 specials capacity was 12 in the tube instead of the usual 10 for 357.

A 357 is very versatile, if you check enough threads on the net you will begin to beleive they are a 80 yard proposition when in fact with a good sight they can take hogs etc to 120 yards+ if you have a good load. I sold them off to upgrade to a 44mag Rossi recently, not through any failings, but as I want more power at subsonic speeds and .429 beats .357.

[JimT]

Mr. Nate Kiowa Jones on this Forum makes and sells a nice rear sight that replaces the Rossi safety. I use 'em and really like them. You can find them online at https://stevesgunz.com/

This is on my Rossi .357 ...

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[AJMD429]

I have a couple of each, due to buying for my kids and still being the one with the big gun safe, until they get from dormitories and apartments into houses.

As others have said, they are good serviceable rifles that may be 'rough' when new. That's why you shoot 'em...!
NKJ here sells parts and a touch-up guide that will slicken them up well.

Not as nice as Winchesters (my only Winchester levergun is a true work of art) but I don't need my deer-gettin or range-playin guns to be perfect. Just like with Marlins, I replace the plastic magazine follower with a metal one.

I use NKJ's plugs to replace the bolt-mounted safety, because they have the tendency to flip 'on' or 'off' on their own. I honestly don't mind the Marlin safeties, even though they are redundant and unnecessary on an exposed-hammer levergun (unlike a 1911 pistol, you aren't going to carry your levergun in 'Condition One'); at least the Marlin ones are positive when set/unset, and well made. For a gun used at the range or for non-dangerous game, the Rossi safety engaging itself wouldn't be critical, but if a bear or home intruder were the issue the safety engaging unexpectedly could be fatal. As far as un-engaging itself, unless you're Alex Baldwin, you and those around you should be fine.

As for sights, the 16" ones get the Marbles Bullseye because it is the fastest-to-acquire iron sight and doesn't block the (lower, closer) view the way factory type open sights do. The 20" get the Williams FP due to the superior adjustability and still speed and low-light function with the aperture removed for hunting. The 24" get tang sights because the longer guns for me are more shooting-range guns since I don't hunt open country, and the tang sights just seem more vintage and appropriate, plus take max advantage of sight radius with the longer barrels.

The Marbles Bullseye:


The Williams FP:


The Taurus Tang Sight:


Link to a thread with bunches of sight pictures including these...

viewtopic.php?p=390174#p390174

Thread on D&T install of the Williams FP on a Rossi...

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=25689

One of my Rossi 45 Colt leverguns sports a Burris Fastfire-II and a LaserMax pistol laser plus a rail for an 800-lumen light. It is one of my go-to bump-in-the-night guns for livestock protection. Way better than the concussion and flash of shooting an AR-15 at night, plus a more appropriate cartridge for the typical barnyard predators encountered from 10 to 50 yards away at night (even if they turned out to be two-legged predators).

Link to a thread on leverguns for home/farm protection duty even at night...

viewtopic.php?p=583183#p583183

The second example in the above thread is a Rossi 45 Colt...

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=31062

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I like Marlins even better, due to fewer small parts and side-ejection and their drilled and tapped tops, but Rossi's are very serviceable and do the job.

[oldebear1950]

I like Marlins too cause of ease of putting on a scope, but as a left handed shooter sometimes that case coming across in front of you can be a distraction

[OldWin]

I have an old pre-safety, Interarms imported, Rossi 92 20" SRC in .357. I've never used it on game but its a good shooter. It was stiff to operate and would fling brass to the next county. With some smoothing up and aftermarket springs, it was transformed.

As mentioned above, this forums own Nate Kiowa Jones is the foremost authority on the Rossi 92.

[rossim92]

Mr. Nate Kiowa Jones on this Forum makes and sells a nice rear sight that replaces the Rossi safety. I use 'em and really like them. You can find them online at https://stevesgunz.com/

This is on my Rossi .357 ...
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2.jpg

+1 he also sells a ss magazine follower, get rid of the plastic one they come with

[oldebear1950]

for those that have the rossi r 92, I have a question, Is it better to remove the safety and keep the parts, with a blank, or use the rear sight that takes the place of the safety?
I grew up using both winchesters and marlins that did not have a safety, Both actually have a kind of safety, (1) if you do not totally pull the lever up to the stock, most will not fire, (2) Most of the old guns have a safety notch, (3) best of all keep your finger off the trigger if you don't want it to go bang!

[AJMD429]

.
...it depends on what sights you want.

I like the three options in my post above, but the NKJ rear aperture replacing the safety is a good simple, solid, and compact option. Not adjustable for windage but unless your barrel is really crooked that shouldn't be an issue. They aren't precision target guns after all.