What can you tell me about the Rossi '92?

[Jed I. Master]

I saw the Rossi R92 advertised for $600 in .357 and wondered about the rifle (from a CAS perspective) and the price.

[TN Mongo, SASS #61450]

The top rifles for CAS are the 1873 and 1866 Winchester and the Marlin 1894. After these 3, you will find some shooters using an 1892 Winchester.

[Sedalia Dave]

First ask yourself this question,

 

Are you into SASS for the fun and do not care about being a competitive shooter with anyone but yourself or do you want to have fun by being competitive and ranking in the top 10 every match?

 

BTW I have been shooting a 92 since I started CAS

[Mumbles]

My Rossi 92 has been great. 44mag. I changed out the springs and polished and removed burrs. It is super smooth. The only time I have any sort of problem is when I don't work the lever all the way forward and a round doesn't come out of the mag onto the lifter. Other then that one exception, which is my fault, it runs flawlessly.

 

It is not as fast as the others but it is fast enough and I just love the 92.

 

FYI I paid 525 for my stainless Rossi in 44 mag

 

I don't like the drop on the stock of a 66 or 73. The 92's and marlins point much more naturally for me.

 

I also like marlins but finding a stainless one in 44mag that I can afford has not happened yet.

 

I shoot for fun. I like to try to do my best as well. So far the 92 isn't holding me back and if it does I don't really care.

Shoot the guns you enjoy.

[High Spade Mikey Wilson]

My first rifle when I started was a Rossi 92 in 45LC. I later went to the Marlin 1894 in 357/38 and then to an 1873 in 357/38. I still have that Rossi that my wife uses and loves. It has never given me a problem in all of the years I have had it. Like Sedalia Dave said it's what you are looking at doing as a participant. I went for speed and got faster then the rifle was designed for and moved on. My wife shoots for clean matches and it works just fine for her.

[jrswanson1]

That price is a bit much. I bought a Rossi 92, 20" barreled .357 for $450, new in box.

[Ripsaw]

The price is less than half of what you would spend on a decent Uberti 1873. I started shooting about 18 months ago with one, and quickly discovered it needed some tuning. I worked that gun over using stevesgunz.com info and advice. It smoothed out the gun a lot, but I quickly began to outrun it and after trying another shooter's Cody-matic 1873, I immediately ordered one. Haven't looked back.

 

I bought my Rossi 92 used from the LGS for $450, so I wasn't out that much and it made my entry into CAS a little more affordable. I had fun with that gun but after a dozen matches, I got frustrated with ejected rounds. If you limit your speed, it will work pretty well. Some folks still use them here, but 90% use 1873s.

[Shakey Merlot]

I bought 2 used Rossi '92s for my wife. Both were in .357. The first one would feed and shoot just about any .357 or .38 special we put in it. The 2nd one just would not feed .38 special in any way, shape, form, length or bullet type. Bought her a new Winchester '73 in 357/38 and it will shoot anything and is a much more responsive rifle so far as speed goes.

 

I started with a Rossi '92 in .45LC and never had a problem with it. Sold it to a friend of mine who was just getting into cowboy action and he's never had a problem with it. Rifle is 10 years old and still works great.

 

Based on all that, I would say I think there are truly good and bad Rossi rifles. But they mostly are good. However, like others have said, if you want to get faster you will eventually want a good '66 or '73.

 

Just my experience.

 

Shakey

[Jed I. Master]

I ultimately want to get in to CAS as cheaply as I can and still be able to have a good time. I want something that will work well now and grow with me til I figure out exactly what I want. I don't have to win all the time, I just want to have a good time. I went to a shoot in AZ when home on leave and loved the experience. Everyone kept offering their gear and to let me shoot. The people are amazing, the shoots looked fun, and I am obsessed with the west. I want to get going already but 4 guns is a lot at once. (Granted I have two shotguns that will work so it's 3 guns now)

[Deuce Stevens SASS#55996]

Are there more competitive choices to be had in rifle? without a doubt. Are there any in that price range.......nope. 16 years ago I was able to get into this game for about $1500 for everything. If I had been told that I needed a $1700 73' to have fun I would have probably never started. Get the rifle, if you can even remotely handle a screwdriver get the excellent Palo Verde spring kit and install it. Add a good lever wrap and get to cowboy shooting. Here is a video of a Rossi with the Palo Verde spring kit installed being run, it's not a sub 2 second run would do in a pinch.

 

[Edward R S Canby, SASS#59971]

That price is a bit much. I bought a Rossi 92, 20" barreled .357 for $450, new in box.

+1 I checked an online auction site. This firearm can be purchased for ~$400.

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

Plus One to what Deuce posted, along with his most excellent Video. Well kept secret. A '92 is a really nice affordable rifle. The '92 responds really well to a little careful tuning and as Deuce shows, will run fast enough to really have fun with.

 

If your competent with tools, purchase the '92 Tune Up Video from Nate Kiowa Jones and a good spring kit. You'll be amazed at how well the rifle will run. NOTHING made for CAS is wonderful "out of the box." They ALL need help to be competitive. Shop around.

Watch the SASS Classifieds.

 

Prime directive in this game ...... HAVE FUN

 

Coffinmaker

 

PS: If your not handy with tools, just send it out to Nate Kiowa Jones.

[Mumbles]

You will hear all the time the recommendation, almost the necessity that if you want to be fast you need a 66 or 73, a few will also add marlins. The 92 is dismissed as a starter rifle all the time.

 

I wonder how many folks with race ready 73's could out shoot deuce with a 92. Sure, he is not human with his abilities. Heck, he could probably be even faster if his guns didn't slow him down.

 

I mean no disrespect to those with tuned 73's. everyone should shoot the guns they like and the guns they can afford. I had a 66. I didn't like it. It just didn't point well for me and I didn't enjoy shooting it.

 

Practice, technique and a persons physical abilities will be their first obstacles. Then it will be equipment.

 

I see plenty of folks with short stroked 73's. some of them are faster then me with my 92, some not.

 

Pick your guns based on budget and what you want to shoot. If you want a rifle out of your price range, just wait and save. There will be plenty of folks offering up theirs for you to use until you can get what you want.

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

The 92 in general is a nice rifle.

 

The Rossi is a fairly generic 92 that can be divided into 2 classes, pre-safety and safety models.

 

The pre-safety ones are fairly nice reproductions of the Winchester. The later models have a really annoying safety on top of the bolt that is incredibly ugly.

 

Right out of the box, they, in my experience, run much better than the Armi San Marco's but are not as smooth as a real Winchester. They are an 'okay' rifle that could benefit from some minor work to smooth them out. At least, the pre-safety ones are. I won't own one with the safety for purely personal reasons.

 

My Rossi is, obviously, a pre-safety model in .44 Magnum with a 20" barrel. It was my first SASS main match rifle. I tried running .44 Specials in it, but found that it would occasionally stove pipe on me. Switching to Magnum eliminated this problem. The load I use is a minimum charge of Trailboss. Not all that different from my mid range Specials in terms of recoil and report. The gun is incredibly accurate, even at 200 yards or so. I paid $400 for mine used several years ago.

 

So, when all is said and done, the Rossi is worth looking into. They can be made to be very nice, and are fun to shoot.

[El Hombre Sin Nombre]

Out of curiosity, has anyone used one of the new Winchester 92's?

[Chili Ron]

Howdy,

I kinda like 92s.

Just gotta git em smoothed up right, right?

Best

CR

[Charlie Whiskers]

I had a Rossi 92 in 38/357 that I picked up for a friend's wife to use when she wanted to try CAS. It would run 357's all day but stove pipe or eject about every 3rd 38spl round if either of us tried to run it fast. It liked the longer OAL of the 357. This was before and after my gunsmith had smoothed it out. I finally picked up a 66 carbine and let her use that. Out of the box it ran faster than the 92. When they moved away I ended up selling both rifles (I have 3 73's). Kind of wish I had held onto that 66....the Rossi not so much but it was a good starter rifle.

[Sedalia Dave]

Based on your answer buy a 92. Shop around you should be able to do better on the price.

 

Buy one with at least a 20 in barrel and stay away from the large loop levers.

 

Very few people can outrun a well tuned 92. As far as speed goes you will become a lot faster working on transitions and not missing targets than you will having a rifle that will shoot 10 rounds like a machine gun.

 

I have 3 Rossi 92s that the wife and I both shoot. Like you I started out with what I could afford. I still cannot outrun my 92 and until I can, I do not see the need to plunk down the cash that 73s require. The wife shoots B-Western and really enjoys her 92.

 

Get the DIY Rossi 92 kit from Steve's Gunz. Follow the directions in the video or if you are unsure have a gunsmith make the modifications for you. You can even buy a gun from Steve ready to go if you like.

 

You can also get this spring kit from Brownells. Comes with a reduced power hammer spring, lever plunger spring, and a wire trigger spring. Will save you from having to cut down yours. If also has an ejector spring but I have found that the one from Steve's Gunz works better.

 

My 92 is just about a slick as any out there. I watched the video and took the time to understand why certain parts were being modified. I also took the time to try different bullet weights and different OALs until I found one that worked for my rifle. Every rifle is a little different and you will have to experiment to see if yours will feed 38s or if it requires 357 brass. All 3 of mine like 38 special brass, 125 grain truncated cone bullets, loaded to a 1,505 OAL.

 

Most important is to take your time. It is a lot harder to put metal back than it is to remove it.

 

I did have one 92 that refused to feed anything. Had to send it back to Rossi for replacement. Took them over 8 months to finally replace the rifle. On that note before you do any modifications see if the rifle will feed factory 38 158 grain ammo reasonable well. Don't try to run it fast just see if it will cycle without having to juggle the lever constantly. If not try 357 factory ammo and see if it will work. If it will not feed one or the other or both without jamming send it back for another one. In my case the cartridge guides were mis-matched and no amount of gunsmithing was going to fix the problem.

 

SD