anyone have any experiance with rossi lever action rifles?

[shooter]

Im thinking about getting a few lever action rifles for the grandkids to play with, want a .357, a 44 mag, and a 45 colt, I been looking at the rossi. mostly cause there the cheapest. anyone have any of these? how do they work>?

[bkoenig]

No experience myself, but I've heard they're generally good.  From what I've read they occasionally need some work to get them to feed correctly but they have a good warranty so it's not hard to get them working if you have a problem.  I almost bought a '92 in .357 a while back when I was on the hunt for a lever gun but ended up buying a .38-55 Marlin instead.

The one guy I know who has one in .357 has had pretty good luck.  It's accurate enough to hit rams out to 200 meters with iron sights.

[Gary]

Three rossi rifles and you could have had a Winchester or Henry and some ammo to shoot.  If the kids are young, a lever .22 is lots of fun.  I am 57 and they are more fun to shoot than a semi auto that is empty more than it is loaded.

[shooter]

I reload everything with my own cast bullets, so there ammo is no problem, just looking for something different ,, actually the grandkids are just a excuse to get a few new guns

[Ghost]

I picked up a Rossi 92 in 45 Colt a while back.  When mine was new, there was a lot of heavy factory grease I had to clean out of the action.  The factory springs are really heavy too, so I also ordered a Gunslinger spring kit from Brownell's.  The spring kit really lightened up the action and the trigger, and turned it into a pretty smooth levergun.  It runs a whole lot better overall with the lighter springs.  I haven't had any feeding problems with factory ammo or my reloads in my 45 Colt version.  IMO, with a little tuning, the Rossi isn't a bad rifle for the money.   

Ghost   

[NE Bull]

They are being tuned and use in SASS for entry level guns. If that means anything to ya. I personally just didn't like te fit as well as my Marlin, but that don't mean nothing, just my opinion.

[jon_schram]

I had a Rossi in .45 for several years.  Was packed completely full of what looked like wheel bearing grease when I bought it.  Took a lot of time with a nylon brush and break parts cleaner to get all that crap out.  Bought a spring kit from Brownells shortly afterwards and gave cowboy action a try.  Turns out it really wasn't for me.

Overall the gun was pretty decent.  The buckhorn rear sight was pretty awful, and tended to drift on its own.  I drilled and tapped it for a brass set screw.  I installed a set of tang sights, but I did a pretty poor job of it.  Cycling was pretty rough originally, but a few hundred rounds down the tube slicked her up nice.  The bore was fairly rough, and tended to lead a bit (never fired a jacketed round down the tube).  The rifling was also fairly shallow on my example (much like you would expect for a .45ACP), and the rifling was deeper near the muzzle.  50 or so paper patched 240 grain FP boolits smoothed up some of the rough machining in the bore, but it wasn't perfect.  Never got 185gr SWC's to cycle correctly either...which is a shame because they would have been a blast.

The stock was not very well inletted.  The plastic butt plate cracked when my wife bumped the concrete bench while reloading.  The finish they used also was short lived on the pistol grip and forend...might be a good idea to apply something to the stock if you ever plan on wearing gloves while shooting.  I ended up using some Birchwood Casey where the leather from our gloves wore through...it looked terrible.

I ended up trading it off, mainly because I was concerned a heavy .45 load for the Ruger or Marlin would accidentally find their way into the Rossi (I've been told they won't handle many of these upper level rounds, and I didn't want an accident to occur).  Seems odd since Rossi makes a .454 on the same frame, but I wasn't in love with it enough to experiment or take the risk.  I think I ended up trading it straight across for a fairly beat up Marlin in 35 Remington.  Both parties felt they got a good deal I believe.
 
I'd buy another one if I was looking for a fun gun for kids.   The current examples I've seen at the range look much nicer then mine did.  The sights are much different, and they no longer seem to have a plastic butt plate.  Looking on their website, it appears all of them now ship with a more correct looking "92" style stock as well.  This time around I would just want to inspect the rifle well to make sure I got properly fitted wood.

[NE Bull]

They are being tuned and use in SASS for entry level guns. If that means anything to ya. I personally just didn't like te fit as well as my Marlin, but that don't mean nothing, just my opinion.

My bad! It was the Mossberg Lever .30-30 I didn't like the fit of.
The Rossi was fine.

That being said, and Previous post reminded me that my brother had a Rossi/Taurus/ .....  '92 (?)  .45 Colt Octagon Barrel Cowboy Lever gun.   Thing shot great, but just would not consistently eject the rounds at speed.  He fiddled with it and it got better, but just couldn't keep up with any of his Marlin herd.

I too have been looking at the .357 Rossi to get started in Cowboy Shooting- mainly because I can't afford a tricked and tuned Winny '73!! 

Sooo, buy one and let me know how it turns out, thanx.   

[shovelhead69]

I am a die hard JM Marlin fan but picked up a lever action Rossi in 44. I have a HUGE stash of 44 ammo and only one rifle in that chamber so I thought I would pick up another rifle and went with the Rossi as it was cheap. Used (not much at that)at 200$. It functions great and the action just gets better with use. I am pleased with it and its small enough for my 8yo son to handle with ease.





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