Rossi 92 45 colt... Pretty Great!!

gristle111

gristle111

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Delivered yesterday from CSC. Was hearing good things about the Rossi. Always wanted a pistol lever. I reload so went for the 45 Colt. Action really smooth. few sharp edges back of bolt that i took a stone to. Loading gate will need a few rounds through to loosen up but its totally fine. Ran 6 snap caps through a number of times... no issues except I lost a snap cap.. Ejector lunches them :) Stock trigger awesome. Polish is great. Fit is really great. Wood is some of the nicest for a base model I've seen. Super happy. Cant wait to get some through it.

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gristle111: The Rossi rifles are a good value for the money. Mine is chambered for .357 Mag. With a little judicious polishing of the internals, they can be made to run very smoothly. Spring kits are available to tone down case ejection(Stock ejector spring likes to launch cases into orbit). Plus, smooth out and lessen effort needed to cycle the bolt and finger lever.

I did not swap out the main spring on mine. Preferring the crisp hammer drop delivered by
the stock spring. Plus, reliable primer ignition. But, did shim the trigger spring....which resulted in a lighter(though still crisp), 3 lb. trigger pull. If you do decide to change springs though, I'd suggest starting with the ejector spring. Then decide which others....if any, you want to replace. I found that replacing the ejector spring alone, resulted in much easier, smoother action cycling. I found no need to replace any others. The rifle is 100% reliable, as currently set up.

Since you reload, you're going to find the Rossi a versatile and accurate performer. These rifles can be finicky about overall cartridge length, though. Plus sometimes, bullet profile. So you will have to experiment to see which bullet type and cartridge OAL your rifle prefers. Most will operate perfectly, with round nosed flat point bullets. Loaded at or near, maximum overall cartridge length. Though there is some latitude. Mine digests semi-wadcutters too....which yours may also. Trial and error will soon offer which works.
Enjoy!

Al

ps: Spring kits available through Rusty Wood Trading.
 
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Alex McKr said:
gristle111: The Rossi rifles are a good value for the money. Mine is chambered for .357 Mag. With a little judicious polishing of the internals, they can be made to run very smoothly. Spring kits are available to tone down case ejection(Stock ejector spring likes to launch cases into orbit). Plus, smooth out and lessen effort needed to cycle the bolt and finger lever.

I did not swap out the main spring on mine. Preferring the crisp hammer drop delivered by
the stock spring. Plus, reliable primer ignition. But, did shim the trigger spring....which resulted in a lighter(though still crisp), 3 lb. trigger pull. If you do decide to change springs though, I'd suggest starting with the ejector spring. Then decide which others....if any, you want to replace. I found that replacing the ejector spring alone, resulted in much easier, smoother action cycling. I found no need to replace any others. The rifle is 100% reliable, as currently set up.

Since you reload, you're going to find the Rossi a versatile and accurate performer. These rifles can be finicky about overall cartridge length, though. Plus sometimes, bullet profile. So you will have to experiment to see which bullet type and cartridge OAL your rifle prefers. Most will operate perfectly, with round nosed flat point bullets. Loaded at or near, maximum overall cartridge length. Though there is some latitude. Mine digests semi-wadcutters too....which yours may also. Trial and error will soon offer which works.
Enjoy!

Al

ps: Spring kits available through Rusty Wood Trading.
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Thanks for the info. I ordered and just received the rear bullseye sight from rusty. Still debating if ill put it on now. Buckhorns are nice for makeshift elevation adjustments. Im new to the 92s. I have 1886s 1895s (yes they are apples and oranges) but this is really easy to cycle out of the box. I will leave the the main spring as well... liking the crisp drop but maybe the ejector spring will get changed lol (orbit for sure). Think ill just start loading and see what it likes. Have W296,, hp-38, autocomp and trailboss for powder. campro 250gr, lead rnfp 250gr, and horn 250 xtp to start.:cheers:
 
I have the same gun. Put a tang sight on it and replaced the front sight as well. Quite accurate.

You don't need to limit yourself to Colt Single Sction handgun loads (~15K psi) with this gun and fast powders like HP-38 for <1000 fps with a 250 gr bullet. It can easily handle 44 Mag Pressures (30K+ psi) with powders like Lil'Gun, H110 and H4227 for almost 1500 fps.
 
gristle111: One of the first modifications I made to my Rossi, was to replace the sights. Bead front sight made a big difference in fast sight acquisition. Since I'm not a fan of buckhorn sights....rear sight....plain jane flattop v-sight. I had considered a tang-mounted peep sight for the rear....but since the rifle was intended as a backup rifle for cowboy action, the barrel mounted rear sight made better sense. But, since you already have the bullseye sight, it may be worth trying it out. Easy enough to swap back out, if not suitable for your needs.

Since my Rossi is a "short rifle" model, changing sights...especially the front sight.... was pretty straightforward. Your carbine should be equally easy. Rusty Wood should have replacement sights. At one time, you could order Rossi parts from Steve's Gunz, in the U.S. Sadly, that option no longer exists.

Your available powders should work well with the Rossi. If you can get your hands on either Unique, or Universal, I've found this to be a very consistent performer in .45 Colt. Particularly with bullets in the 250 grain range. Both lead and jacketed.

Al
 
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6MT said:
When I pushed the Campro jacketed 250gr that fast, they tended to come apart shortly after leaving the barrel. They patterned worse then a 12ga shot gun. That was with my Uberti 1873. After 3 shots, I pulled the rest of the 25 I rolled up, and lowered the charge.

And watch those .44mag-like pressures with the .45 Colt case. They're not designed for that.

OP, nice rig!
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Some old 45 Colt cartridges might not be designed to handle those pressures but the Starline I use certainly is.
 
From what I've been hearing with some online research the rossi 92 is a pretty stout action. If the 454 is chambered in it i don't see why the low-mid end colt 45 ruger loads with a good crimp wouldn't be ok in it. Not like id be handing it that as a steady diet... But yes i understand its a choice. The w296 is similar to h110 and ill start with that for the warmer loads. Ill be stating out slow. Nice handy package that can go from plinking to hunting and everything in between.
 
6MT said:
When I pushed the Campro jacketed 250gr that fast, they tended to come apart shortly after leaving the barrel. They patterned worse then a 12ga shot gun. That was with my Uberti 1873. After 3 shots, I pulled the rest of the 25 I rolled up, and lowered the charge.

And watch those .44mag-like pressures with the .45 Colt case. They're not designed for that.

OP, nice rig!
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How fast were you pushing the Campro when they were coming apart? Since it was a 1873 i doubt it was very fast. That's surprising!
 
Well it does because it sets the pressure you can opperate within.

If you have an old design may be limited to a lower pressure then say a ruger no1. So often the action will limit your pressure/velocity

I built a 44-40 that i ran at 40k psi due to being build on a lee metford that runs above that from factory

I shot the 240gr campro's at 40k without issue it was about 1800fps from an 18" barrel

But being 44 mag bullets in the 44-40barrel. It was setup like cast bullets. The bullets were 0.002 over size. So even just lead would have worked with that bullet fitment.
 
Not to derail this thread, but lots of experience seems to have chimmed in.. Can anyone compare the Rossi in question to the similar Win 94AE trapped in 45LC?
 
6MT said:
Aren't we talking about the .45 Colt? And the 250gr Campro's? And, the rifle I am using is a Uberti modern 1873 replica. A decently made (read: strong) action. But again, I am talking about pushing the Campro jacketed 250gr bullet north of 1500fps. The jacket is very thin on that bullet, thus it tends to spray at those velocities (not group).

Anyway, I was just trying to offer up some advice. Sorry for the interruption.

Back to the Op's rifle. NICE!

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yes we are, you are correct this is about the 45 colt, I was just talking abut campro's and their plating holding up, I assume its the same thickness for their handgun bullets

but back to the OP, yes nice rifle, ive been wanted a lever action for a while and would definitely want it in one of these 44 or 45 cal rounds.
 
6MT said:
1600fps. The action has nothing to do with it. The Campro bullets' copper jacket is very thin.

I found a sweet spot that's very accurate at just under 1000fps with the 250gr Campro's. And I gave up using the "all or nothing" powders too. I use TiteGroup with this combo.
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Thanks for the info. Ill probably just use the campros for easy reloading plinking rounds.. Maybe smalls game. Be nice to have 2 loads one hot with the xtps and one light with the Lead rnfp or campro. The aim is when sighted for 50-100 with the hot still have a good idea at point of aim and impact for the accurate soft loads inside 50yard but mostly up close for small game.
 
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