Rossi R92 in 454 casull thoughts

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Gasoline boy

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Hello gun nuts
I recently ordered a new Rossi R92 in 454 from Prophet River when they got the first shipment I've seen in many years. Now this isn't my first time owning a fire arm in 454 casull. Ive owned a Freedom arms revolver in 454, 2 other Rossi rifles and a Big Horn Armoury all chambered in 454.
So first lets say that this new Rossi is a huge step up in price from my previous Rossi. I ordered the first Rossi from IRG in 2013, it was a 16 inch stainless version that cost me $400.00. It was a fun little rifle that I ended up selling because I saw an add on the EE someone wanting to buy and I had started looking into the Big Horn Armoury custom. Big difference between that first rifle and what I have now, while it worked well It wasn't the most attractive rifle. the wood was finished in a strange colour and It wasn't very sturdy. In fact I had to make a new forend because the factory one cracked, and then I refinished the whole thing. this new rifle has gorgeous wood that is very solid. The action is slick and fast, It won't cycle 45lc rounds but I don't really care about that because I have a dedicated rifle for 45lc.
I sold the BHA because I needed the money and It just didn't really seem to be worth the price tag. I had pretty much gotten out of 454 after selling my FA revolver but couldn't resist the new Rossi when I saw it in the Prophet River feed. Over all Im glad that I bought it and wishing I could get a Ruger super red hawk to pair with it. Anyways, my point, If you are thinking about buying one you should. Its a nice, light, easy handling rifle. Put a red dot on it and chuck some big lead at high velocity!
 
I bought one as well. Wanted the 16" but by the time Rossi started making them again it wasn't an option. The rifle pairs nicely with my Ruger Super Redhawk Toklat. I highly recommend the rifle for anyone who needs a very light yet hard hitting rifle. My run-of-the-mill handloads are producing 2800-3000ft/lbs of energy!

I am searching for a rear sight I can mount on the bolt so I can put my rail in the rear dovetail. I'm thinking an ACRO or similar sight just because..? Suitable rear sights seem to be hard to find though, zero luck so far. I do plan to hunt with it at some point. No limit on game with so much power available, just have to watch the range.
 
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Skinner sights offers a dovetail mount peep. I took the rear sight off mounted a rail and got a vortex viper red dot. It works really well I think the next upgrade I do will be a taller front sight so I can co-witness the red dot.
I might bead blast it or use a sand paper to knock down the shine just incase I decide to hunt with it.
 
This is good to hear, I had an old one and loved it (750 bucks) but I balked at what they are asking for them now.
 
Rossi '92 in 454 is one of my favorite firearms, great in the truck and on the quad. Hopefully take a deer with it this fall. As to sight upgrades, I installed a marbles tang sight, using the factory front sight.
 
Gasoline boy said:
Hello gun nuts
I recently ordered a new Rossi R92 in 454 from Prophet River when they got the first shipment I've seen in many years. Now this isn't my first time owning a fire arm in 454 casull. Ive owned a Freedom arms revolver in 454, 2 other Rossi rifles and a Big Horn Armoury all chambered in 454.
So first lets say that this new Rossi is a huge step up in price from my previous Rossi. I ordered the first Rossi from IRG in 2013, it was a 16 inch stainless version that cost me $400.00. It was a fun little rifle that I ended up selling because I saw an add on the EE someone wanting to buy and I had started looking into the Big Horn Armoury custom. Big difference between that first rifle and what I have now, while it worked well It wasn't the most attractive rifle. the wood was finished in a strange colour and It wasn't very sturdy. In fact I had to make a new forend because the factory one cracked, and then I refinished the whole thing. this new rifle has gorgeous wood that is very solid. The action is slick and fast, It won't cycle 45lc rounds but I don't really care about that because I have a dedicated rifle for 45lc.
I sold the BHA because I needed the money and It just didn't really seem to be worth the price tag. I had pretty much gotten out of 454 after selling my FA revolver but couldn't resist the new Rossi when I saw it in the Prophet River feed. Over all Im glad that I bought it and wishing I could get a Ruger super red hawk to pair with it. Anyways, my point, If you are thinking about buying one you should. Its a nice, light, easy handling rifle. Put a red dot on it and chuck some big lead at high velocity!
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If we can in the future, I'll be selling my SRH .454 as I don't need it in my retirement.
 
I liked shooting mine. It sure had some snap. I had a Skinner sight on it. I have some brass and bullets I plan to take to a spring gun show. Never shot anything big with mine, gophers and a coyote. I have no doubts it would be great on most game.
 
Do you guys know anyone who has put high round count (thousands) of full pressure .454 through a 92? Just curious to see how they hold up. Are the .454 and .480 models beefed up? It’s a strong action for most pistol cartridges but the .454 MAP is 60kpsi and the larger .480 is 48kpsi? Modern steel (SRH chamber walls are thin in .480) and all but never made to take 60kpsi. Not worried about a catastrophic failure, more rapid wear of lock up etc.
 
^The earlier guns tended to sort of rattle themselves apart with heavy use. Mag tube threads would strip specifically, I can't recall anything beyond that but Rossi did temporarily discontinue them at least twice. Just to be picky but .454 SAAMI MAP is actually 65,000PSI. I don't know of much load data that actually goes right to 65k though and even Buffalo Bore don't load to that pressure to avoid issues like sticky extraction and worse. It's one thing to finely tuned a load to your gun but when using relatively fast powders and heavy bullets you want to ensure a safety factor.
 
Been shooting mine for a while.
Brass is the weakest link with this rifle. Hard on components when shooting at velocity. Loaded down a little saves

Chamber sure rejects brass being tapered.

All my second fired brass goes to plinkin loads.
300 xtp and H110 work well..
Fun rifle 4 sure.
Still tight, but will rattle all the screws loose
 
Gasoline boy said:
...I recently ordered a new Rossi R92 in 454 from Prophet River ... It won't cycle 45lc rounds but I don't really care about that because I have a dedicated rifle for 45lc..... Put a red dot on it ...
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Good choice, sweet rifle, I wish they had them in 16".

If it doesn't cycle 45LC, something is wrong with it. Prophet would be happy to take care of it, I'm sure.

And, I see more and more people here writing about mounting an optic rail in a rear sight dovetail cut, with no mention that it is a serious compromise. There's no free lunch: That small dovetail is designed to handle the job of holding on to a light weight and low profile rear sight. Putting a rail and then an optic on top of it puts much, much more stress on it, far beyond the job that it was intended for.


B said:
...I am searching for a rear sight I can mount on the bolt so I can put my rail in the rear dovetail. ... Suitable rear sights seem to be hard to find though, zero luck so far...
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Steve's Gunz has an excellent aperture rear sight option, it replaces the safety on the top of the bolt. They used to ship to Canada, then they stopped, don't know the current status.
 
kayaker1 said:
Do you guys know anyone who has put high round count (thousands) of full pressure .454 through a 92? Just curious to see how they hold up. ...
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Great question, would love to know the same. John Browning certainly didn't have 65000psi in mind when he created the 1892, but if the manufacturer makes the rifle properly, with the right steel and the right heat treat, then I don't see why not.
 
I have a "Steve's Guns" aperture sight on an R92 in 44 mag and mostly I'm happy with it, it does tend to stick up a bit and I'm mindful of it when handling the gun for fear that it will get damaged but maybe my fears are unfounded. The best part is that it replaces the ridiculous bolt safety and is a huge improvement over the buckhorn sight that came with the rifle. Having said that it's not hard to remove the safety even if you don't replace it with a sight.

I almost picked up one of the recent 454 shipment but hesitated since I already have a couple of R92's plus a Chiappa lever gun in 45-70 if I need the extra power. Also the new price was a bit hard to swallow when I paid less than half that for my first R92.
 
alpining said:
And, I see more and more people here writing about mounting an optic rail in a rear sight dovetail cut, with no mention that it is a serious compromise. There's no free lunch: That small dovetail is designed to handle the job of holding on to a light weight and low profile rear sight. Putting a rail and then an optic on top of it puts much, much more stress on it, far beyond the job that it was intended for.




Steve's Gunz has an excellent aperture rear sight option, it replaces the safety on the top of the bolt. They used to ship to Canada, then they stopped, don't know the current status.
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The rail I have from Skinner uses screws to mount. It covers the rear dovetail though so installing means that point is no longer usable for backup irons. I'm not sure what other designs are like. My bad as I did say it was going in the dovetail.

Steve's won't ship to Canada and won't even take a Canadian CC these days. Otherwise he's got everything a person could really want for their '92.
 
kayaker1 said:
Do you guys know anyone who has put high round count (thousands) of full pressure .454 through a 92? Just curious to see how they hold up. Are the .454 and .480 models beefed up?
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My brother has the most desired of the Rossi's, the 16", stainless .454 M92. Made for Legacy Sports around 2010 or so, it was the second generation .454, with the mag tube threaded into the receiver to add some strength.

Unfortunately the improved design was undone by poor craftsmanship. I worked up a full power .454 load featuring a 325grain LFN at just under 2000fps, and the gun didn't last 50 rounds before the mag tube pulled out of the receiver. Looking at the aftermath you could see that the threads had been cut eccentrically, certainly on the tube and probably in the receiver, as well. Frontier, who sold him the rifle, refused to do a thing about it. I contacted Legacy Sports down in Nevada and they said they had no way to help a foreign owner.

Since that time, Rossi has reworked the guns and hopefully they are better, and with Prophet River importing maybe you could better support for it up here. So these third gen guns might work. In fact, the second generation guns probably worked if the machining was done right. But unfortunately the only direct experience I can relate is not positive.
 
BattleRife said:
Since that time, Rossi has reworked the guns and hopefully they are better, and with Prophet River importing maybe you could better support for it up here. So these third gen guns might work. In fact, the second generation guns probably worked if the machining was done right. But unfortunately the only direct experience I can relate is not positive.
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We've had great luck so far with these new Rossi rifles. We are not the importer, Gravel is the importer and warranty center.
 
alpining said:
Good choice, sweet rifle, I wish they had them in 16".

If it doesn't cycle 45LC, something is wrong with it. Prophet would be happy to take care of it, I'm sure.

And, I see more and more people here writing about mounting an optic rail in a rear sight dovetail cut, with no mention that it is a serious compromise. There's no free lunch: That small dovetail is designed to handle the job of holding on to a light weight and low profile rear sight. Putting a rail and then an optic on top of it puts much, much more stress on it, far beyond the job that it was intended for.




Steve's Gunz has an excellent aperture rear sight option, it replaces the safety on the top of the bolt. They used to ship to Canada, then they stopped, don't know the current status.
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I am assuming that you do not have one of these or any experience with one from your comments. These rifles have never reliably cycled 45lc, even the Big Horn armoury rifle didn't. So no Prophet river wouldn't be happy to do all the work that would be needed to reliably cycle 45lc (if it is even possible to accomplish) Your second mistake is thinking people are mounting an optic on the dovetail. These rifles are drilled and tapped for a rail, you must remove the rear sight to find the holes because they are under the leaf. So again there is no issue removing the rear sight, installing the rail and mounting an optic.

Hope you learned something from this, and have a great day
 
Gasoline boy said:
I am assuming that you do not have one of these or any experience with one from your comments. These rifles have never reliably cycled 45lc, even the Big Horn armoury rifle didn't. So no Prophet river wouldn't be happy to do all the work that would be needed to reliably cycle 45lc (if it is even possible to accomplish) Your second mistake is thinking people are mounting an optic on the dovetail. These rifles are drilled and tapped for a rail, you must remove the rear sight to find the holes because they are under the leaf. So again there is no issue removing the rear sight, installing the rail and mounting an optic.

Hope you learned something from this, and have a great day
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My Rossis have all been chambered in 45LC. I just read the internet about the 454 version - Everywhere I've ever seen info on the topic, people say the Rossi in 454 will also cycle 45LC (just like the 44Mag version cycles 44Spec, and 357 cycles 38). But then of course, some individual R92 rifles have problems with this. Heck, some individual R92 rifles have problems with cycling the ammunition they are primarily chambered for. It's no mystery though, cartridge length is a particular challenge for most lever gun designs. It is kind of interesting that Big Horn Armory goes out of their way to say that their version in 454 Casull is "unlikely" to cycle 45LC properly.

Since Prophet River has posted to this thread, maybe they can chime in with their opinion.

The poster who posted that he was putting a rail "in" the dovetail wrote a clarification above. I agree that mounting a red dot via the factory d/t holes is a great option.
 
B said:
...Steve's won't ship to Canada and won't even take a Canadian CC these days. Otherwise he's got everything a person could really want for their '92.
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It's a shame. I wonder what it would take for a Canadian distributor to get involved.
 
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