Rossi .357 mag. owners

[DeadWoodDan]

O.K. my FFL has been trying to push her Henry Big Boy on me, and the price is right, but the damn thing is so heavy. Told her I'm holding out for a Rossi, and the first dealer with a 20" gets my cash.

Tonight she tells me the .357 Rossi's have a bad reputation of jams with .38spl loads? Any truth to this? As i'm a cheap shooter/plinker i would practically shoot more .38 than .357 loads.

Thanks
DWD

[dnepr]

Mine feeds 38 specials just fine it I'd the full length 357's that can get touchy

[fecmech]

I've got two Rossi 92's. Both feed .38's and .357's just fine. Henry's are nice guns that shoot well but they are too heavy for me. That, and I don't care for the brassy receiver.

[Norbrat]

I use mostly .38 Special in mine; feeds just fine.

[marlin39a]

I have the new Taurus/Rossi 92 357 mag. Shoots 38 spl without a hitch.

[DeadWoodDan]

thats what i figured just getting the sales speech. I contacted both MAJOR distributors in the area Wallmart and Dicks. Both had nothing at all in the .357. Then i contacted Rossi, the polite and apologetic service women said 3-4 months if the current buying calms down. No hurry here, i think i just decided it was time to make the purchase and now am in the dark waiting again. About the time i make another purchase i know the one i want will show up. Gonna hold out as long as i can

[BACKTOSHOOTING]

Bought mine on gunbrokerdotcom 2 months ago for $408 and $35 freight, shoots 38 just fine, havent got the 357 to feed properly, YET, but its getting better

[wv109323]

I reackon I am the oddball. I have a very early Rossi Puma .357. It is so old that it has a black walnut stock. Mine will not feed .38 Spec. The .38 Special will come up through the feeding lips and out the top of the bolt. The action is then closed on an empty chamber. I have to use .357 brass in order for it to feed. Another guy in my local club also uses .357 brass in order to get his rifle to feed.

[gbrown]

I have a Rossi from the '90s. Feeds 38 and 357 smoothly. Only complaint is the sight. Shoots 8 inches high. Common problem. Will replace eventually. Shoot 162 RCBS GC in front of 14gr 2400. Right at 1700 FPS. Sweet. Figure out the sights, I have, and dead on. Hog thumper.

[runfiverun]

i use the lyman 158 gr rnfp in 357 brass for a smooth feeding and good shooting rifle.
38's will feed if i use the right boolit [158gr swc's are not the right boolit in the 38 case] i have to double clutch it if i use anything not right in the 38.

[BCRider]

My Rossi gets use for my cowboy action shooting as well as some general fun plinking. When you cycle the gun VERY fast like in CAS matches yes, they do tend to stand the shorter .38's up and either point at the sky while trying to close the bolt or they catch the top of the chamber mouth and stop things pretty fast until I poke it down with a finger.

But if you're not doing battle against a shot timer you can pause for an 1/8 of a second or so with the lever down and forward to let the shorter .38 settle back onto the carrier. Then it's all good and they'll even feed SWC's with ease. It's only when I'm "flick" cycling the lever that I ran into problems.

I got around this need for a slight but noticable pause by shifting to using .357Mag cases for my CAS rifle reloading. But I still plink with .38 cased ammo but with that ever so slight pause.

So unless you plan on trying to make the gun sound like a semi auto being fired rapidly don't worry about it. Hold out for what you want and it'll be fine.

EDIT- just read runfiverun's post about his SWC issues. I guess it comes down to a gun by gun thing but I had no issue with the 147'ish gn SWC loads I had at the time other than the issues with flicking the lever during the faster runs. Even then it would only jam up about 1 in 5 due to ramming the nose into the upper lip of the chamber mouth.

[Jupiter7]

I have(had) a newer model(after 2000) Rossi 92. It runs 38's with no issues. 357 SWC will catch upper lip of chamber but will feed, just kinda have to manhandle it. Gave it to brother this Christmas, his first rifle. I got occasional ejection of brass to forehead depending on speed of working lever. If the Henry was side fed, I'd buy one in a heartbeat.

[jlchucker]

Mine's a Braztech trapper about 3 or 4 years old. The only way I can get it to feed 38 specials is to seat my boolit out a bit. It feeds 357 mag just fine. Some Rossi's are apparently a bit finicky about overall cartridge length. Too short and they jam.