Rossi 92 45colt

[Fly]

Ok you Rossi guys I need some help. I have a Rossi 92 in 45 colt. I have been loading my own cartridges.
I have three lee molds. One in 200 grain bullets I use for my black powder revolvers. One in 230 grain I shoot
in my dragoon. The last is a flat nose 255 grain bullet I also use in the Colt dragoon. I reloaded some brass with
all three using 8 grains of unique. I love this rifle but not really getting the best accuracy from it at 30 yards.


Can one of you help me out on a good starting point on load & bullet. It sure helps when some one points a
guy in the right direction.


Thanks Fly

[runfiverun]

up the unique.
I have 2 loads with it I favor, 8.5 and 9.3 with 200 - 250's.
the lee 250 is similar to the lyman mold I use.

[nvbirdman]

OK, I'll start with the first question everyone is going to ask.
Did you slug the barrel?

[Bzcraig]

This 20 shot group was shot at 50yds with my 24" barrelled Rossi using Stevezguns peep sights. The part that sucks is it was shot with Freedom Munitions 255gr plated FP. I bought it primarily for the brass (Starline) not even thinking it would be a good shooting bullet. Now I've got to go down the same road as you but at least I know the rifle shoots!

[shoot-n-lead]

This 20 shot group was shot at 50yds with my 24" barrelled Rossi using Stevezguns peep sights. The part that sucks is it was shot with Freedom Munitions 255gr plated FP. I bought it primarily for the brass (Starlin's) not even thinking it would be a good shooting bullet. Now I've got to go down the same road as you but at least I know the rifle shoots!

Good shootin' and good shootin' rifle!

[runfiverun]

nope.
just stuck some 452 boolits in it and shot it.

[rondog]

Sounds like you need some reloading books with load recipes. I'd stick with the 255's too, the others are likely incompatible. A .45 ain't just a .45 ya know. .45acp/.45 Colt/.45-70/etc. are different diameter bullets AFAIK.

[Fernando]

Try partial resizing also - my 45 Hartford seems to like it a little more.
Has the typical generous Rossi chamber - But I have to use the brass in
just the Rossi as it will not fully chamber in my Bisley.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
You need to know your groove diameter and add at least .001 to your cast... especially if it is of the harder varieties.
Have a couple... they are not the same rifles. One likes .454 and the other likes .453.
But both like 255 grainers or heavier.
Best light load we use is a .455 or .456 round ball over 5 grains Unique. Good bunny basher out to 40 yards or so.
Mike in Peru

[huntrick64]

The Rossi chambers are all over the place. Mine in particular is really fat and bulges the cases all the way to the webbing. To help with brass life, I keep my Rossi brass separate from my other 45 Colt and just resize about 1/2" down (to grab the boolit) and just leave the rest bulged. I also anneal that top 1/2" since I am constantly working that. I have a bunch of 45 molds (Ideal/Lyman, Accurate, MP, Paul Jones, BACO, and yes even Lee. Probably the most accurate in my Rossi was the Lee 255 RF. This is the only gun I own where the Lee boolit shoots better than my custom molds. The mold really does suck and drops small boolits so I just powder coated them to get them up to about .454 which is where they shot lights out with HS-6.

My best 45 Colt powders for accuracy (in order with best on top) have been:

HS-6
Unique
2400
HP-38

My best overall performing boolit for killing stuff (not as accurate as Lee 255 but accurate enough) has been MP-270-SAA cast solid. It simply kills everything it hits.

[KCSO]

I use 454 bullets from an old Ideal mould in Starline cases with trail boss for smokless and Schutzen ffg for black and it will group under 4 inches at 100 yards albeit different poi with the teo different powders.

[MT Gianni]

The Rossi chambers are all over the place. Mine in particular is really fat and bulges the cases all the way to the webbing. To help with brass life, I keep my Rossi brass separate from my other 45 Colt and just resize about 1/2" down (to grab the boolit) and just leave the rest bulged. I also anneal that top 1/2" since I am constantly working that. I have a bunch of 45 molds (Ideal/Lyman, Accurate, MP, Paul Jones, BACO, and yes even Lee. Probably the most accurate in my Rossi was the Lee 255 RF. This is the only gun I own where the Lee boolit shoots better than my custom molds. The mold really does suck and drops small boolits so I just powder coated them to get them up to about .454 which is where they shot lights out with HS-6.

My best 45 Colt powders for accuracy (in order with best on top) have been:

HS-6
Unique
2400
HP-38

My best overall performing boolit for killing stuff (not as accurate as Lee 255 but accurate enough) has been MP-270-SAA cast solid. It simply kills everything it hits.

SAAMI specs show the 45 Colt as a tapered case, you cannot get there with carbide dies. Most compromise and for ease of loading have gone away from lubing and using steel dies w/out a carbide ring. As a reloader you need to decide if you want a case that fits the chamber or ease of loading.

[Harter66]

Good grief Fly why didn't you just ask me over there .....

If you're trying that 452-252 in it , don't .
Both of the 92's I loaded for were small bore/groove with generous chambers . Bbls at 444x450 but will cheerfully chamber a 457 bullet .

The 452-255 RF needs to be pretty soft . I run 50/50 WW-1/20 A/C but I W/Q for Ruger pressures . 8.5 with a CCI LPP in Win brass shoot 3" at 100 . Running on up to 9.5 tends to stay stable as far as groups go out to just past 80 yd . When they go super sonic the bullets go all over when they come back down through . I've seen it with 2 rifles , 4 bullets , 3 powders .

[curator]

My Rossi M92-.45Colt likes Lee .454-255RF boolits with 8.5 grains of Unique pushing them. For serious Hog-medicine, I use .454-280 LBT/LFN boolits with 10 grains of Unique. Accuracy is outstanding with the .454 diameter, less so with .452. Yup, my .45 Colt cases do bulge a bit, and I usually only 1/2 size brass to shoot in the Rossi. So far case life has been OK. I am not unhappy with case splitting after 10+ reloadings.

[Fly]

Man you guys are the best. I had to go to a funeral in Okie City today & have not slugged the barrel yet. Let me
do that to establish that part & I will post back. Is it not great to have you guys around to help a newbie & save
lots of powder & lead getting there.


Thanks to EVERYONE of you guys! Fly

[Buckshot]

I have this M92 Rossi 45 Colt rifle. It's actually quite a nice rifle and required only a bit of interior slicking up. As others, it has a rather generous chamber.




It's twist is 30" and it's bore and groove slugs .445" x .450" so it's tight with grooves just over .002". However I've never had any leading issues with it. In using that Lee slug shown in the photo I size it to .456" and it groups reliably into 3" at 50 yards for 10 shots. I've fired slugs from 195gr 45 ACP cast SWC's up to that 340gr Lee. I'd always used a Lee carbide size die. I also have a Miroku M92 rifle in 45 Colt. It has a round 24" bbl and it has a dimensionally perfect bore of .443" x .451", but it has a 16" twist. Truth to tell, it isn't any more accurate then the Rossi.

I'd picked up a S&W M25-5 in 45 Colt and was never much impressed with it's accuracy. I asked a friend of mine (9.3x62Al) about it after letting him look the revolver over. The first thing he asked me was "What kind of size die do you use?" I told him and he said, "Ya know, the 45 Colt is NOT a straight case"?. Well I never thought of that. He said I needed to get a steel sizer so Midway happened to have Redding dies on sale. As an aside I'd forgotten that I also owned a set of RCBS steel dies already In any event, the steel size dies produce a case (both the RCBS & Redding) with a slight bottle neck and a case body larger in OD then the carbide die. It made quite an improvement in the M25's accuracy but as of yet I haven't had a chance to try it in ammo for either M92 yet.

...................Buckshot

[Tackleberry41]

My Rossi 92 eats the same loads as go in my various 45 colts, just lucky on the bore I guess. I size .452 and it shoots great.

[pirkfan]

SAAMI specs show the 45 Colt as a tapered case, you cannot get there with carbide dies. Most compromise and for ease of loading have gone away from lubing and using steel dies w/out a carbide ring. As a reloader you need to decide if you want a case that fits the chamber or ease of loading.

I don't believe this is correct. Just looked up SAAMI specs for 45 colt, and it shows a case diameter of .480 and cylindrical. There is a slight taper to the rifle chamber, but not the cartridge, so steel dies won't be tapered either....I've been using carbide dies and they work great.

[45-70 Chevroner]

I don't believe this is correct. Just looked up SAAMI specs for 45 colt, and it shows a case diameter of .480 and cylindrical. There is a slight taper to the rifle chamber, but not the cartridge, so steel dies won't be tapered either....I've been using carbide dies and they work great.

pirkfan is correct, a 45 Colt is a straight case. Dies for it are straight walled no matter steel or carbide.

[Buckshot]

pirkfan is correct, a 45 Colt is a straight case. Dies for it are straight walled no matter steel or carbide.

..............I'll agree that that is what SAAMI shows. I'll also admit that carbide dies do in fact size the case down into a straight walled cylinder. Reduced from .480" but a cylinder in fact. As I mentioned, I had a set of steel RCBS dies on hand but also bought a new set of Redding steel dies for the cartridge. I took measurements at the time of a couple fired cases. The carbide dies recreated a cylindrical case, which then required an expander to accept a new slug. So you had a somewhat wasp waisted , or hourglass shape.

Both the steel dies produced a case with a vestigial shoulder. The RCBS die created a slightly longer 'Neck' above the shoulder then the Redding size die. The case mouth in this instance also needed an expander to accept the slug, but the point being that the body of the case was in fact, left of larger OD then those sized with the carbide die. I'll grant that case failures normally occur at the case mouth primarily due to expansion and then the re-sizing process. However over time I HAVE had some cases that cracked longitudinally from the mouth to better then halfway down the case.

I don't recall at this point the differences in case body ODs between those sized in carbide vs the steel dies. However there WAS a difference. The steel did did not produce a case with a straight taper to the mouth. What IS a fact however is that the steel die left a somewhat larger body OD and an identifiable reduction in OD from the body to the case mouth.

I'll have to see if I don't have some fired unprocessed 45 Colt cases, record measurements, then size in a carbide and steel die. Record measurements and take a couple photo's.


................Buckshot