Rossi 92 headspace

[indian joe]

"Head Space" on a cylindrical case with a rim will have no bearing on case separation. It is not like a bottle neck rifle case. The bottle neck is captured between the shoulder & the bolt face, this keeps the case from stretching. On the 44 Mag the pressure is captured between the case head & the bullet so if is going to stretch & separate it will even if the rim is clamped tight to the bolt face. You need to look for other problems. If the cases are bulged your chamber is out of spec. If ammo is factory new casings try a different lot #. If these are reloads brass may be worn out. If gun is new call dealer or Rossi customer service. Make casting of the chamber.

Troll alert: I know that bottle necked rimmed rifle cartridges as well as belted magnums "head space" off the rim & belt BUT if the bolt face to shoulder distance is excessive they will separate. Been there done that have the Tee shirt.

Methinks you got yr tee shirt on back to the front
Excessive headspace .......
1) primer strike drives case forward
2) case expands up front and the case wall grips the chamber
3) pressure drives the case base backwards against the bolt face
4) case wall is still glued to chamber wall up front
5) case stretches and thins where the wall joins the solid head
happens this way in any case where there is excessive headspace and enough chamber pressure/soft enough brass to expand the thinner part of the case to grip the chamber wall - happens same with weak (springy) actions and heavy loads too
Suggest you remove tee shirt and put it on right way round.

[M-Tecs]

M-Tecs, do you really believe that .016 inch clearance in the head space on 44 magnum will cause case separation?

Per the OP's actual experience

I took the 92 back to the range, fired 10 rounds, they functioned great but I could see a faint ring on one and could feel it from the inside. One other had a distinct ring you could feel with a thumb nail on the outside, and with a wire on the inside. I now have no doubt excessive headspace is the problem, and will send it back.

[yeahbub]

That is excessive headspace. I knew a fellow who had a '92 in .44-40 and the cases stretched .008 with each firing. They were good for one, maybe two reloads before they would separate. A temporary fix he used was to lubricate the outside of the cases with some soft, waxy boolit lube or case sizing lube. They were all in the mag tube and wouldn't get dirty anyway. When they were fired, the case will slide back to the bolt face without stretching and case life was almost indefinite. Send it back while it's under warranty.

[Bushrat]

Thanks all, rifle going back next week. Rossi waived the shipping fee, which they didn’t have to.

[yeahbub]

Good move. Lubing cases works well when necessary, but long term, it's unpleasant tedium, especially on a new rifle that should never have shipped that way.

[justashooter]

cheap field test is to put two thicknesses of scotch tape on the base of a factory load(unfired), amd try to chamber. more than 3 thicknesses is excess, as scotch tape runs about 2 thousandths, and you want 4-6 in a field gun, and 2-4 in a target gun...