Rossi R92. Need some help

[Froogal]

I've owned this rifle for about 2 years. Chambered in .45 Colt. It is a great shooter and is accurate as I am. I am having issues with the hammer not always locking back when I work the lever. Works perfect when just testing. The rifle has done this from the time it was new. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Do I need to remove the stock and do a deep cleaning, or is something else going on? I use it in cowboy action shooting.

[cwtebay]

I had (what sounds to be) the same issue with a Winchester 92. I posted on here and was told it was dirty, which I "knew" wasn't possible. Turns out I didn't know very much. Took it apart, deep cleaned and have had no issues since.

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[Harter66]

I have a note over my bench ;
Malfunctions
KISS
Keep It Simple Stupid (sometimes stupid simple but I occasionally need to be slapped.)
Clean AND Lube before you fix it .

I can't say how many times simple dirt has been the cause of major wear diagnosis .
I have a plastic cake box and a gallon of GI CLP . I can't say for sure , but 4-5 revolvers have been soaked with the grips off overnight and cycled immersed in the pan and washed out several tablespoons of crud as well as chunks of fouling out/off the frame . At least one was well kept but hadn't been deep cleaned in ......ever probably .

Pull the stock and wash out the whole action leave it very wet and cycle it a few times and repeat with whatever cheap oil like stuff you have available then a better solvent sort of stuff and lube after an hour or so of wet ,work, wash , wet , work . If you're not up to a full tear down . I hate doing the 92s , I always have to refer to a video resource for getting the bolt out and then feel stupid for forgetting that one little detail that is obvious ......that I can't remember at the moment .

[Froogal]

Thanks guys. I've never had the stock off, but it might be time to learn what is in there. I'm thinking of saturating everything with some brake cleaner, letting it dry, repeating, and then finish up with some spray lube. Does that sound like a good idea?

[dverna]

92's can be a challenge to work on.

View some videos beforehand.

[Walks]

I've never let My Guns get that dirty. But a used Uberti 1873 Carbine I bought was filthy.
I just thought the springs were heavy. Became smooth as a Baby's bottom when clean and lightly oiled.
And the same with a S&W 27. The Rim recesses were so filled with crud the case heads were dragging on the Cylinder face.

I set-up .44Mag for my Chiropractor to load for Cowboy Shooting.
He's been doing it 4-5 times a Year for 20yrs. About 750 - 1,000 rds a year.

Last year his Win 94AE in .45Colt stopped working. Just jammed up with a round on the lifter.
Of course he brought it to me to fix.

Powder Residue and Break free make a great Black SLUDGE.
One of his old Vaquero's was screwing up too. The bolt wouldn't come all the way up to lock the Cylinder.
Man I have never seen any gun with that much crud in it.
Well I guess 4yrs at West Point as a Medic at the Base Hospital does NOT teach you to clean a gun.

Thank the GOOD LORD for ED's RED.

Lucky for him U.S. NAVY Corpsman are trained better.

That's the blasted Army for ya.

[Old School Big Bore]

I got a new R92 in 45LC a few months ago. While it was in transit I also ordered some upgrade parts and a how-to-hotrod-the-R92 DVD from a cowboy shooter who seems to be a pretty good authority on the gun. I was already familiar with the B92 and B53 but his video, besides being a great refresher, clarified a few things that were still mysterious to me.
Cycling the gun, it felt like it was full of blaster grit. It would not cycle with my 45LC dummy rounds, and when I did get one into the chamber and ejected it, it went across the entire shop 'briskly' enough that I was glad I hadn't been in its way. The trigger was like a staple gun. I removed the wood and guts and you would not believe the crud and metal shavings I flushed out of a NIB gun. Every part in the action, the receiver and magazine tube were absolutely filthy. I clamped it in a padded vise, muzzle up, and blew it out with carburetor cleaner. There was enough metal scrap along with black goop that I don't see how it passed QC, much less how Rossi had the gall to ship something like that. The guy who makes the video and kit says that Rossi does a slap-dash job of making and assembling the parts, then uses heavy springs to make everything work, which makes the R92 hard to cycle and accelerates wear. I took my B92 and B53 apart and compared the fit and finish to the R92, and it was obvious where Rossi had skimped on fitting and where they had used overly powerful springs to compensate for their lack of proper fitment and polishing.
While I had it apart, I polished the chamber with a Flex-Hone that I'd epoxied into a length of steel brake line so it would reach through the action. I slimmed the spring portion of the extractor and the loading gate, the trigger return spring, the cartridge guide spring, cut two coils off the mainspring, and replaced the ejector spring with one from the kit I'd bought with the DVD. I polished all the friction points and sharp places discussed in the video and watched every visible interaction of the parts to spot and fix any glitches - and there were a lot of them. I also replaced the plastic mag follower with a steel one from the kit. I left the magazine spring alone because it was within spec. When I reassembled it, I loaded it full of dummies and cycled them through. The polishing and reduction of various spring tensions made it feed and handle as it was intended - it is now as smooth as my Brownings and original, vintage Winchester 92s I've handled. The trigger is much improved too.
Once the R92 was range-worthy, I took it out to warm it up and it actually shot pretty well.
For anyone interested in improving their R92, and can do minor 'smithing, I recommend 'Steve's Gunz' action kit, including the DVD. I also replaced the in-bolt rotating firing pin block with Steve's peep sight and recommend it as well. If you buy the sight, get a dovetail filler and some plug screws, as the issue rear sight covers four optic-mount screws and you'll want to plug them. The peep works with the issue Rossi front sight.

[Froogal]

I've owned this rifle for about 2 years. Chambered in .45 Colt. It is a great shooter and is accurate as I am. I am having issues with the hammer not always locking back when I work the lever. Works perfect when just testing. The rifle has done this from the time it was new. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Do I need to remove the stock and do a deep cleaning, or is something else going on? I use it in cowboy action shooting.

I bought the rifle brand new. Cleaned and oiled it before firing the first shot and I have cleaned and oiled it after every shooting session. If it is dirty, it didn't happen on my watch.

[Old School Big Bore]

To go back to your initial question, yes, do a deep cleaning - ya gotta pull the stock to pull the lower tang to get to the rest of the guts, and while you have the tang out you can eyeball the hammer/trigger surfaces and figure out what's wrong. Maybe a previously undetected metal chip or lead or brass shaving got into the full-cock notch, or similar.

[Texas by God]

The best lever action do it yourself kit out there. By Rossi.

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[Froogal]

To go back to your initial question, yes, do a deep cleaning - ya gotta pull the stock to pull the lower tang to get to the rest of the guts, and while you have the tang out you can eyeball the hammer/trigger surfaces and figure out what's wrong. Maybe a previously undetected metal chip or lead or brass shaving got into the full-cock notch, or similar.

Thank you. That is what I plan to do.

[AnthonyB]

A lot of people disparage the Rossi 92, and I understand their point. But for me, and I mean for me only and maybe not everyone else, they are a fine rifle once they are slicked up a bit as an earlier poster described. I disassemble all my guns to clean them, so the M92 process is not a mystery. If you can do a M94 you can do a 92. I am not a Rossi fanatic; I just spent more than $800 on a Henry Big Boy All Weather in 44 Mag and have another BB 357. They are both good rifles, but very heavy for the caliber and the 44 required a new hammer spring. The 357 was good from the box; the Henry 45-70 had to go back for a huge scratch on the loading tube I didn’t notice when I bought it. I have no experience with the Marlin 1894 and can’t comment on them, but the the Rossi 92 is the Best Buy for the money IF you are the type to tinker with your guns.
There are several videos available on M92 tear down; I also recommend the Steve’s Gunz kit. I agree with the others that a good cleaning will likely solve the problem.
Tony

[trapper9260]

On my Rossi 92 357 mag it had lock up on me and the 2 bars was hang up so I remove them and then was able to close the lever . But after put the bars back the gun will not fire. Brought it to my gunsmith and found out that and piece in it broke and some other part he need to replace he told me that is the first time he hear it happened . He said one part he can get for it but is know to break so he will make one that way will not have that problem . I love the gun shoot great and what ever I put in it.

[cwlongshot]

Now you know why most gun smiths charge gun cleaning on EVERY GUN they take in.

SO FLIPPIN OFTEN, just that good real Cleaning can fix problems.

If nothing else, once clean its easier to work on. You know and can better see what you have in front of you that might be worn broken or cracked.

CW

[MI2600]

Good YouTube help on the Rossi:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0r0l5MRNaU

[Froogal]

Good YouTube help on the Rossi:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0r0l5MRNaU

Thank you. I will watch it.

[Froogal]

Okay. I watched that video, as well as another video from the same guy. As I do not yet own a good set of pin punches, I elected to not do a complete disassembly, but instead I just removed the stock and then took a can of brake cleaner to it. I sprayed it into everywhere I could get it. There was some black residue that ran out at first. I kept spraying until the brake cleaner ran out clean. Worked the action a few times, sprayed some more, worked the action some more, and then applied a good dose of oil to everything that moved. Put the stock back on and worked the action some more. The action DOES feel a bit more crisp now, so maybe I fixed it. Might get out to the range tomorrow and then I will know.

[Froogal]

Next question. I found a website that has parts for lever action rifles. Kind of caters to the Rossi. Spring kits, magazine followers, etc. It is called "Palo Verde gun parts" Any of you folks familiar with them?

[Old School Big Bore]

Not familiar with Palo Verde but will Czech them out. Brownells and Gun Parts Inc (Numrich) have 92 parts also. You might have to look under Browning 92/53 listings or Winchester 92 for some of the parts but almost everything interchanges except the parts related to the leaf versus coil mainsprings, and the wood. The Rossi upper tang seems to be larger than the others in general.

[Speedo66]

I've had good luck with these people. Same kind of stuff: followers, spring kits, etc. Good prices, low shipping cost. https://www.thesmithshop.com/