finally joined the ranks of pistol-caliber levergun folks - Rossi 92 .45LC 16"

[Seth_AZ]

After suffering from a nagging desire to get one of these for many years now, it finally welled up inside of me enough that I've got a 16" Rossi R92 in .45 Colt on the way.

Since I already cast and reload for .357 Mag one might have thought I'd go that route. Or, since I might want a .44 Mag revolver at some point maybe that would be the way to go. For some visceral and inexplicable reason, though, it had to be .45 Colt, and thus it went.

I've got three moulds for my 1911 .45 ACP pistols, (one SWC and two ~230gr LRN variants) but I'm assuming the LRN won't be suitable for a tube magazine, and the ~215gr LSWC would be suitable mostly for plinking, though the lack of a crimp groove could prove annoying if I have to seat them deep enough to roll-crimp over the bullet shoulder. So I'm leaning towards a WFN type design in the 240-260ish range. Since I'm brand new to this caliber I'm open to suggestions. One caveat is that a dream of mine is to own something like a Ruger Vaquero in .45 Colt as well and be able to share ammo between them. I do recognize that ammo that's shareable between the two is unlikely to be optimized for either, so as long as the bullet itself would be shareable between the two, it's not mandatory that the loads themselves be (ie: a load that can take full advantage of the 16" Rossi barrel might burn incompletely in a 5-6" revolver, and a load that can burn completely in a 5-6" revolver may leave a lot on the table in a 16" carbine).

If any of you have recent vintage Rossi R92s in .45 Colt I'd be very curious what your bores slug out to just beyond the chamber throat. Unfortunately my sizing dies that I use with my .45 ACP bullets are .451", and I'm not optomistic that the Rossi bore will be .450" once it arrives, so in all likelihood not much of my .45 ACP casting stuff is going to cross over and be useful to me with the Rossi.

I haven't participated on this board in quite a few years, but it's time to be back, and this new Rossi R92 is the perfect opportunity to come back here. So, this thread is for me to just say hi again to everyone here, and see if anyone's got any tips on casting bullets for the Rossi 16" R92 that might help point me in the right direction. I'll order a new mould once the gun arrives and I'm able to slug the bore. What mould that will be is yet to be decided.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I do have a late Rossi .45 L.C., but I never slugged it because it shoots .452 boolits very nicely! Like you, I resisted getting into pistol cartridge chambered levers for a long time, but finally gave in and it's loads of fun. Also, nice to have ammo for both carbines and revolvers. Some guys load for the carbines hotter than for the handguns, which is o.k. if that's what they want to do, but then you're back to packing two loadings if their carbine loads are too hot for the revolvers. Glad that you decided to visit Castboolits again! Welcome back!

DG

[Mk42gunner]

I have a lateish model R92 in .45 Colt, with the 20" barrel. Like DG I have not slugged the barrel, mainly because I have a fifty cal ammo can full of cowboy level loads that it shoots okay. Never fired at a paper target with this gun yet.

As I said it works with the cowboy level loads with a Western Nevada Hardcast 250 gr RNFP. (I bought a bunch years ago before I started casting).

It also cycles my own loads of Starline brass and the Lyman 452424 that I worked up for my Marlin 1894CB. I sized them to .452" which is also what I run in my .45ACP's.

I may have to actually put it on paper soon just to do a comparison between the Marlin, the Rossi and the 5½" original Vaquero.

Robert

[Savvy Jack]

The .45 is not a pistol caliber, it is a pistol cartridge.

[Seth_AZ]

Thanks! It's encouraging that your .452" bullets shoot well, since that implies that my current moulds would at least not be undersized, though I'll probably have to get a new sizer. My 1911 barrels slug out to .450", and I reckon the odds of the Rossi barrel being that tight are slim. Still not sure what I'll do if I use my existing moulds given the lack of a crimping groove. I could probably see the SWC out far enough to crimp into the lube groove if I coat the bullets instead of using conventional lube, though that ammo would probably be ugly as sin.

I did fire a Rossi carbine in .44 mag that my brother owns. It was many years ago, and I just remember being surprised at how much kick it had. Not saying it'll be a problem, just that I'd made some assumptions about a pistol cartridge in a rifle that were misinformed.

I like to imagine that I'd use a gun like this for hunting in wooded mountainous areas, but I'm kidding nobody: I've actually only hunted once in my life, and unless I make some new friends in my area, the likelihood that I'll ever use this gun in that way is fairly low. I tend to go for light to mid or maybe upper-mid range loads in most of my guns, so I'm not going to concentrate on shooting the heaviest possible bullet at the highest velocities from this thing. That said, since I don't actually own a .45 LC revolver right now, I'll develop my first loads to suit the carbine, and if I ever do pick up the Vaquero or other such revolver, I'll worry about developing a load suitable to both at that time.

As far as powders currently on my shelf, I don't have a wide variety that are likely to be suitable, but I do have a little AA#9 left, a lb of 5744, some Hodgdon Universal (similar to Unique), and a bunch of an AA#2 equivalent called Clean Shot. I'm sure I can do some lighter to even upper range loads using one of those and an appropriate weight of bullet.

[Seth_AZ]

The .45 is not a pistol caliber, it is a pistol cartridge.

I can be as pedantic as the next guy in my own way, but this contribution to the thread stands out. Well done!

Please be sure to write to USPSA to advise them to change the name of the "Pistol Caliber Carbine" divison to "Pistol Cartridge Carbine," lest anyone be confused. I'd do it myself but I wouldn't want to steal the credit.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Take a look at the Lee Factory Crimp dies. They are used on about 90% of everything I load, and no crimping groove is required.

I agree that .44 Mag. carbines seem to "kick" all out of proportion to their size. But--they're still fun. Truthfully, if I was going to hunt deer I'd take a .30-30 in preference to a .44 Mag. or .45 Colt, although either will do the job.

I prefer Unique for my .45 Colt loads, but Universal will work, as will Accurate #5 and several others. Too bad we seem to once again be in a powder shortage, but I've got an unopened jug of Unique salted away.

I'm sure you're going to enjoy your .45 Rossi. Some of them are a bit particular about overall cartridge length when feeding. Seems as though all of them can benefit from disassembly and a little judicious polishing of parts. Let us know how your first shooting experience turns out.

DG

[Seth_AZ]

@Der Gebirgsjager,
Thanks again. I've never actually used a Lee Factory Crimp die, though I've heard about them many times. I just put myself on notice at Lee for when they come back in stock, and will give it a try. I've been leary in the past simply because many of my lead loads end up being a couple thousandths wider than factory ammo, and I'd hate to end up swaging the bullets down in the case to where they were no longer the best size for my particular bore. This thing is cheap enough I'm willing to try it out here to see what it's all about.

When I shot my brother's .44 mag carbine he was using stout factory loads, but I'll load the .45 Colt carbine to whatever power level I'll enjoy shooting a lot, and it'll probably end up being kind of mid range. The recoil on that .44 mag carbine wasn't a problem; it was only a surprise.

As far as disassembly of the gun and some judicious polishing, I'm no gunsmith but I've built 1911s from the ground up with all oversized gunsmith-fit required parts and they turned out fine, so I've sort of lost my fear of that sort of thing. I'll evaluate the need once it's in my hands and then do the needful.

[smkummer]

A new cowboy action shooter showed up with one of these as that’s all he could find. He will need a 20” rifle to hold 10 rounds eventually. He also didn’t bring enough ammo and 2 of us borrowed him our cast cowboy loads. His gun fired it all. Anyway.
I shoot lymans 454190 (250 gr, small flat point) in my colt/ burgess repro. And in my buddies Marlin cowboy. Shoots wonderful sized to .454. While it doesn’t have a crimp groove, at .454 diameter, it fits so tight in the cases, it doesn’t set back when crimped in the ogive. 9 grains unique. 1150 FPS out of my rifle and ever target is fair game out to 100 yards and past. Feeds wonderfully smooth too.

[pietro]

As far as disassembly of the gun and some judicious polishing, I'm no gunsmith but I've built 1911s from the ground up with all oversized gunsmith-fit required parts and they turned out fine, so I've sort of lost my fear of that sort of thing.

There's only one real caveat: When re-assembling, place an empty cartridge case under the extractor on the bolt face to save yourself a P.I.T.A.


.

[farmbif]

I only shoot 454640 lube sized to .454 in my Rossi 45 colt, good accuracy no leading whatsoever.

[Seth_AZ]

There's only one real caveat: When re-assembling, place an empty cartridge case under the extractor on the bolt face to save yourself a P.I.T.A.

Awesome, thanks for the tip! I'll remember that when I inevitably have this thing apart.

I only shoot 454640 lube sized to .454 in my Rossi 45 colt, good accuracy no leading whatsoever.

Is that this mould from MP-Moulds? That page doesn't list the dropped bullet weight, but if I'm not mistaken some Google foo turned up people saying it was 250gr, which sounds great.

I'm huge MP moulds fan and have several already in different calibers. I'll hold off ordering one until I can slug the bore and see what it is, plus I should give the Lee mould I've already ordered a chance to prove itself or not. I do covet this mould though, and it's probably in my future at some point.