What to look for in a new Rossi 92?

[Brithunter]

The aim is to acquire a Rossi 92 in 38/357 for shooting at the gun club. I did have a look at a couple of new ones tonight at the clubs shop but in all honesty their price is a bit much right now. Here in the UK they sell for just over £650 GBP which is about $1,094 USD ...................................... and nope that's not a wind up or joke!!!! I wish it was .

Handling this couple tonight confirmed that the longer octagonal barrel balances better but of course they are the more expensive of the two with it's case coloured hardened finish on the receiver. The other was the shorter, probably 16" round barrel with plain polished and blacked receiver and it just didn't feel right at the shoulder. Used to shoot a Rossi Puma belonging the the gun club when I first started shooting many decades ago and that was a nice little rifle too hence my thinking this time around.

No I borrowed a club marlin 1894 and did a spot of shooing on the 25 yd indoor range with that. balance was not too bad but the trigger seriously needs lightening a tad and I don't like Buck Horn sights.

Sooooooooooooooo without resorting to a scope which I do not really want to do. It would seem the obvious answer is a receiver sight. Now this would probably mean drilling and tapping the receiver and looking around the web none were found listed for the Rossi 92.

So will a Lyman 66 such as this:-

eBay item number:

121182002851

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lyman-66-MK-...item1c37029ea3


Fit the Rossi 92?

[fecmech]

Yes that would work, another would be the Willams FP94/36. I have a Rossi 92 (octagon .357) with a tang sight on it and a 92 carbine with the Williams Fool Proof receiver sight on it. I prefer the heavier octagon with tang for offhand target work myself.

[Brithunter]

Thank you for the information. So far have not found any tang sights that fit and I must admit that not having the block on the side is more streamlined. Another issue is of course finding one from someone/where that will ship to the UK!!!

[Pb2au]

With the Rossi's the big thing is to just give a good once over before you buy it.
1) In the carbine models, look closely to the forearm fit to the barrel. It is not uncommon to have a bit of warpage pressing on the barrel.
2) Check the general fit up of the wood. You are not going to expect Uberti quality on it, but just make sure it is not a mess.
3) Cycle the action and just get a feel of its function. Typically they are a bit stiff when new. Just watch in the guts of it to see the function of the parts.
4) Check the crown. It is a long way from Brazil to the UK.
5) Check the fit if the front and rear sights. They can be a bit loose in the dovetails. Not a show stopper, just be aware of it.

If and when you get one,
A) Pull the woodwork off it and give it a complete cleaning. As an aside, the stain on the wood is water based and not super high quality. After a bit, you might want to restain it.
B) Blow the guts of the action out with aerosol brake cleaner. Cycle a bunch of times, then repeat. There is always a bit of packing grease and dirt in there. It is impede proper function.
C) Disassemble the magazine tube. Remove the spring and follower and clean the tube completely.
D) re-assemble and lube.
E) Go shoot it!

I utilized a lyman peep sight for a Winchester M92 on mine. The hole spacing is about 1.5mm too narrow to fit the tang, so I took it to work and milled one of the holes in the sight obround. It fit up fine after that.

Good luck, let us know if you need any more info.

[pietro]

So far have not found any tang sights that fit and I must admit that not having the block on the side is more streamlined.

FWIW, ALL Model 92's (whether New Haven, Italian, Japanese and So.American) use the same sights as Winchester 1894/94's - front & rear barrel, receiver peeps and tang peep sights.

In addition, there are W/E-adjustable peep sights available that replace the later Rossi's bolt-top safety. ( www.stevesgunz.com)

The various rifles may or may not need fitment to mount a particular sight.

Rossi 92's receiver peep sight fitment will consist of drilling & tapping (D&T) two 6-48 holes, either both on the LH rear sidewall (for side-mounted sights like Williams 94-FP/94-5D, Lyman, etc),
or,
one hole atop each receiver sidewall, just forward of the bolt locking lug recess ( for top-mounted sights like Williams 94AE-FP, 94AE-5D, XS, etc),
or,
(for the bolt-top safety replacment peep sight) simply opening the action, removing the safety retention pin, then dropping the peep sight into the safety hole, utilizing the original retaining pin.


The side-mounted receiver sights, and the top-mounted XS, will require a replacement front sight at least .10" higher than the issue front sight, in order to zero the rifle.
The top-mounted Williams 94AE-FP & 94AE-5D will readily zero with the issue height front sight blade.
The bolt peep sight may require a taller front sight blade in order to achieve zero. (Mine did not).

Tang sights utilize a longer rear tang screw to secure the rear of a tang peep sight base, and the receiver tang may need to be D&T'd for the tang sight base's front mounting screw.

The best practice, when mounting a tang peep sight, would be to switch out the rear bbl open/iron sight for one with a folding sight blade, so the rifle can be set up with dual zeroes (short range for the bbl sights & a longer range for the tang sight).

For a receiver or bolt peep sight, best practice for a clear/clean sight picture indicates that the rear bbl sight be removed & replaced with a dovetail slot filler blank, either commercial or filed up from the dovetail section of just about any old longleaf rear open sight.

Rossi M92's with the bolt-top safety will require that the safety be removed and replaced with a flat plug, to chear the underside of a receiver peep sight.

Here's how the Williams 94AE-FP & 94AE-5D is mounted on a Rossi M92:





A Rossi M92 bolt-top safety replacement peep sight:




Making a dovetail slot filler from an old longleaf rear bbl sight:







Regarding the examination of a NEW Rossi M92, I would:

1) Ensure the open sights are properly mounted (plumb with the bore C/L, tight in their dovetails)
2) Check the bore for rifling (sometimes missing)
3) Approve of the purchase cost.

Any roughness in the action's cycling is easily remedied via repetitively cycling the action a few hundred times, and/or buying the M92 reworking tutorial video from Steve's Gunz.



.

[Mauser48]

Try this. http://store.stevesgunz.com

[BCRider]

I was pleasantly shocked at how nicely fitted the internals are on the two new 92's that I got recently. We may be seeing issues with wood fit and finish and the odd barrel without rifling might be slipping through but it seems like Rossi is managing to do well with keeping the standards up on the internal action work.

The finish is no longer some sort of water based film. And in fact it required actual sanding to remove. Likely some two part industrial style finish. Looks absolutely terrible too. But a nice oil finish is only a matter of some elbow grease.

As for rear sights you CAN install a side mount. But a tang style is more in keeping with the time period of the original 1892's. And a tang style is also sleeker if you don't want that big side lump sticking out and hanging up on stuff. But the tang style is more delicate in terms of side impacts. So some care is needed when handling and moving around. Both require some drilling and tapping.

In the end my preference would be for the tang style since it positions the peep back near my eye where I can use a smaller aperture to get the most sharpening of my old guy vision from the size of the hole.

[Brithunter]

Thank you all............................. further web searching has now brought a couple of tang peeps into the running. Lymans #2 and Marbles #991001/995002. Not quite sure I understand Marbles way of numbering these but those are the numbers beside the Rossi 1892 in their listing. The Lyman is available through Midway UK but darned it they have whacked quite a bit onto the price at £116.95 GBP which is close to $200 USD.

Looks like I will have to see if I can buy online from the US myself stuff in the UK is just sooooooooooooooooooo damned expensive. Will have to buy the taps too as don't have any that size.

Oh yes will be having another look at the rifles Saturday. He also has a new Winchester 94 but it's one of the short barrelled ones. balance was not too bad due the the chunky wood they have.

[pietro]

.

Two things:

$200USD for a Marbles Tang Sight (The longer tang screw needs to be ordered separately, since Marble's, unlike Lyman, doesn't include the screw with the sight) isn't quite the stabbing you were quoted for a Rossi M92 in UK - A new Marbles tang sight, in the US (Lower 48), costs $135-$150.

What's a Winchester 96 - Is that a version of the Winchester 101 Over/Under shotgun ?


.

[Brithunter]

Sorry for the typo error ......................... of course it's a Winchester 94................... didn't have much opportunity to look over them today due to the things going on. However he did show me a Chiappa catalogue and the 1892 take down looks interesting but of course they don't offer it in .38/357 only 44 or 45........................... hmm cannot remember which it was now. Trouble is they are quite a bit more expensive than the Rossi which is dear enough.

So we will continue looking and comparing and see what comes up. I am not against used rifle but finding one of the longer barrelled ones around here is not that easy. The shorties are no problem though.

[fecmech]

If you get the one with the 24" octagon barrel they are already drilled and tapped for a tang sight, carbines are not. Marbles makes a screw set for the Rossi which is metric for the rear through screw and 10-32 for the front screw. I would normally recommend the Taurus Tang sight ($33.) as a bargain but they don't seem to be available at present. Here's a pic of both sight styles.

[snaketail]

Here is my solution - Marbles Tang Sight
Attachment 113078Attachment 113079

M

[Brithunter]

Thank you for that. Looking at the photo does the tang interfere with the thumb? Something I had not thought about before.

[BCRider]

I'm expecting it to interfere on my tang sight conversion on my 94. But I'll simply lay my thumb along the stock at the base of the sight instead of across the upper tang area.

[snaketail]

The tang sight does not interfere with thumb placement. And recoil has never been a problem with it in place either - Mine is a .454 Casull that I shoot .45 Colt in and I've shot full power .454s in it with no problems.

Note: The "recommended" post height for Rossi is a bit low - I was topping out at 50 yards, then changed to the Improved Tang Sight with a mid-range sight post...now I'm at the bottom setting at 50 yards with a lot of elevation clicks remaining - 200 yards is now a possible setting (wasn't before).

I saw a 94 with tang safety and a Marbles sight - the gunsmith simply bridged the safety with a short riser. Made the safety inoperable, but that's not a major problem...don't load it till you want to shoot it.
M

[fecmech]

I saw a 94 with tang safety and a Marbles sight - the gunsmith simply bridged the safety with a short riser.

I had a 94AE and simply removed the safety button. Tang covers the hole and safety is not usable with the tang installed anyway.

Looking at the photo does the tang interfere with the thumb?

Not at all

[Brithunter]

Thank you all once again. I shall bear your comments in mind especially about the staff height for the tang sight. As for safeties .................................................. . well the only safe gun is an unloaded one . I rarely rely upon them let alone use them.

[snaketail]

After you get the M92 look into the Gunslinger Spring Kit. It will change that trigger from a "Lawyer Pull" to "target" level. A bit tricky to install - actually it is easy to install, the re-assembly of the action is the challenging part...just go slow and watch all the videos about reassembly before you take it apart.
M

[Brithunter]

Cheers for that have just watched a couple of the videos on the web about how to. Will keep it in mind for when one is purchased. Need to knock up a cradle to hold it whilst doing this and cleaning that I can take to the club as everything will have to be done there now.

[Ragnarok]

My 'newest' Rossi M92 is also the oldest of the two Rossi M92 carbines I own. It's a blue .44-40 pre-safety from Interarms. It did need a bit of work on the lifter timing to make it work better as far as feeding.

My stainless .44 mag was bought new a few years ago and feeds fine from the box. Both these .44 carbines shoot well...quite satisfied with the accuracy...although I did have to do some work on the rear sight of the stainless .44 mag because it just plain shot too high. I elected to 'shorten' the rear sight-blade rather than swap on a taller front sight.