Rossi .44 Mag Cycling Problem

[AlaskaMike]

I had my Rossi out at the range yesterday plinking away at 25 yards, and noticed something that was really irritating. When I cycled the action, not only would the empty kick out, but the next round in the tube would eject as well. This happened regardless of whether I was using .44 mag or .44 special cases. I was able to mostly work around it by cycling the action very gently, but almost unreasonably so. And even then it ejected a live round maybe one out of ten times.

Is this a common problem?

Thanks,
Mike

[calaverasslim]

I have had 3 Rossi rifles, 2 in 44-40 and one in 45lc. All 3 were pieces of garbage, with this problem among them. I have talked to people that swear by their Rossi rifles so I guess they can be good ones. A good gunsmith shud be able to fix yours

[longhorn]

I'm in Slim's camp on these guns--my father bought a stainless one in .45LC some years ago, and we trade it back and forth about every 6 months--mostly so I can cart it back to my good gunsmith for more work. Good luck.

[AlaskaMike]

Hmm... darn, I was hoping there might be a simple fix I could do on it. I was going to take it to my gunsmith anyway to have him install a receiver peep sight--I guess I'll be asking him to see what he can do for this as well.

Thanks,
Mike

[lovedogs]

Alaska... you need to call Steve Young at (409) 984-5473. He works on lots of those things and has quite a good rep at being a lever-'smith.

[NickSS]

I have had this problem with 92 and 94 Winchesters and their clomes. It comes from the cartridge lifter flipping up and the shell being flipped out of the gun. It mostly happens when you are cycling the lever really hard and fast. If you slow down a tad they work fine. There is probably a way to fix this maybe a bit of pollishing on the cartridge lifter but I seldom go for max speed with a lever gun. The only one that I do use that way is my Rossi Puma stainless and this particular rifle never had this problem. It did come with a bent barrel that the company replaced free of charge.

[Warhawk]

M&M Gunsmithing in VA is the warranty gunsmith for the LSI Puma guns. I would contact him about this one.

http://www.legacysports.com/support/info_00.htm

[Griff]

There's something here I don't understand. When you say
When I cycled the action, not only would the empty kick out, but the next round in the tube would eject as well. are you meaning that the round on the lifter/carrier would completely come out and fall to the ground. Or does it "stovepipe" on ya? While I think there are more than one cause, the one I know of, if it's stovepiping, is caused by an excessive gap between the cartridge guides. Shimming one out can cure this. But, since I've only dealt with my three Rossi, might I suggest more knowledgeable help:

If you go to Steve's Guns (http://stevesgunz.com). In CAS circles he's known as the "Rossi 92 Specialist". If you're the "DIY" type, check out: the Marauder Rossi 92 tipsl (http://www.marauder.homestead.com/Rifles.html).

Another of the problems known to these are letting a round slip under the carrier/lifter as you are chambering the round on top of the lifter. This is usually caused by the magazine cartridge stop. This little hinged part is attached to the left cartridge guide with a spring hooked behind it and held in place by the cartridge guide screw, they can become weak, broken or simply dislodged. Taking the cartridge guide out, involves removing the lifter. Sometimes you can snake the lifter out without removing the bolt or other parts, but... it does become a problem getting it and the cartridge stop spring lined up when re-installing.

You may also ask the guys over on Leverguns (http://leverguns.sixgunner.com/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=2) for help. But, you're likely to again get referred to Steve (aka "Nate Kiowa Jones").

[AlaskaMike]

That's some great info Griff, thanks! I've printed most of it out, and I even partially disassembled my rifle last night. Didn't seem too tough, and I've got a set of gunsmithing screwdrivers so I didn't booger up the screws.

It sounds like the shimming you describe is exactly what I need to do.

Thanks!
Mike

[AlaskaMike]

Raising this ancient thread from the grave.

I had completely forgotten I'd posted this many years ago. I just thought I'd close the loop on this one. It turned out to be way more simple than excessive space between the cartridge guides. The problem ended up being a mag tube spring that was way too strong.

This carbine remained a thorn in my side for quite a few years. It was nicely accurate with certain loads, even out past 100 yards, although this problem remained--when I tried to eject a fired case, the next loaded round in the mag tube would get kicked out along with the empty case.

Two years ago I ended up cutting a couple inches off the magazine spring while I had this little carbine apart for some other work. I had decided to cut the spring based on a general recommendation I'd recently read that the mag spring, when uncompressed, shouldn't be longer than the mag tube by about 3 cartridge lengths. Mine was about 2" longer than that.

Lo and behold, the next range trip I ran about 100 rounds through it and didn't have a single issue.

Sorry for resurrecting such an ancient thread, but hopefully it might help someone experiencing the same problem.

Mike

[knifemaker]

If you have to send the gun to "Nate" at Steve's guns, expect a 10 month turn around to get the gun back. Last month I was planning to send my Grandson's Rossi to Nate for work and he told me it would be a full 10 months before he could work on it. I ended up fitting the oversized ejector myself to correct the problem.

[AlaskaMike]

I'm familiar with Steve Young. I'm sorry to hear that he couldn't accomodate your timeline. Very glad to hear that you were able to do what was needed to correct your ejector problem.

[Shawlerbrook]

Unfortunately, most good gunsmiths these days are booked months ahead.

[Froogal]

I own 2 Rossi rifles. A .357 which cycles .38s just fine, and also a .45 Colt. Both rifles THRIVE on lots of oil. They like to be wet.

[Thin Man]

Mike, if your rifle is inside the warranty zone by all means send it back for correction. If out of warranty, I suggest replacing the cartridge guides. Only recently we had a Ranch Hand come in that refused to feed up from the lifter to the chamber. As this was a very new firearm it went back to the factory. In shorter time than expected (2 months) it came back with the explanation that they replaced the cartridge guides. Ours was not the same problem you are seeing, but I would not be surprised if this fix could cure your rifle. Good luck with your rifle.

[indian joe]

Raising this ancient thread from the grave.

I had completely forgotten I'd posted this many years ago. I just thought I'd close the loop on this one. It turned out to be way more simple than excessive space between the cartridge guides. The problem ended up being a mag tube spring that was way too strong.

This carbine remained a thorn in my side for quite a few years. It was nicely accurate with certain loads, even out past 100 yards, although this problem remained--when I tried to eject a fired case, the next loaded round in the mag tube would get kicked out along with the empty case.

Two years ago I ended up cutting a couple inches off the magazine spring while I had this little carbine apart for some other work. I had decided to cut the spring based on a general recommendation I'd recently read that the mag spring, when uncompressed, shouldn't be longer than the mag tube by about 3 cartridge lengths. Mine was about 2" longer than that.

Lo and behold, the next range trip I ran about 100 rounds through it and didn't have a single issue.

Sorry for resurrecting such an ancient thread, but hopefully it might help someone experiencing the same problem.

Mike

Mike
A friend of mine had this problem with a new (then) 44/40 Rossi ------it was the cartridge stop - I think the spring behind it was jammed up with shipping grease or something like - If the stop is functioning properly it will not release a round until the lever is closed after ejecting the last - magazine spring pressure might look like the fix if the cartridge stop is almost working but think about it -------with a full magazine the spring is under almost full compression and the gun should still function - full spring compression is way more tension than just a couple inches extra spring - not saying the spring didnt need cutting.
I bet in the process of doing the "other work" you accidentally corrected the cartridge stop problem.

[AlaskaMike]

Indian Joe--that's interesting, and certainly something I never thought of. What you say is entirely possible.

Thanks for mentioning it.