Rossi 92 357 Mag Rifle and Boolits

[TCLouis]

I am thinking about the 20" stainless, or 24" Blued rifle, IF I can find either one of them.

Was hoping to use 158 PB boolits in 38 SPL cases for plinkin and playin, and 155 -190 GC boolits for deer.

Anyone have either and what should I really go for?

[Ragnarok]

Hmmm...I bought a Rossi .44 mag M92 stainless last summer. Just a plain standard stainless carbine.

Needed just a bit of work to the sights and it shoots great.

I went with the stainless .44 mag for a good tough rust-free truck/4 wheeler gun to shoot feral hogs..which are a problem around here.

For me..stainless was the way to go.

[runfiverun]

i have the carbine and it don't like 38 brass no matter which of the 5 boolits i try.
in 357 brass the lyman 158 rnfp is like snot sliding through it.
i don't have a g/c mold for it but have pushed the lyman over 1500 with a bunch of 2400.
it's pretty accurate.
as a matter of fact all my rossi's do well with the lyman rnfp's, they are over saami length but seem to be the best fit for the 92 clones.
the only 92 i have that won't feed the lyman rnfp boolits is my browning 92 and it will not feed anything over 1.610. it will single shoot them very well however.

[MT Gianni]

Runriverun, how does it do with SWC? does it feed any in that profile?

[runfiverun]

my 2 cavity 358477 will but the squarer nose on my 358477 4 cavity won't.
and again only in the 357 cases.
now my 44 mag stainless will feed a swc in 44 special cases just fine.
and will feed the long nosed 429241, in mag cases, now that i modified the lifter
and my 45 colt will feed a 200 swc [h&g 68 or lyman swc] or the 454424 crimped over the front drive band.
it is just how the feed rails let the cartridge cam over into the chamber as the bolt comes forward to push them in.
the 38 cases stand a bit too high on the nose and if i jiggle things around, and fiddle with the lever and get them to roll over then they will feed [sorta].
i have seen other ones that do just fine with 38 cases and whatever boolits like my others,and some that do fine with the boolits seated way out of the 38 cases.
it's just easier for me to use the 4 cavity rnfp boolit molds, the longer cases and go shootin.
swc's are fine in revolvers.

[Boerrancher]

A good friend of mine has a 20in bbl in the 92 chambered for 357. His does just fine with 38 Spc cases. As a matter of fact that is all he uses mostly. Loads them up to 357 speeds with a 158 gr SWC cast boolit and blasts away. With the Iron sights It will hold under 3 inches for 10 shots at 100 yards. I was impressed because most of my lever guns start walking after 3 shots. I would not think twice about going deer or pig hunting with his 92, 357 with a med loaded 158 gr SWC. We use to bust coyotes with it here on the farm with it out to around 150 yards. It is a great little gun. If you are going to be in lots of brush get the 20 in bbl if your area is more open go for the 24.

Best wishes,

Joe

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

My friend's Rossi feeds 158 gn SWC and RFN in both .38 Special and .357 mag cases fine. The NOE version of 358429 is too long to feed when in the .357 cases, but works with .38 Spl cases.

[fecmech]

I have 2 Rossi 92's in .357,a 20" carbine and 24" rifle. They both feed swc', rnfps no problem. From a pure accuracy standpoint the Lee 125 RNFP shoots great out to 200 yds and for plinking or varmints it's great. Both rifles (and my winchester94) like the Lyman 358429 over a max dose of 296/H110/ wc820. That's a 170 gr bullet running 1600+ at the muzzle and should be more than adequate for any deer that I know of and it will hold 3-4 MOA to 200 yds. If you load the 358429 in mag cases it needs to either be taper crimped on the front drive band, roll crimped over the front band or loaded in .38 cases and crimped normally. It is too long otherwise to feed from the tube.

[northmn]

When I had my Rossi 357 it really like the old Skeeter Skelton load using a 38 special with a bullet loaded out a ways and 2400. The Lee flatnose 158 jammed but the shorter Lee 158 grain semiwadcutter seemed to work OK. As I ahve a 32-20 I sold the Rossi but now see them advertised in 24 inch barrels whcih really gives me an itch to get another one.

DP

[Four Fingers of Death]

my 2 cavity 358477 will but the squarer nose on my 358477 4 cavity won't.
and again only in the 357 cases.
now my 44 mag stainless will feed a swc in 44 special cases just fine.
and will feed the long nosed 429241, in mag cases, now that i modified the lifter
and my 45 colt will feed a 200 swc [h&g 68 or lyman swc] or the 454424 crimped over the front drive band.
it is just how the feed rails let the cartridge cam over into the chamber as the bolt comes forward to push them in.
the 38 cases stand a bit too high on the nose and if i jiggle things around, and fiddle with the lever and get them to roll over then they will feed [sorta].
i have seen other ones that do just fine with 38 cases and whatever boolits like my others,and some that do fine with the boolits seated way out of the 38 cases.
it's just easier for me to use the 4 cavity rnfp boolit molds, the longer cases and go shootin.
swc's are fine in revolvers.

I have a 38/357Mag (the gun in my avitar) and a 44Mag Rossi 92.

Obviously every gun is different, mine thrives on 38s and that is what 99.9% of what goes through it. SWCs in 357 cases are awkward, but in 38cases, anything I have tried feeds well. I used to own a Browning 92 several years ago and it had conniptions with any 357 apart from pointy factory loaded jacketed bullets (that rifle didn't last long).

I have 44Mag as well and it hiccups occasionally on 44 Special cases, go figure. As my aim for it was to use in cowboy action, the 44 hasn't seen much use because of this. The 38/357 however has seen many thousands of 38 loads through it.

Maybe if you could drill out the primer pockets completely on several cases so that it is obvious they are not live and get permission from the salesman to load them with your fav boolits and ask to see if they feed ok. Three or four with each of your fav boolits should do it.

[MT Gianni]

Mick I left some unprimed to show the owner when I bought my 44 mod 92.

[Moondawg]

My Rossie 20" 357 carbine does not like 38 special brass and it does not like heavy bullets. The Rossi's have a 1x30 twist. They stabalize 158 gr bullets really well. 180 gr not so well. Many of them do not like to try and chamber the shorter 38 special load. Why mess with 38 spec anyway. 357 brass is inexpensive and common and feeds like a dream. If you want light loads, just load the 357 brass light. A good jacketed soft point 158 gr pushed hard ought to be fine for deer out to not more than 100 yd.

[runfiverun]

i have several of the rossi's 3 in 45 2 in 44 one in 44-40 and the 357 which is the only one that won't feed the shorter cases.
like i say i'm cool with it, i have thousands of 357 cases and a bucket full of those boolits so no worries.
the browning is most likely gonna be traded or sold shortly anyways, and the 94 will take it's place
as the swaged jaxketed shooter.

[Four Fingers of Death]

The main reason I use 38s in my Rossi is that it has the 22style loading port and the plunger type mag spring encased in a tube and it won't hold 10 357 rounds which is essential for cowboy shooting . Not much point in using 38s otherwise I suppose.

[btroj]

Interesting to har that others have a 357 lever fun that won't shoot well with 38s. My Marlin certainly doesn't like them at all.
I wonder why some of them seem to shoot well with 38s and others don't?

Mine also doesn't like swc bullets well either. It will shoot the 358156 ok if driven fast vut not as well as I want. My Mihec 359640 bullet shoots great. If not for that bullet I was aout to give up on the gun.

[Boerrancher]

Interesting to har that others have a 357 lever fun that won't shoot well with 38s. My Marlin certainly doesn't like them at all.
I wonder why some of them seem to shoot well with 38s and others don't?

Mine also doesn't like swc bullets well either. It will shoot the 358156 ok if driven fast vut not as well as I want. My Mihec 359640 bullet shoots great. If not for that bullet I was aout to give up on the gun.

My Marlin won't shoot 38's worth a dang and I don't have any more of what ever it was I was shooting in it years ago. It was a SWC of some sort and I had thousands of them cast up, but have since shot them all up and don't have the mold as it was a loaner and the man who owned it has long since passed. I have been thinking about trying the Ranch Dog bullet, but I don't want to have to mess with gas checks. I would love to be able to try the RD boolit out. I can make gas checks, but don't want to buy a mold that may not solve my problems. I guess this spring I will have to bite the bullet and just buy that RD for the 357.

Best wishes,

Joe

[cajun shooter]

I have owned two of the 357 92 Rossi's and they both feed 38's all day long.
The one thing that is most critical on a 92 is the OAL of the bullet to be fired. I don't care what caliber it is, they all will fail if the correct OAL is not correct. It's also better to load a little short than a little long.
The snakebite bullet sold buy Springfield slim is a good round to use as is the 38-158 CM mould by RCBS.