Silverboy vs. Rossi 92

[DSL1138]

I am trying to decide which of these two lever-action rifles I want to get. I'm conflicted so I would like everyone's opinion of which one I should get and why. The rifles in question are the Uberti Silverboy Rifle, chambered in the .22 Long Rifle:

http://www.uberti.com/firearms/silverboy-lever-action.php

And the Rossi M92 Carbine, chambered in .357 Magnum and .38 Special:

http://www.rossiusa.com/product-details.cfm?id=157&category=8&toggle=&breadcrumbseries=

I'm not sure whether to get the Silverboy, because it just looks so good and 22's are a joy to shoot (my little brother has a Henry in 22 and I love to shoot it) but on the downside it costs (for me) a pretty good hunk of change.

Then there's the Rossi M92 Carbine, which I reload .38 Specials so ammo wouldn't be much of a problem, it has a rear loading gate which I prefer over the Silverboy's method of loading, but from what I can tell it's using old-style sights which I have absolutely no experience with.

There's pros and cons to both, and while the final decision is coming down to me, I'd like to hear what yall have to say about both rifles and why I should get one over the other.

[LEADLUBBER]

Apples and oranges!!!!!

hahaha......

my decision would lean more towards the Rossi in Stainless instead of blued or with a octagon barrel and case hardened receiver look....

Go with a Marbles Tang sight to make it really accurate with open sights!!!
http://www.marblearms.com/improvedPeepTang_info.html



I would be afraid of the chrome flaking off the alloy receiver on the Uberti..... although it looks cool, I don't think it would hold up well to a scuff or sliding down a table.... once the chrome starts to flake, there is no stopping it...

If You already reload for .38 special anyways......

[bruce drake]

The Rossi will allow you to load the rifle with light plinking loads to pop cans and squirrels or build heavier loads to handle deer/pig within reasonable limits to range and size.

The Silverboy is a plinker/varmint load only proposition and you won't be able to reload for it.

Its a no-brainer in my opinion. Rossi because you can do more for your money.

Bruce

[joec]

I own a Rossi 92 in 45 colt and there many sight options if you don't like the sights on it. I happen to like the ones on my gun which are what it came with. Mine by the way is the case hardened blued with 20" octagon barrel and fire every thing from black powder loads to full power loads with no problem at all. I really enjoy mine a lot especially for the price I paid at Bud's.

[DSL1138]

You know, I never thought about the chrome flaking off, that's a good point. Judging from what I've read here, I am going to look into getting a Rossi 92 in Stainless Steel. Thanks for the help guys.

[Lonegun1894]

I have a Rossi in .357 mag. It is one of my favorite rifles and surprizes a lot of people with how well it shoots. It's very accurate, and as you already know since you load .38 Special, it is cheap on lead and powder.

[HDS]

I first saw the silverboy this morning, and got angry. What I saw was just another sorta, kinda lookalike clone that we already got companies like Henry to churn out.

I've been waiting, hoping, for Uberti to release their 1873 lever in .22lr again, And by that I mean a real 1873 design, the toggle action and everything, the works! But for a .22 long rifle (would be great as a 19" carbine)... and instead I saw this was their answer for the .22lr market.

Pah. The Rossi 92 is a proper replica at least.

[helice]

I too lean towards the Rossi but I must warn you that buyin one may cause problems for you.
First you will spend a bunch of money cause you'll want to get a progressive loader to keep up with all the fun you're having.
Second you'll be visiting multiple gun shows buying every 357 mould the world has to offer and there are a bunch cause they are fun.
Then you'll be burning up your weekends visiting all the tire stores searching for lead wheel weights, and casting millions of glorious BOOLITS.
You'll loose the respect of your neighbors by dumpster diving for beer cans to shoot at. You'll burn up your copy machine printing free targets on-line.
Then when your woman finds out how much fun it is to shoot this thing you're sure to get into a fight over who gets to use it the most.
Oh the problems that are involved with Rossi Fun. :)

[DSL1138]

I too lean towards the Rossi but I must warn you that buyin one may cause problems for you.
First you will spend a bunch of money cause you'll want to get a progressive loader to keep up with all the fun you're having.
Second you'll be visiting multiple gun shows buying every 357 mould the world has to offer and there are a bunch cause they are fun.
Then you'll be burning up your weekends visiting all the tire stores searching for lead wheel weights, and casting millions of glorious BOOLITS.
You'll loose the respect of your neighbors by dumpster diving for beer cans to shoot at. You'll burn up your copy machine printing free targets on-line.
Then when your woman finds out how much fun it is to shoot this thing you're sure to get into a fight over who gets to use it the most.
Oh the problems that are involved with Rossi Fun. :)

Wait a minute, those are problems? :-D Yep, I am definately getting me a Rossi, if it leads to more :guntootsmiley:

[gritsngiggles]

Not to knock the silverboy, but a .22 is a .22, you can always load down a 38/357 and still have a versatile fun little rifle. I like the newer rossi's, mine is the 38/357 blued octagon in 24". Has to be my favorite. Had to do I few mods to it, and now love it even more.

[59sharps]

IF you want a 22lr or mag. also look at the henrys I bought one for my son when he was 12. he is now 23 we both still fight over shooting it. It is the golden boy. but it can be had in blue. Big plus it is made in the USA. never had a rossie so cant comment on them. Do hav a uberti henry 1860 in 44-40. like that too.

[runfiverun]

when y'all say rossi,,,,, you mean taurus.....
i really,really like the model 92..
be aware that a 357 may or may not feed 38's with most boolit designs.

[helice]

DSL,
Glad I could help you decide. No foolin' brother, they are fun. That M-92 rifle in 38/357 is hoot to shoot and fun for the whole family.

[Iron Mike Golf]

I love my 2 week old Braztech/Taurus/Rossi 92. I have a blue 20 inch 357 Carbine. There's lots of info out there to make their actions real smoooth, which they aren't out of the box.

The barrel's drilled and tapped for a scout-styled forward mounted scope base. You can get a base from CDNN for about $15.

You can get some very useful parts from Steve's Gunz http://stevesgunz.com/index.htm

What I've done to mine:

1. Action job: replace ejector, trigger return, and hammer springs. Stoned and polish the trigger and hammer mating surfaces. Smooth the ejector shaft.

2. Replaced the bolt safety with a peep sight from Steve's Gunz. No longer shoots high. With the factory, some loads shot high even with the rear sight elevator removed.

3. Removed the factory rear sight and installed a scope base. I can use the peep with the scope base installed.

4. Replaced the factory magazine follower with a sttel one from Steve's. Amazing how flimsy the yellow factory one is.

5. Smoothed the top of the cartridge carrier. Factory finish is real rough and grinds brass off the cartridge rim.

6. Lightened the tension on the loading gate spring. The 357/38 cartridge is skinny and my thumb is big. Making that spring have less tension makes loading tons easier.

My bore does show a good bit of tool marks. I may shoot a few 600 grit firelap rounds to smooth it. Shoot wonderfully out to 20 yds/ I need to get outdoors this weekend and stretch it out.

Get one of these. You'll love it.

[EDK]

John Taffin made a comment that "a 357 rifle is the third most useful firearm you can own...behind a 22 rifle and pistol." He may be right, but I shoot a lot more 44 rounds in my rifles and pistols than 22s...and I also reload. I've got some 357s too, but I like the bigger gun. (I figure 80% 44s; 15% 357s and 5% 22s.)

The 357 ain't a bad deer gun...just stay under 100 yards and have good ammo. Go over to marlinowners.com and see what they say about 357 and their ammo choices. A hot 357 load with a 180 grain boolit is considered "big medicine" over there.

:redneck::cbpour::guntootsmiley:

[HighRoad]

I picked up a Rossi 92 in blue 20 inch 357 Carbine a couple of weeks ago. The action was fairly stiff and loading was tough. Chambering 357 mags was clumsy and 38 specials jammed every time. Turned out that the cartridge stop was not engaging the cartridge.

I broke it down and did an action job, replaced the ejector and hammer springs. To fix the cartridge stop I took the cartridge stop assembly off. It's located on the left side. It's made up of 4 pieces, a flat spring, Left Cartridge Guide, Cartridge Stop, and the Cartridge Stop Joint Pin. After driving out the pin I removed some of the material on the cartridge guide to allow the stop to engage further.

After assembling I loaded the tube with cartridges and let it set like that over night. Now the action is smooth, it cycles both 38s and 357s and filling the tube is easier but I think I might still trim the spring back a bit.

Bottom Line: I enjoy this gun and the price point is not bad but you do need to be prepared to have to spend a little gunsmithing time.

[DSL1138]

So, I'm guessing this means that when I get the Rossi it's probably going to need some work done to it? If so, it's a good thing I know a few gunsmiths who might be able to lend me a hand with that.

[Iron Mike Golf]

Might or might not "need" some work. Depends on the individual gun. My old eyes needed the mods I did to the sights. I like a smooth action and the info I read on the net showed that the work that goes into it is very simple. And the parts aren't expensive. If you can do a brake job on your car or truck, you can do this.

There were 2 things I'd put in the "need" box: smoothing the tool marks in the barrel and replacing the mag follower. I just did it before it wore out. If you'll only put a couple hundred rounds a year through it, then you don't need to replace the mag follower for a good long time.

Ideally, you make up some dummy rounds and check cycle function when inspecting the rifle before purchase.