EMF Rossi 92 45 Colt

[Unforgiven]

I just made a deal with a gentleman from my state to purchase a EMF import Rossi 92. Its stainless, 20 inch octogon barrel, 45 Colt, NO stupid safety. Looks to be nearly unfired from the pictures so I hope it will be a good shooter. I won't be able to pick it up until this weekend at the soonest, but I'd like to get started on loading some ammo for it.

Anyone got any advice as far as boolit, boolit diameter, powder, etc. Looking for a decent accurate load for plinking.

Also, this will be my first model 92, so is there anything in particular that I should check out when I go to buy it?

[RobS]

Diameter is usually better at .454 for those as many bores were at .452 but slugging the bore would be best. Also a boolit with a nose length at or under .380 will chamber well if the design has a meplat of .320" or under. A WFN or .360" will likely need to have a nose length at .340" or under. I don't know exactly what you are wanting to do with this lever action regards to boolit weight so its hard to tell you what to look into but I would look in the 230-250 grain area for plinking and work with quicker powders, possibly Unique or similar.......maybe red dot for real light plinkers.

[220swiftfn]

My Interarms Rossi (half and half, 24" blue) DOES feed the RCBS 45-270-SAA loaded to the crimp groove (1.655" IIRC), but everything has to be "right" in order to feed a round this long. Other than that, the Rossi '92 is capable of handling the "Ruger only" loads, so the load data depends on your use........ For plinking with a 250-270gr. SWC, you really can't go wrong with 7.5-8.0 grains of Universal.......


Dan

[Larry Gibson]

Looking for a decent accurate load for plinking.

I've used this load in Rossi carbines and rifles, Uberti carbines and rifles and Winchester rifles. It is excellent in all of them. I have also pressure tested it (Oehler M43) and it is right at the low SAAMI MAP of 14,000 psi for the 45 Colt. I also use this load in my 2 Uberti SAAs.

Lee 452-200-RF cast of COWWs +2% tin and then mixed at 50/50 with lead the bullets drop at .453 - .454. I size them in a .454 H&I die and lube with BAC.

Bullseye powder; use 7.3 gr.

I use Remington, Winchester and Starline cases with a couple other makes in the mix.

I use Winchester, Federal, Remington and CCI LP primers; basically what's available.

Velocity runs 1150 - 1200 fps out of rifles and carbines.

Accuracy is excellent out to 200+ yards.

Larry Gibson

[snaketail]

And, check the fit of the magazine tube to the receiver. Some 92s come lose there. I've had mine for 18 months and no problems, but it's worth looking at. I agree with everyones assessment of .454 over .452, and mine likes 255gr and 270gr best. I bought a lot of Unique when the shortages hit - so that's my power of the day.
I put a tang sight on mine, but if I were doing it over I would go with a Williams Receiver sight that has target adjustments...you'd have to drill and tap for either choice.
M
PS. The 20" 45 Colt '92 is a dang good hog gun

[ukrifleman]

92274

I have 2, '92 Rossi's, a s/s, 20" Oct barrel M92 in 45 Colt and a 24" Oct barrel in .357.
I much prefer the balance of the 20" version.

MY rifle performs much better with a 250gr .454 bullet, Lee's Modern Reloading quotes a load of 8.0gr of Unique for this bullet weight, giving a m/v of 850 fps.
ukrifleman

[propwashp47]

you will love your new E.M.F. ROSSI . i have one with the safety and 24 in oct barrel in ss that is nose heavy , but is so much fun to shoot .454 is best fit .452 hard lead not too bad but soft alloy will lead like crazy. enjoy it when it comes in

[jonp]

I use 8gr of Unique for a nice plinking load and also load some Red Dot for this and my Ruger BH.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Pretty straight forward rifles, I have two, an older blued 38/357 (the rifle in my avitar) and a five year old SS 44Mag. One point to look for I have been told (not an issue on mine) was if the fore sight is dovetailed into the barrel, they sometimes 'push'into the barrel, making a tight spot. This is not an issue really and can be lapped out. It might get you a bit of horse trading leverage and help push the price down.

Every 44 Mag SS that I have seen needs to have the rear sight elevator completely removed to get cowboy level loads on target. Like my friends who have had to do this, we have all placed the elevator in a safe place and none of can find that safe place! D'Oh!!!! If you do have to remove it, give it to your wife to put in her purse or something like that or you will lose it.

I don't know if this is an issue with the 45s as all of my elevatorless friends and I have 44Mags.

Check out Steve Young, aka Nate Kiowa Jones at www.stevesgunz.com he sells a really good DVD which will show you how to tune your rifle and he also sells a replacement spring and a SS follower to replace the dinky plastic one (which works fine and is very visible, but does not have any feel good properties).

They are a great rifle, but a little DIY tuning will make them as sweet as!

[Unforgiven]

92827

Here is a picture of the rifle I picked up this weekend. It's in really good condition and the action had already been smoothed up with the Steve's Gunz video. I cleaned the bore really well yesterday, and there are lots of tooling marks in there. Don't know if that's normal for these Rossi's.

The groove diameter slugged out at .4525, so everyone's advice to size to .454 should be spot on. I wish my Lee 452-255-RF dropped bigger than .453, guess I need to lap it out some. I lubed up a bunch as cast and will try them out as soon as the temp gets above zero. Thanks for all the advice, I'm really excited about this little rifle!

[RobS]

Enjoy.....I have two of these, one in 45Colt and the other in 454 Casull; both have been good rifles.

[snaketail]

I wish my Lee 452-255-RF dropped bigger than .453

I went through the same thought process - until someone suggested Powder Coating. I haven't tried it yet, just getting into casting my own, but it should add some diameter to your boolits.
There is a thread on this web site with a lot of information about Powder Coating.

M

[northmn]

Ran into the issue of shooting too high with my Rossi 357. It was real bad. The least expensive solution for me was to take my needle files and file down the rear sight and cut in a new notch. Needle files are handy to have anyway. I revamped the buckhorn sight to have a flat in it and most rear sights need to have the U/V enlarged so one can see more light around them anyway. That way one can use the elevator for multiple loads. Just a pointer that worked for me.

DP

[northmn]

Ran into the issue of shooting too high with my Rossi 357. It was real bad. The least expensive solution for me was to take my needle files and file down the rear sight and cut in a new notch. Needle files are handy to have anyway. I revamped the buckhorn sight to have a flat in it and most rear sights need to have the U/V enlarged so one can see more light around them anyway. That way one can use the elevator for multiple loads. Just a pointer that worked for me.
As to the mold. Try it before doing too much work on it. Sometimes a .001 fits wrks fine. If it works don't fix it.

DP