Rossi 92 and 358429

[TCLouis]

I am assuming the 20" Octagon has the same twist as other barrel in this series.

Is anyone having success with their 92s and longer boolits like the 358429 Keith boolit?

I am having success with the 158 grain SWC GC (358156) and the 160 grain RNFP GB boolit, but getting patterns with the longer 358429. Quick Load estimates a velocity of the 158 grainers at 1450-1500 fps, and I have yet to shoot them across the Chrono.

I am looking to develop a load at about 1400-1700 fps with the 358429 for deer use next year.

I have Unique, Blue Dot, HS-7, 2400, WC820 (#9), 1680, 4759. 296, Lil Gun.

Sure do hope the Rossi tang sight comes in in the very near future.

[Vern]

I have a Rossi with 24 inch barrel. I was having problems until I switched to a 30/1 alloy. My two loads are 3.5 grains of Bullseye and 15 grains of IMR 4227 under a 158 grain semi-wadcutter. I know the 4227 load will take a deer.

[donhuff]

TC,
I have a 16" rossi and you are correct about the twist. All of them have the same rate.
I shoot the 358429 a lot and have not had problems with it. The load I shoot the most with it is 13.5g 2400, and I don't remember if I have shot it a slower speeds or not. I shot my r92 a couple of days ago but did not have any of those slugs with me this time.

One bullet that did do really well though is another Lyman. The 358156 but I have reamed out the grease and crimp grooves to try a "slick sided" powder coated bullet. It worked well as you can see if you look here.... http://www.rossi-rifleman.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2019

[FergusonTO35]

I have a Marlin 1894C that I like very much but Im thinking I would prefer something a bit heavier and with a longer barrel for deer hunting. My local shop has a new Rossi .357 with 20" round barrel for an attractive price. I'm thinking I may buy the Rossi for the heavier gas checked loads and use the Marlin for plain base small game and varmint loads. Does this sound like a good plan? Does the current Rossi 92 do well with boolits over 158 grain?

[donhuff]

My 358429s usually weigh around 168-170. The three in the picture were 172 probably cause of the powder coat. If you add a gas check they might hit 175, dont know cause I dont check them. No need to. Maybe if I went with Lilgun and more velocity, but I doubt it. The powder coat seem to eliminate leading...period!

But by heavy, I'll assume you mean closer to 200. Can't tell ya as this is as heavy as I go. I'm not a heavy bullet fan. Some say the 1 in 30 twist will not stabilize the really heavy bullets, again, I don't know. But I have read where guys used 180g cast, and they did well.
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[FergusonTO35]

I meant more like 170-180 grain at 1500 fps or so.

[donhuff]

OK, then the above load is the right weight but probably faster than 1500. You might could go with around 12.5 and be about right.

[DeanWinchester]

I load this boolit for my best friend's 92 rossi. It's a 357 mag rifle but I load them in a 38 spl case with a max charge of bullseye. Sized .358, cast from soft stick on's and lubed with Bens Red.
They are very good shooters.

[TCLouis]

donhuff

What distance to those targets

[donhuff]

50 yards open sights. Theses are some old targets that I shot right after i got the gun, and they were shot using non powder coated bullets as I had not started doing that either. I just put those bullets in the pic to show them off.

Look here for some I shot the other day...
http://www.rossi-rifleman.com/viewtopic.phpf=9&t=2019

I have a scope on the gun now for load development, and the groups shrunk a little. Especially the 100 yard ones. The 300MP load was doing really well but I'll bet other powders will do just as good. I did not have any rounds loaded with the 358429 slug, instead, I was using some 358156 bullets but I have cut all the grooves out of the mold (even the crimp groove and gas check step) powder coated them, and they were wearing homemade plain base gas checks. I thought the one target @100 was very good for a levergun and cast.

[donhuff]

TC,

I went out to my reloading outhouse, and got better pics, and did some measuring. Also looked at the gas checks and they are aluminum ones made from litho plate that I got from Sages off ebay. I have since made several check cutting tools using Idz's plans in the gascheck threads, and am using my own checks.

The 156 bullets look a little funny with slick sides and My top punch does not fit too well and makes a mark on the nose...I gotta fix that, since the bullets are shooting so well.

I'll try to get some of the 429 bullets loaded up with the 2400 load for testing @100yds. Now that I have the scope. I also want to try it out with a full load of Lilgun to see about the velocity difference now that I have a chrono too.

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[donhuff]

I load this boolit for my best friend's 92 rossi. It's a 357 mag rifle but I load them in a 38 spl case with a max charge of bullseye. Sized .358, cast from soft stick on's and lubed with Bens Red.
They are very good shooters.

Dean, Why are you using 38 cases? I know sometimes the 429 slug is too long when crimped in the crimp groove and people use 38 cases to get around this. My 92 would not feed them well in 357 cases either until I filed on the tit sticking up on the carrier that stops the cartridge. I didn't have to take but a few strokes off and now I can load them to 1.670" OAL and they feed fine. Then I took a little extra off the tit just in case I get a long one.

[Baja_Traveler]

There's a few of us who shoot Rossi 357's at the silhouette range, and we have all come to the conclusion that these rifles prefer softer alloys over harder. I use 20:1 and it shoots fine groups. We seem to get tighter groups using lighter boolits over heavier (158gr as opposed to 180). I have an NOE 360 180gr WFN mold, and it shoots acceptable groups I would use for hunting (over 14gr Lilgun), and I'm on a group buy for a 130gr mold to test the lower limits in this rifle.

[FergusonTO35]

Hmm, so would you think that I might easily get 2" groups at 75 yards out of the Rossi with a gas checked 170 grain boolit at ~1600 fps? The reason I ask is that I'm thinking the Rossi might be the perfect backyard whitetail gun, where the average shot is 30-40 yards and a fast follow up shot is a good idea to prevent the deer from jumping the fence. Is there a particular receiver sight that fits well on the 92? I understand it probably has to be drilled. Might the Williams 94/36 be a good choice?

Your powder coating technique is cool. I do something similar for my rifle boolits by painting the sides with LLA. Works very well!

[donhuff]

Yes, I think 2" @75 is doable. I would think that 170 at 1600 is ok too, but I would not have a problem wit the 158s either.

Yes the receiver will have to be drilled, but the factory sights are fine for such short range and deer size targets. Tho, I do grind off those buck horns from the rear site to make it flat across the top. And I also take that silly little brass bead off of the front site.

[FergusonTO35]

Thanks for the advice. I use a receiver mounted peep or a scope on all my long guns because my eyes won't focus on a notch type sight. 3 of my lever actions wear the Williams 5D and do great with it.

[DeanWinchester]

Dean, Why are you using 38 cases? I know sometimes the 429 slug is too long when crimped in the crimp groove and people use 38 cases to get around this. My 92 would not feed them well in 357 cases either until I filed on the tit sticking up on the carrier that stops the cartridge. I didn't have to take but a few strokes off and now I can load them to 1.670" OAL and they feed fine. Then I took a little extra off the tit just in case I get a long one.


Well, they shoot very well, we don't have a lot of 357 cases but there's a bunch 38 cases between us. They work very well so I don't see a need to rock the boat.

[donhuff]

Ferguson, I'm gonna have to try one of those peeps one day. They look really good, and I have to use a diopter to get a focus on the front sight anyway. I bet a peep would help me with that. I hate the factory sights but have not tried anything else yet other that I just got this scope for Christmas and this was the first time I had used it. I really like it too for target work but would like open sights for hunting I think, that is IF I were to ever go hunting again. I first tried an NC Star and it was a real ***. This one is the Weaver 4x scout, and when you shoulder the rifle, it's "THERE".

[donhuff]

Dean, Hey if that's what ya got, and it works. Stick with it.

[DeanWinchester]

Dean, Hey if that's what ya got, and it works. Stick with it.

I've never been a "Squeeze the last drop out of it" kinda guy. Seems foolish and wasteful to me, but that's just an opinion.

[FergusonTO35]

Don, the peep will almost certainly help you with aiming. I have astigmatism and my eyes just won't focus on a notch type rear sight even with my glasses on. With a peep, problem solved. The way I understand it the aperture concentrates the available light to your eye, creating a more clear image. A notch doesn't do that.

[FergusonTO35]

That Lyman 358429 or something similar looks like the perfect .357 Magnum boolit. I see its a Keith design SWC. Does it usually feed well in lever actions?

[donhuff]

It tends to load long for 357s, around 1.650-1.660" and that causes a problem with some of the rossis. Mine did not feed it until I filed a little off of the tit sticking up on the carrier that stops the cartridge. It could not swing up with a cartridge that long without hitting the top of the magazine tube hole, and the bottom of the barrel mouth. Now It will handle on 1.680 in case I load one too long. Mine would feed from the carrier to the chamber fine even before I worked on it.