An Interesting problem with a Rossi

[KCSO]

I recently got a Rossi 44 mag carbine marked EMF and ran into an interesting problem that might explain why some of these don't shoot cast well. The gun was brand new and I took it out for a spin and put 3 factory jacketed 44 in it and they grouped fairly well so I cleaned the bore and tried some cast. No Go the groups were 6" or more at 100. I went to slug the bbl and found that the dovetail for the front sight had been cut too deep and when the front sight was pressed in it made a dent in the top of the barrel. I cut the barrel bak to 18.5 and set everythig back and took out the same loads and now it puts them inot 3" at 100 with the course bead and buckhorn on the gun. Just another thing to check for if the gun won't shoot. I would guess that this is why the original rifles had a brazed on lug for the front sight on the carbine as opposed to a dovetailed sight. The older Rossi's had a sight on the top of the barrel band and would not have had this problem either. The defect was hard to see and was almost a line that coincided with the front of the dovetail. The front sight had been some oversize and was pushed in wiht a press and from the shaving on the sight this put a lot of pressure on the barrel.

[Frank46]

KSCO, sounds like some what like I have with my marlin 1894 in 44 mag. Has more bumps in the bore than you can shake a stick at. At least two possibly three. One is where the clip is that holds the forearm, one maybe by the front sight and don't exactly know the third. Shoots j-bullets well. Will see when it comes to cast boolits.
Frank

[Four Fingers of Death]

I have a stainless 44Mag which I got new, it has the dovetail sight and I also have a 38/357 that I bought second hand, it has the Bbl band style front sight. My wife's spinning her wheels in the background waiting to go dancing, so I'll just have to wait until tomorrow.

[gregg]

Have a Marlin 1895 Cowboy had the same problem. Speed bumps where the
dove tails for the mag tube and and front sight. Sent it back and Marlin fixed
it for free other what it costed me to send it in.

[KCSO]

I am not sure that the dove tail is so much at fault here as the current factory fitting method of, Pound it in if it breaks it was going to break anyway. I will post a picture of the original front sight and you can see how it deformed as it was squeezed into place.

[leverfan]

I had the opposite experience with an EMF Hartford/Rossi '92 in .357. The rear sight was so loose in the dovetail, I opted to add a set screw to hold it in place. Otherwise, you could almost move the sight with finger pressure alone. At least it's accurate, with no "speed bumps." :-D

[Bret4207]

My "Puma" has the brazed on sight lug with the sight pinned in. I had fair groups with 429421 and 7.0 Unique in 44 Spec brass. Haven't had time to do anymore than informal rock killing with it. Jeeze, does it carry nice. I also read a post on leverguns .com re- the crescent buttplate knocking some folks silly. Cut a piece of hard styrofoam to fit the crescent, wrap the butt in Saran wrap and then either fit a laced over butt pad, or a slip on one will fit better due to the crescent being flattened, so to speak. The 44 mag whomper loads let you know they went off withthe standard crescent plate.

[McLintock]

I think it's a quality control and basic engineering issue and both of which that the gun makers are oblivious to these days. I guess as long as we're willing to pay the freight bill to get it back to them why worry about it. Look at the undersize chambers on Marlin Cowboys in 38-55 and the notorious small cylinders throats on many Rugers. I bought 3 EMF guns (2 Colt Clones and a Winchester 92 clone) several years ago, when they were being made by Armi San Marco, and all three should never have left the factory much less EMF. They all had to be re-barreled, the pistols at EMF's expense and the rifle at mine. On all the Forums, you read about people sending back about all makes of guns and in many cases it's the same thing time and again. A little better quality control and pre-engineering would certainly help in my humble opinion.
McLintock

[BlueMoon]

My '94 Marlin in 44 took awhile for the barrel to smooth out and shoot cast bullets good. Mines got ballard rifling but would lead up pretty quick when new. I just kept shooting and cleaning and now it shoots cast better than most jkt.

Bill