Rossi 92 all dolled up and ready to go

[BCRider]

So a while back I got this Rossi to slick up and get ready for the new owner. Work on it included installing a spring kit and general polishing where needed. Oddly enough much of the work I was intending to do had been done at the factory. So mostly I put in the spring kit and lightly de-burred the various parts.

The finish on the wood was a new low even for Rossi. It had a dark brown tinted clear that had a distinctly pink look to it. So I ended up stripping and sanding it off. The comb of the stock was also quite square and chunky so while I was at it I rasped and filed off a degree of the wood to give the stock a lighter and more shapely look. The rather light wood was then re-finished with 4 rubbed on, buffed off coats of boiled linseed oil tinted 50-50 with Minwax "Gunstock" coloured stain. This gave the wood a nice colour without making it look muddy like stain by itself as a base so often does. Two further coats of boiled linseed were added over this coloured oil. The first picture below shows this finish in the middle and the new finish on the left after the second coat.

The lady that paid for the rifle hasn't even seen it yet. She paid for it and I picked it up from the store and brought it home to do the spring kit and any required slicking up work as well as do the re-finish work. As a bonus I did up a leather recoil pad cover and wrapped the lever loop with deerskin for padding. She is one of the king...er.... QUEENpins behind the local IDPA group. So doing the work on the rifle is a way of saying "thanks" for all her time.

Back when she first tried my own Rossi I almost needed a crowbar to get it out of her hands. So she's really keen to get this one shooting. We'll be trying hers and I'm going to bring mine along to the club IDPA match this Sunday.115606115607

[facetious]

It would be interesting to see how you did the recoil pad. I have been kind of wanting one of the 16" ers in .357 but I have arms a little on the long side and the stock is kind of short for me. I have wondered if the rubber butt pads thy make for the 10-22 to make them longer would work on the Rossi.

[BCRider]

Using the leather cuff could certainly give you a good way of hiding a pad that shims out the LOP. Because of the curve I'd suggest that you built up the spacer from some multiple layers of leather, rubber or some other light but firm product. And you'd likely want to remove the crowned metal cover for this. In fact with the plate gone it would not be overly hard to make up a wood extender that is cut and formed to fit the curves of the butt end of the stock then secure it with longer screws of the same size. The cuff would cover all this up for you.

I've long thought that I'd like to make a better cuff for my cowboy action rifle or maybe make one for my Henry H001. Doing one with pictures and a "how to" might just be a good excuse. Watch this space!

Fergie, I'm curious why you cut the magazine spring. I would think that it might make the feeding a bit slower and for really fast cycling such as in cowboy action shooting this could cause a problem. In any event I've not had a wiff of trouble with my stock setup. I'm even still using the plastic follower.

Oh, .357MAX was mentioned above. I'm pretty sure that these are too long to work in the 92 action. The spec for it is 1.990 overall length where even .454Casull, which Rossi does chamber in the 92, is only 1.770.

BUT, with some modifying you could chamber a .357Max in a Win 94 since it is set up for a longer cartridge. But at that point you may as well just shoot the .30-30 rounds it comes in.

[TXGunNut]

Very nice, I'm sure she'll be pleased.

[R.Ph. 380]

Oh, .357Mag was mentioned above. I'm pretty sure that these are too long to work in the 92 action. The spec for it is 1.990 overall length where even .454Casull, which Rossi does chamber in the 92, is only 1.770.

BUT, with some modifying you could chamber a .357Max in a Win 94 since it is set up for a longer cartridge. But at that point you may as well just shoot the .30-30 rounds it comes in.

Rossi makes the M92 in 357 Mag. I have a 24" octagonal blued large loop lever in 357Mag. Believe me the 38spec is too short to work right, it keeps double feeding whereas the 357 is long enough to engage the lip on the lifter to keep the next round from emerging.

Bill

[BCRider]

I found that my Rossi takes .38Spl just fine as long as I don't try to cycle at competition like speeds. Mostly I found that it could cycle fast but need to pause with the lever forward before pulling back to let the shorter round settle on the lifter. Otherwise it would jam with the bullet pointing to the sky.

Bill, if you're getting double feeds then check the little finger that is on the front of the left side cartridge guide. It is supposed to be spring loaded and snap inwards. But it doesn't take much at all to slip during assembly and the end of the spring slips in where it isn't supposed to go. When that happens the finger just flops and won't catch the next round to hold it in the magazine tube correctly. That could be why you get doubles when shooting the shorter .38Spl.

[facetious]

The other day I was at the local sporting goods store to get some thing and saw a 16" Rossi on the rack. So I asked to see it and the first thing my wife said was that is to short for you. So if she can look at me holding it and say that, and she dosn't know that much about guns, it may be a bit short for me. But thy also had a 10-22 on the rack and let me lay it over the Rossi to compare the butts. Boy thy do look close, it looked like the screw holes were close enough and the curve close enough that one of the rubber butt pads to add a inch to the 10-22 might fit. You mite have to drill a new hole for the one in the butt and maybe grind it to fit but it looks doable. I put one on my 10-22 and it made it fit a lot better and the sites and scope line up better.


If any one has both maybe thy could double check and see what thy think. I know it would not look "cowboy" but as I was telling her it would be handy to have in a small RV if I could make it fit better.

[Pb2au]

BC,
that is a pretty little rifle. Rossi's take just a little loving, but they do shine when you are done.
Ill bet she loves it

[BCRider]

I thought I'd posted the happy ending to this story but apparently I didn't. Or my finger hit the wrong button again.... Anywho......

The lady got her new rifle last Sunday after the club's monthly IDPA match. I'd stuck it back in the original box and taped it closed. The first words at the top coming up were "IT'S BEAUTIFUL! ! ! !..... and a long silence while it was brought out. But there was a huge smile going on the whole time.

Mere seconds were lost in posting up some paper to shoot at and loading it up with a tube full of .38Spl. There were also some misses and really high shots until we figured out that she had never seen a buckhorn sight and was putting the front dot up in the middle of the horns. After that the rifle shot like a champ and didn't miss a beat.

The first shots out of the way she became more generous and allowed a good shooting buddy to try it. He quite liked it as well. After she shot a few more tubes worth we loaded up a full power Magnum and she found that the recoil was mild as well.

The smile only ever left her face when she was concentrating on running the rifle. The rest of the time it was like a kid with a new toy.

A little after we were putting things away and getting ready to trundle off to the local pub for dinner. It HAD been a rather long and tough day what with new guns and setting up then breaking down IDPA stages.

While I was packing my stuff I feel a tap on my back. Kim is standing there with that same smile still glued on and holding a big liter and a bit bottle of 12yr Glenfiddich and saying "this is the first part of "Thanks".". I got all... "Shucks Maam, you didn't need to go and do THAT!". But she was having none of it so I posted the story, or thought I did, last Sunday while sipping on some of my ill gotten gains.... which might explain why I likely hit the wrong button and lost the post.

Anyhow, thanks all that offered up kudos for the work and hopefully it inspires some of you to dig in and tinker along these lines on your own.

[TXGunNut]

Glenfiddich? I got a bottle of that miserable hog swill on my 50th brthday awhile back. If you were a true fan of fine single malts you'd know that all lots of that Scots whiskey have been recalled and should be shipped back. PM me for the recall shipping location. ;-)
Awesome thread, awesome scotch, hope your bottle lasts longer than mine. ;-) Maybe Rossi should send you another bottle for all the sales this thread will bring them. I truly feel today's Rossi is very close to the guns our ancestors depended on over 100 yrs ago, much closer than the Browning and Mirouku "replicas". Someday I'll stumble across a nice 92 in 357 and I'll be reading this thread again.
If you find yourself in my part of Texas we'll have to do a little single malt "research".

[dikman]

I love a happy ending!:drinks:

[TCLouis]

BCRider

I too am interested in the "recoil pad".

Any chance of some close ups of just the way you did that.

Looks like it was all latigo laced.

How heavy is the leather?

[colfi]

I had the same problem with the 38 specials in my Browning '92, it was an easy fix, I just seated the proji out to make the 38s the same overall length as the .357M, problem solved and no cycling probs even at competition speeds. Happy shooting.:razz:

[manickernel]

Haven't had a levergun in decades. But I find myself gravitating more and more to these threads and.. I...am..starting to get an itch. Nice job!

[BCRider]

TXGN, if I find myself riding down that way on a motorcycle trip you may just get a PM for meeting up info. And I'd add that if you should find yourself up here at any time I'd welcome the chance to meet and conduct some similar crucial research.

TCLouis and anyone else. I'll do a DIY thread but it won't happen for a couple of weeks yet. Life's gotten busy. It's in a GOOD sort of busy but busy nonetheless. So please bear with me.

The lacing I used is done on purpose instead of stitching with waxed cord because the whole idea is to produce some serious friction to avoid the smooth and very slippery butt plate shifting lower and lower when sliding on my shirt.

Colfi, great minds apparently think alike. A few months back I loaded up some "long .38's" in the same manner. In my case the intent was a longer and smaller diameter lead in on the nose to aid the loading into the chamber. But at the same time it greatly reduced the occurances of stove pipe ammo.

Manickernal, don't hold back. The Dark Side is calling.... :D

[helice]

I've long believed that the 92s were the answer to the "ban the semi-Auto" Kooks. They shoot fast, load fast and have plenty of punch, not to mention they are a barrel of fun.
You put togethter a beautiful rifle for an obviously fine girl. (Any girl with a spare bottle of 12 yr old single malt in her trunk must be a fine girl.) Congratulations and Job Well Done. Lift another glass and smile when you remember why.:drinks: Great post!

[TXGunNut]

Manickernal, don't hold back. The Dark Side is calling.... :grin:-BCRider

Agreed, resistance is futile. As long as you only get one things will remain calm and reasonably sane. After the second one things get a little crazy but man, what a ride!

[blademasterii]

As it happens I have both of those. The rifle and the scotch. :D Love them both. My rossi has one additional mod yours doesn't. I had the barrel threaded. My liberty mystic slips right on there and it is awsome with .38s. Impact is louder than report. :D

[BCRider]

Sadly silencers/suppressers are not an option up here. It's an instant "Go To Jail" deal. At least in the US you simply have to pay an added tax.