Rossi 92 44mag

[Bushrat]

I recently received my third rifle from Rossi after sending the 1st two back due to excessive head space. The ordeal took 18 months, I finally received a nicely finished, smooth action rifle. The new rifle has an oversized front sight dovetail and the sight is loose. I am looking for the best fix. The bore is 433.5 any bullet suggestions?

[farmbif]

.4335 bore on a 44 mag sure seems a bit on the large size. have no idea, ive got an old pre safety Rossi puma and ive shot thousands of bullets sized to .431 with good accuracy and no leading.
shim under the dovetail sight is an option or if your mechanical skills and toolbox have the right stuff might could drill and tap sight and put in a little plug screw to make it like the ones Remington used to use long long ago.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

farmbif's solutions have more class than mine, but two commonly used methods of tightening a loose front sight blade in the dovetail are (1) to stipple the bottom of the dovetail with a sharp center punch. This makes little craters that have raised edges which reduce the amount of clearance and make a tighter fit. (2) Crush down the top edges of the dovetail with a large pin punch.

I've got one of the Rossi stainless .44 mag carbines myself, but the sight is tight.

[JoeJames]

I got my R92 last year. Learned it would not feed 44Specials reliably; so loaded 44 Magnum cases at around 44 Special velocities. Loaded with Oregon Trail .431 laser cast 240 grain swc's on top of 7 grains of Unique. Running about 1050 fps. In a 5 pound Rossi, very little recoil, but very accurate.

[pietro]

.

I'm sorry to hear of your tribulations...….

Loose sights can usually be tightened up in a few minutes, by a couple of different methods mentioned above- all of which should be done with the barrel mounted solidly in a padded vise.

1) Cut a BCS (beer can shim) the size of the sight's male dovetail, and drive the sight blade in with the shim under the sight as it's re-installed in the female dovetail
(camo any edges showing with a black Sharpie)

2) Remove the sight blade from the female dovetail and with a heavy hammer and a pointed center point drift, raise several divots into the floor of the female dovetail that should be deep enough to cause an interference fir with the sight blade's dovetail bottom.

3) Remove the sight blade from the female dovetail, then with a heavy hammer and a flat or concave faced drift pin, give the top of the barrel at the front and the rear of the female dovetail a few solid whacks (no love-taps), which should cause an interference fit with the sight's male dovetail sides.

4) If the female dovetail is grossly oversized enough that the above steps are ineffective, a BCS can be fitted into the side(s) of the sight blade's male dovetail so it also makes an interference fit between the male & female dovetail sides.


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[MT Gianni]

Noe sells several molds at .433" diameter, you could beagle one with foil tape. Accurate Molds should be able to cut you what you need. I would make sure I was using a good micrometer before I ordered one, not a set of calipers.

[Hootmix]

" DITTO " MT Gianni ,, not caliper ,, slug the bore .

coffee's ready ,, Hootmix.

[Bushrat]

Bore slugged, 433.5 with both calipers and mic. Tried one beer can shim will take at Least two shims maybe more. May drill and tap the sight.

[Ozark mike]

Solder a shim made out of feeler gauge of needed size

[Boogieman]

Center punch the bottom of the sight and the dovetail, clean of any oil apply red Locktite #262 and install the sight Clean excess Locktite before it sets.

[kungfustyle]

Noe makes a scout scope mount for the rossi and it fits like a dream. https://noebulletmolds.com/site/product-category/scope-mounts Arsenal molds makes great molds and they can make them to your specs. $78 for a 4 cav mold is a great deal. I got this one http://arsenalmolds.com/bullet-molds?product_id=89&limit=100 fits and crimps at the crimp grove. Very accurate too. Roze bullets https://www.rozedist.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Session_ID=68fe094e7fb646eef154317f52 dabdcb&Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=RZD&Category_Code=ZBJ-44MAG Now get some 2400 or H110 and go to town.

[indian joe]

Bore slugged, 433.5 with both calipers and mic. Tried one beer can shim will take at Least two shims maybe more. May drill and tap the sight.

little set screw was common on original winchester front sights

[farmbif]

still thinking about this .4335 bore 44 mag.
have you tried any factory ammo in it like Winchester white box? or just hand load with jacketed bullet. what was accuracy like?
seems that a .429 240 jhp would rattle down the .4335 bore of the barrel

[Bushrat]

I need to get the front sight to hold still before group testing. I really shoot jacketed bullets but will try them, just have shot lead but my 429421 is too long and too skinny.

[Win94ae]

The front sight may be small, instead of the dovetail being big; another sight may fit wonderfully?

If not, I'd drill and tap; like I did on my Win94 rear sight.

[hornady308]

I have a Winchester 94 with the same size bore. I use either a .434-207 group-buy bullet or a Lyman 429434 which drops about the same diameter. Bullets from these molds shoot much more accurately than any of the jacketed bullets typically found.

[fordwannabe]

I have an MP mold that is .434 two cavity with three sets of pins for small hp, large hp, or fp. Was about a hondo.

[Bushrat]

Used a combo of center punch creators and a .006 shim, might be snug enough to test for accuracy. May be looking for a mold and sizer soon. ThNks all

[dogmower]

don't forget if you powder coat after sizing, it will add a few thousandths to the boolit diameter. might make the difference. I shoot an Arsenal 240 grain plain base, pc and sized to .432 over 11 grains of Unique in my 92 stainless. fist sized 100 yard groups are the norm, and hitting the pigs at 300 meters is easy once the drop is dialed in.

[oley55]

Bore slugged, 433.5 with both calipers and mic. Tried one beer can shim will take at Least two shims maybe more. May drill and tap the sight.

Bushrat,

Before you go too far into the rabbit hole with cast bullets, I strongly suggest shoving .4335" plus bullet into a case just to see if a loaded case will even pass between the guides. I bumped a few rounds up in diameter and then took a dowel and 800 grit paper to a Lee push through sizer to gradually open it up to my target diameter. I dummy loaded up a few and bad news for me, the loaded cases would not pass between the guides rendering my Rossi lever a single action for cast bullets. Messing around trying to widen the space between the guides seemed like a really good way to totally toast an already problematic lever gun. So I gave up on cast bullets for it.

I found some .431" jacked soft point bullets that perform quite well from Everglades Ammo (when they are in stock).

FYI my 24" SS Hex barrel slugged out at .4330". Also if you hadn't found this Rossi site, some good info here: http://www.rossi-rifleman.com/viewforum.php?f=9

[AlaskaMike]

That .4335" groove diameter is within spec. SAAMI specs a larger groove diameter for .44 mag rifle vs. .44 mag pistol.

For bullet options, I've had good luck with an old Lee group buy mold. It drops at .434" and I size them to .433". Strangely, I still have good accuracy in my pre-safety .44 mag Rossi with .431" commercial cast. My own .430" sized bullets aren't quite as accurate, but still pretty good considering my barrel slugs .432" if I remember right.

[Bushrat]

I will be looking for a .434 mold and sizer not sure I will shoot it enough but not a lot of options , jury is out on jacketed bullets at this point.

[Bushrat]

I shot it again today, the front sight has to be too far to the right to work with the peep in safety hole. I am looking for a real receiver sight to drill and tap to the side. Will by or trade my sight for the hole and cash.

[AlaskaMike]

Buffalo Arms is the only place I could find a .433 sizing die.

Ive got a Williams FP sight on my .357 Rossi 92, and I will definitely be getting my .44 mag Rossi drilled and tapped for one too.

[Bushrat]

I installed a Williams Foolproof and solved my sight in problems. Shoots ok with jacketed 240 Bullets, I found some big cast bullets, will shoot them unsized and see what happens. Thanks all for you help.