Rossi 45 Colt Cast- Hunting Pigs

[Point452]

Anyone else hunting with a Rossi 92? I’ve used my R92 and my Miroku 92 for hog hunting with great success. My most effective load is the Lee 300 gr at about 1590 FPS.

My only problem is that the boolits aren’t stable in the Rossi after 50-75 yds, and they lose accuracy and start to keyhole. The good news is, most of my hunting is at less than 70 yds, and my R92 will stack 230-255gr boolits into small groups.

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[richhodg66]

I have one of those Rossis, so far only shot kind of standard .45 Colt loads in it like I would in my revolver, and it shoots OK, no doubt in my mind I could kill deer with it the way I hunt. Just haven't gotten it in the woods yet.

[Markopolo]

what is the twist rate of that gun??? perhaps it not a fast enough twist?

[richhodg66]

what is the twist rate of that gun??? perhaps it not a fast enough twist?

I was kind of wondering if sizing them big enough, mine seems to be made to kind of sloppy tolerances, never cerrosafed it, but I suspect it has a generous chamber and throat.

[Point452]

I was thinking about the twist rate and bore size. I know that weight and length seem to be the consistent problem. My Rossi struggles to stabilize the longer Hornady “magnum” j-bullets as well. It puts all the lighter weight .450-.452 boolits/bullets into good groups. I sometimes size my cast to .452, and I also shoot unsized cast that are just under .454” and just over .454 powder coated. I need to experiment with a mold that throws .454+

[Froogal]

You might be pushing those bullets too hard. I have a Rossi R92, .45 Colt. I use 200 grain bullets, over 8.5 grains of Unique. I do not know the velocity, but I can consistently hit the targets that are 80 to 100 yards out.

[versa-06]

Congrats!! on some fine Hog Killin! Like the pics.

[Castaway]

I had a Rossi and let it go. I couldn’t get acceptable accuracy out of it. What was a 1 1/2” group using a Lee 255 RNFP, at 50 yards with my Win 94, was 14” with the Rossi. I eventually got a jacket load to shoot out of it, but it was unreliable in lifting and chambering a cartridge. Win 92 solved my problem.

[KCcactus]

The twist rate is most likely 1/30". That's what it is for my M92s in 357 and 44. I've read they use the same twist in all of the 92s. If your lighter boolits shoot well, that's an easy fix. I've read about some getting good results with 300gr in 44 mag using 1/38" twist in another brand of rifle, but haven't tried anything that heavy in mine.

[Tripplebeards]

Sweet! Wonder if your boolits aren't getting pushed fast enough or should be sized a little bigger to help with stabilization. I really like the lee 255 grain boolit in my new vaquero. Maybe trying a lighter boolit might help with stability? I know I’ve read a million times my NV will not stabilize a 300 grain boolit because i can drive it fast enough. Never tried to test the theory yet. I probably have 50 pounds of them casted up PC and GC. Casted up a bunch and found out they wouldn’t feed in my 450BM so they now collet dust.

[GasGuzzler]

Twist is 1:30" as mentioned. Big bullets need pushed HARD to stay straight. I load a 180 over a giant pile of Lil'Gun in my R92 .357.

[Finn45Colt]

I was testing my Marlin CB ltd JM .45 Colt 24" barrel, 1/38"twist. Velocity range from 1250 to 1700 fps. Ten different loads, powders were VV N110 and N120. Boolit was NOE 454-285-SWC sized .454 .
Something like 1/16 tin/lead.
ALL holes in target were round.. I was shooting to 150 meters. Some nice 5 shot groups, best was 3".
Marbles Peep Tang Sight was very nice at that distance.
Dunno if I was lucky when I got that rifle?

[warren5421]

My Marlin CB Ltd JM .45 COLT 24 " barrel 4X scope with my old eyes keeps 300 gr full load FFFg Goex under 2" at a 100 yards off the bench. Bought the gun in the late 90's to play SASS. It has an over sized chamber but shoots .454" Laser Cast. I have two Rossi rifles in .44-40, a 20" and 24" the 20" shoots better groups though.

[farmbif]

great hog harvest, I don't know if its a curse or a blessing that there are no wild hogs running around where I'm at.
that 300 grain boo lit at 1590 fps, how much of what powder are you using? not wanting to shoot my Rossi 45 colt apart I quit at 20 grains 4227 under a mp 454360 and decided that higher pressure loads ought to be put in 44 mag.
now you got me questioning what I been doing with the old Rossi 45 colt

[Harter66]

First off I've killed 5 hogs powder burn to 47 yd 120-165# with a 454424 NOE version loafing along at 1050-1100 .

2 M92' Rosschesters
1-30/32 twist .442×.450 barrel , it was never a plunk with the .454 on the rim but if it was forced it was only about twice the lever detent cam over . The chambers were were about .484 at the case mouth and .496 about 2/3 down .

With witnesses that gave me the , I thought you were shooting that ram 2' tall how'd you miss the 9' berm , ration . So I pulled down and right until I had a hit on the berm 7' high and 12' left from a foot below and right of the rams leg . Down , down , down direct hit on the golf ball at 75yd that was an incidental POA that happened to be a good reference point ....... The next set up stop I set balls at 60,75,and about 6' out to 90 yd with the berm base at 110 and the top about 112 yd . The round groove Lyman 454424 and the NOE at 255&250 gr respectively and the 265gr 452-255 RF Lee from the 1050 loads for the 7.5 RBH getting 1240-1255 from both the 16&20" 92s were making a left turn about 40°×10:00 between 78&82 yd . I let 3 other shooters prove to me I just couldn't shoot 100 yd , we found out they couldn't either . Applied to the Strelok ballistics app the loads hit 1125 fps at 5000' MSL at 85° ,28% humidity , at 72-74 yd . Transonic upset between 78-82 yd . In a test with a 350 RNFP with a MV at 1240 fps I had almost identical results with round holes out to about 70 yd and keyholes at 90 .

The only solution is stay subsonic or go fast enough to stay supersonic 5 yd past your longest shot . There is another . You can rebarrel with a 16-20 chambered to share brass with your companion gun but that's a lot of money to spend on a Rossi .

[Finn45Colt]

My Marlin CB Ltd JM .45 COLT 24 " barrel 4X scope with my old eyes keeps 300 gr full load FFFg Goex under 2" at a 100 yards off the bench. Bought the gun in the late 90's to play SASS. It has an over sized chamber but shoots .454" Laser Cast. I have two Rossi rifles in .44-40, a 20" and 24" the 20" shoots better groups though.

Yes my Marlin chamber is over sized too, so no mild loads for that gun.

[Harter66]

great hog harvest, I don't know if its a curse or a blessing that there are no wild hogs running around where I'm at.
that 300 grain boo lit at 1590 fps, how much of what powder are you using? not wanting to shoot my Rossi 45 colt apart I quit at 20 grains 4227 under a mp 454360 and decided that higher pressure loads ought to be put in 44 mag.
now you got me questioning what I been doing with the old Rossi 45 colt

After many hours of research ....... If your SN is Prefixed with an M it is compatible with 44 mag . I could find no reason for the drop of the 454 chambering , most likely premature wear , bulged threads or blown dovetails . About 20% of the 45 Colts were not on M (for mag) frames and would probably be ok forever with top step Colts loads I wouldn't shoot anything in the Ruger realm in them . The M frames should be good to go up to 25 kpsi .

Off the books , out in the weeds , to be done at your own risk , explore 4198,H322 with Quick Load with a 23 kpsi cut off . 19.0 H322 gave me 1280 with the 350 and all of the reasons I needed to just buy a 45-70 and be done with it .

[Texas by God]

The two objectives of pig hunting:
1. Kill pigs
2. Have fun
It looks to me like you have it covered. If the 230-250 grain class shoot great, that is what I would use- just my opinion- rock on, sir.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[Harter66]

Well ......I felt like that 17 yd greyhound looking hog hit 2 ribs behind the shoulder 2" off the in a rib with a 50 cal exit via the front edge of the "armpit" was poorly exicuted because the other 4 only took about 1 step , with negligible kick .

It's been fun every time , looking forward to getting into a bunch of them up here in Arkansas .....life and stuff .

[TCLouis]

So was rossi design staff lazy, cheap or stupid with this 1:30 twist rate.
Sure provided disappointment in my 357 so far.

In fact going to go shoot it as soon as I type this, but only some test firing.

358156 is the only boolit I have found to provide accuracy.
Lighter than I had planned when I bought it.
Could/would have saved some money if I knew about the twist rate.

Remlin 1895 has replaced it as my plinking gun and so far proven to fill the slot well!
Sure hate using the extra lead to get there though, twice as much lead downrange every shot.

[AlaskaMike]

TCLouis, I'm kind of surprised your .357 model 92 isn't performing better. Mine has been great, and it doesn't matter if I shoot 125 gr .38 special loads, or full power 180 gr .357 mag loads. It really seems to like the MP 170 grain 359 Hammer from the group buy last year.

[Harter66]

TC I don't think it was lazy more likely it is a tooling , cost to retool , one set of tools thing .

The rifles are also , pardon the pun , aimed at a particular market as a high volume low power companion gun for entry level CASS/SASS gamers . Heavy and high speed are neither needed or wanted so a fly weight bullet at 800 fps is perfect .

The JM Marlin 1894C took every load I had in the Sec 6 6" 357 halved the 2 yd group at 50 yd and added 400 fps to it and it shared brass sized or not with both the 357 and the M10 Smith . But the 16" twist changes everything I shot it a few times out to 325 yd I never did hit that 8" steel plate a second time but the hold over with the back of the barrel band centered in the V and keeping the post on the plate isn't as easy as it sounds . I sent the 16" 92 away for a 20" 1-16" twist barrel with a couple of anti cowboy ......maybe nuevo-vaquero mods .........I'll get it back some day I'm sure .

[lar45]

The Rossi M92 in 45 Colt is not a weak gun. White Labs proofed them to 50kpsi.
The Puma M92 was chambered in 454 and 480, both are high pressure cartridges.

With the slow twist rate of the Rossi M92 in 45 Colt, you need to use a shorter/lighter bullet.
I shoot a 270 from Hunter's Supply with 22gns of 2400. That load gives 1587fps out of my 24" barrel and it shoots great. Pine cones on the 75yd berm don't stand a chance shooting offhand.

I think the 454 used a 20" twist. Anybody have one that can confirm it? I saw them up on GunBroker recently. If you want to shoot 300gn bullets, you could sell the 45 Colt and buy a 454...

[missionary5155]

Last 454 I saw for sale was past $1450 !
I can easily shoot our 45 Colts with the Lee 255 FNGC and fire twice if needed.

[cowboy4evr]

I have a SS Rossi 92 w/ 16" barrel . I shoot the LEE 255 gr RNFP cast bullet ( cast myself ) . Loaded on top of 8.0 grs of W231 is a very powerful load . After that I have used 13.0 grs of HS6 . I got those loads from reading John Linebaughs writings . I have often thought about loading that bullet on top of a load, slightly compressed of 3F black powder . I'm think that load would stop a hog in his tracks . If shot taken close enough , you would of killed and barbecued him at the same time . Regards Paul

[Gray Fox]

If I recall correctly John L. wrote about his wife having success with the 8.0 of 231 at 100 yards on large deer with a 4" barreled pistol If that load from a 20" barrel can't kill a hog there might be a problem with shot placement, or too big of a hog at too long a distance. This is now my standard load with the Lee 255 RNFP, but I do have the RCBS 270 SAA that I want to try, but I doubt it will cycle through either my Rossi '92 or Marlin 1894. GF

[Point452]

what is the twist rate of that gun??? perhaps it not a fast enough twist?

I believe 1:30 twist

[Point452]

I don’t think my 300gr Lee load goes transonic until about 140yds. I have considered rechambering to a bottleneck 45/480 ruger to get rid of the massively oversized chamber, but that seems overly complex/costly.

[lar45]

Last 454 I saw for sale was past $1450 !
I can easily shoot our 45 Colts with the Lee 255 FNGC and fire twice if needed.

They have new 454s on GunBroker for $750ish

[trapper9260]

I read about some have problems with there 357 92 on this posting , what I shoot in my BH shoot no problem in my Rossi 357 . I had something broke in it had it fix and my gunsmith after he fix it he tested it and shot factory ammo in it and he said it was dead on at 100 yrds hit a 6" steel plate open sight with out any problems , it is a 16" barrel . It works with 38 spl also good .

[GasGuzzler]

They're all 1:30"
Lazy? I am guessing 125 grain ammo is more common in Brazil than standard 158.
The same receiver is used for them all including the .480 and .454. The only difference is those two have a threaded in mag tube. You will not shoot apart a Rossi R92. If the Ruger will take it, the R92 will too.

[Lonegun1894]

The 1:30" twist may be a headache for some, but I have a couple of these and think the slow twist is the reason for the lack of leading in mine regardless of how slow or fast I push a plain based bullet. Now, I did get a NOE 265gr RNFP, but would have to check the exact mould number when I get home to confirm.

[jonp]

My Rossi has not like the Lee 300gr mold I have. It does ok with the 255gr stuff. Fun to shoot with 200 or 230gr lead. I'd not hesitate to take any hog with the 255gr

[AlaskaMike]

If I recall correctly John L. wrote about his wife having success with the 8.0 of 231 at 100 yards on large deer with a 4" barreled pistol If that load from a 20" barrel can't kill a hog there might be a problem with shot placement, or too big of a hog at too long a distance. This is now my standard load with the Lee 255 RNFP, but I do have the RCBS 270 SAA that I want to try, but I doubt it will cycle through either my Rossi '92 or Marlin 1894. GF

I just took my new .454 model 92 to the range for the first time and tested the RCBS 270 SAA bullet over 11.5 grains of Unique, and it handled it without any problems. I also had some .45 Colt loads using it, and also did fine with those too.

[smkummer]

Lyman’s 454190 250 grain sized at .454 shoots wonderful in a my 45 colt chamber handguns and my burgess repro carbine. That light 45-70 load your shooting in your 45 colt has got to be a supreme load for hogs of all sizes.

[olereb]

Kinda late to this party but i have the Rossi 92 short carbine and use a NOE 454-255gr with Unique(cant remember exact load)and its a tack driver. My 10yr old son picks that gun 1st since its so accurate,i have found i need a .454 to be accurate though having tried .452's and got crazy groupings.

[cowboy4evr]

I and my BIL both have Rossi 92's in 45 Colt with 16" barrels . His is blue , mine stainless . Years ago I started him out on 8.5 grs of Unique using the LEE 255 RNFP cast bullet sized .454 . Then one day I had him try a different load , 8.0 grs of Ramshot Zip using the same bullet . He was so impressed with the new load that he never wants to see another Unique powder load . That Zip load has flatter trajectory , more punch yet seems like softer recoil (strange I know ) . If a person wants more " thump " then use John Linebaughs load of 13 grs of HS6 , using the same bullet . Both of our Rossi's are very accurate using that cast bullet .

[rogn]

The Rosi '92 is a solid piece of machinery. The 454Casul runs over 50K PSI routinely. I only have one 45 mould for a 255 Kieth style bullet and it doesn't feed that well in the 92 unless you snap the lever both ways.. However the rifle likes both the 300 and 259gr XTP and both mine and my son's will group 3 shots 1 1/2--2" at 100 yds. The 300 gr with the Hodgdon published load of H110 will chronograph at 1700FPS from the 20" SS, cast should too. Trouble with 45Colt chambers is that they are specked like 0.012+" over the size of a new case. Not sloppy machining, just sloppy engineering from 150 years ago.

Best hog to date was over 400# at powder burn distance. Only one that needed 2 shots was one I shot running and hit too far back. He dropped at the shot.

[TurkeyHuntsman]

I've also got a Rossi 92 in .44 mag, but it is the short-barreled carbine. It is OUTSTANDING for hunting hawgs in the brush...that short barrel is really easy to swing, especially when you're in the heavy brush. I use Lee 240-gr SWC gas checked and a stiff load of 2400. I get 1650 fps out of it and quite acceptable accuracy out to 100+ yards, no keyholing. Kicks like a freaking mule, however - that short rifle is pretty light. Definitely not a range gun with extended shooting using that stiff load. Its OK if I run it slower with some Unique - yet it still maintains its accuracy.