Rossi 92 and cast boolits

[Ready on the Right]

I'm new to the site, but not new to casting in general. However, I've recently aquired an older, pre-safety Rossi 92 in 357 and understand there are some limitations on boolit designs. I believe this can be a "do all" little rifle for everything from squirrel to deer, and want an assortment of load options. Have I read somewhere that light boolits (less than 100 grs.) don't do well in the Rossi? I'm shooting 38 spec. 147 rn lyman over 5 grs. 231 for a break-in and plinker load now and it's showing great accuracy potential. Had to order some more 357 brass to work up a 158 swc gc load, only had a few empties on hand. Really interested in 180 - 200 grainers for deer. I've seen a group buy start that someone said would be alright for an 1894 Marlin but the design was a no go for the Rossi. Also saw somewhere talk about ramping or throating the barrel to feed 180's reliably. Don't know that I'd care to go there if a tried and true boolit design can be had. Suggestions, comments, derogatory remarks?

[Muddy Creek Sam]

Check out http://www.stevesgunz.com He is one of the best 92 gunsmiths in the country and can give the advice you are looking for. He also has a very good DVD on working on your own 92.

Sam :D

[Old Ironsights]

The rest of everything you want to know about the Rossi .357 is at Junior1942 homepage www.castbullet.com, specifically here: http://www.castbullet.com/shooting/shooting.htm

Dig around there for a bit. It's a good place.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

My 92 carbine shoots bulk jacketed remington 125s/ww296 excellently in the 357. I just finished working up a deer load with a Lee 173 swc/gc bullet that does well near 1500fps in 357, to get away from jacketed . There a number of tuturials about for tuning a 92. Good Shooting , BvT

[looseprojectile]

My .357 SRC seems to like the Ranch Dog 190 grain boolit. With a real healthy heaping of Lil Gun it shoots way better than I can hold. Crimp in the second groove in 38 special cases. 180 grain Saeco RNFP do the same, almost, though you can use magnum cases with that one. I use gas checks on all my boolits for this gun.
These handy little guns will shoot almost anything well enough for hunting accuracy. After all they are not benchrest guns. Match the boolit to the game.
I have always had a soft spot in my heart for the 92s.
I have had them in all the calibers that they have ever came in and enjoyed them a lot. The .218 Bee was the least useful. The .30 carbine conversion was a lot of fun. The .357 and .44 Magnum are the most useful. I traded off the .45 Colt one as none of my .45 moulds were gas checked.

Life is good

[crabo]

The Lee 125 rnfp will shoot like a house afire. These groups were with a mag case and Universal powder at 50 yards. This is pretty cheap shooting. I have not done any testing with a special case.

I size at 359 for my Marlin 94.

[runfiverun]

my 92 don't like the 38 cases too much.
but the 44 takes them just fine as will my 45 colt.
i just use rnfp's of nominal weight without gas checks and push them all in the 1600 fps range for hunting.
even the 25-20 and 44-40 with a p/b likes to go fast.
ww's or with about 25% pure added shoots plenty accurate out to 150 + yds.
the 357 is about the handiest to just carry around though.
unique through 2400 are good cast choices 800-x and herco are two favorites in the levers right now.

[techlava]

Is there a big difference in 92/357 ability to digest 38 cases?

[Ed Barrett]

My Puma takes 38 Spl cases just fine, everything feeds but wad cutters and I even shoot those by single loading. 38 spl cases 2.3 gr. bulls eye and 140 gr. hbwc's will make ragged holes all day at 25 yards. My grand kids love to shoot them.

[cajun shooter]

I own two 92's at this time and have owned others. They are great guns and if treated right will be hand down guns. They are not that hard to work on and as far as strength goes don't be afraid to shoot the heavy loads as the 92 is one strong action. If you need help then go to Steve's guns as has been pointed out. He has parts and sights if you want them changed to something better or more easy to see. The RNFP style of bullet feeds well. That means round nose flat point.

[fecmech]

.38 RN and SWC's feed just fine through my 92 Rossi. Due to the 30" twist in mine I tried some Lee 121 gr tc 9MM bullets sized .359 over a max load(.38 spl) of 231. The load clocked 1270 fps and 100 yd 5 shot groups averaged 3-4". I was pretty pleased with the results.

[twotrees]

It feeds 38's as well as 357's in any flavor.

Squirrel load Lyman 115 gr button nosed wad cutter in 38 cases over 2-2.5 gr Bullseye, great load, slow vel.

358156 GC solid and Hp semi wadcutter over a max load of 2400 and a mag primer. Plenty for close range deer and hogs.

Mine was made in 1985 and some have said newer ones are not so boolit/case friendly. So..... Your milage mave vary.

Good Shooting,

BTW, mine has NEVER fired a j word bullet. my favorite woods walking gun.

[looseprojectile]

This is an old thread, though I always like to read of other peoples experiences.
I have a question. Some time back I saw a list of manufacturing dates code for Italian rifles. Is there a code for South american guns? My Rossi 92 SRC has a K prefix on the serial number. K 044950 .

Life is good

[KCSO]

My old model fed 357's and 38 with KT semi's right from the box when I got it in 1973. Since then it has shot everything from wad cutters to 180 rn fp. The gun is as slick as snot now that it has had 10,000 rounds through it and groups with cast are as good as I can hold and see, i have on occasion for the doubting put 5 on a playing card at 100 paces.

[StarMetal]

I had one of the older Rossi's I got in about 1980. It too fed everything and my go load was with a 150 grain RCBS SWC which it shot very well. I had a hot load of 4227 I won't list here. I D&T'ed the receiver for a Williams peep sight. Let me tell you one of the harder steels on a rifle that I done that too....I was impressed with how hard that receiver is. It was hard like that all the way through too. My load was stiff enough that the magazine tube would over ride the little notch that the band screw went across and work itself forward. I ended up silver soldering a shim on it to give that screw more purchase to anchor the magazine tube. To 100 yards it was bolt rifle accurate and like a fool I sold it later on.

Joe

[Farmall 1066]

I have the 16" carbine and couldn't be happier! I use the Lee 158gn RNFP bullet over 6.4gn Unique in 357 cases as an all purpose load. Does fine with the Keith type 358429 bullet, both in .38 and .357 cases.

Do yourself a favor and take a coil or two off the extractor spring....amazing how much smoother it cycles now! I'm not sure that it didn't help feeding a bit too!

Andy

[Cactus Farmer]

Do yourself a favor and take a coil or two off the extractor spring....Andy

Amen on the ejector spring.......mine threw cases 10-15 yards behind the truck.
A small trimming make it less wastful and much easier to cycle......
It's an early model,the first to hit this town, and was a little rough to load and operate.A few minor deburrings and some shooting "bad guys" on the tube loosened she up a bit.One of my collection that is forsale but with a very high price.
Just found and bought a Browning 92 in 44 mag as a companion to my S&W 629.
It's hard to deside which one to carry.................:Fire:

[Seafarer12]

I have a 20inch Navy Arms, It feeds 38's if I go slow. It will eat 357's as fast as I can cock it. Do yourself a favor and order a spring kit from Brownells. The kit comes with 4 springs. I only used 2 of them. My trigger was perfect so I didn't mess with it but I changed out the hammer spring and ejector spring. While I had it apart I did a little polishing with a dremel and a buffing wheel. It is slicker than snot now. Another thing that probably needs changing are the rear sights. Mine were pretty poor. I put a set of semi-buckhorn sights on it which really helped out. As far as shooting light bullets I can't say much about. I have only shot 150's to 180's in mine cast and jacketed. It likes everything I have shot out of it so far. I have been meaning to load up some hot 125 xtp's to see how they work.

[pietro]

I zeroed my new 16" BrazTech/Rossi .357 @ 50 yards today, with 158gr slugs.

http://i354.photobucket.com/albums/r431/pwawryk/DSCN0539.jpg

[Treeman]

After 2 months on backorder I got my LSI Puma yesterday afternoon. I managed to get in some range time with it today-I'm delighted. from mousefart 38s to 173 grain plainbase Keiths at 1710 fps it shot great without leading issues. It is really a fun gun..........but I want an aperature sight. Recommendations?

[Pepe Ray]

I prefer receiver sights over tang mounted, because they are ruggeder, but tang sights are simpler to install.
Whichever you decide on, get a Merit adjustable aperture, Hunter model, to fine tune it.
If you actually shoot it at various times of day and in changing light conditions, you'll never regret the Merit. Got my 3 at Brownells.
Pepe Ray

[Treeman]

What models of sights-I haven't found the 92 in the charts. Is it best to buy for a Model '94 Win and fit that up?

[Pepe Ray]

Treeman;
Yes, it will be a M94 sight BUT be cautious that it is for the pre angle eject models.
You don't want the model that screws to the TOP of the receiver.
Pepe Ray