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Thread: Rossi model 92 44mag Pro's & con's

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy Dom's Avatar
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    Rossi model 92 44mag Pro's & con's

    I have an opportunity to purchase a Rossi model 92 lever action in 44 mag. I have never owned one & would like some personal opinion from you based on your experience with this rifle.

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    Boolit Master
    JoeJames's Avatar
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    I've had one 2 or 3 years. Nice and light (5 pounds vs 81/2 pounds Henry Big Boy) and accurate. Only problem I have is it will not feed 44 Special rounds. I think that problem has been resolved. I have been running Lee 240 430 TL bullets through it sitting on 7 grains of Unique in 44 Magnum - accurate and pleasant to shoot.
    Britons shall never be slaves.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master
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    I’ve had 2 of them, a carbine and a trapper model. The carbine ran fine and shot .430 sized cast bullets well but I had to crimp Keith bullets on the drive band. The trapper would not shoot the .430 bullets. I probably could have beagles up my mould and got it to shoot but I decided to swap it off. It also was finicky about feeding. They will thump you around with full house loads. I used 9.5 gr of Unique with the Keith bullet in the carbine and was satisfied with it’s performance.

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    the 92 is a very strong action and most function very well. you might have to do some experimenting to find which bullet designs work best or if you get one of the newer ones they have incorporated the slicking techniques that Steve gunz has pretty much perfected or if you get an older one it can be slicked up. ive got a slicked one in 45 colt and it functions very smoothly, much more so than older pre safety guns I have in 357 and 44. overall they are very good guns in my opinion

  5. #5
    Boolit Master
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    Not a 44 but I have two Rossi's in 45 Colt - one Trapper at 18" and a 20" carbine. Both function well and are accurate - don't experience feeding problems with either one.

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    Boolit Buddy Dom's Avatar
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    Thanks for all the info. Helps a lot.

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    Boolit Bub
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    Just bought the .44 mag with 20” barrel in stainless. Nothing but impressed with it. The chamber is a little large which bulges the case a little. However, resizing the brass and it fits just fine in my 629 s&w. If there are any complaints, it’s that the steel buttplate thumps me with full house loads. I added a slip on recoil pad and it feels much better as well as added some needed length. Mine also feeds 44 special just fine.
    Last edited by vonb; 08-31-2022 at 10:07 PM.

  8. #8
    Boolit Buddy Dom's Avatar
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    Good info to hear. It appears to be a reasonably priced lever action.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by vonb View Post
    Just bought the .44 mag with 20” barrel in stainless. Nothing but impressed with it. The chamber is a little large which bulges the case a little. However, resizing the brass and it fits just fine in my 629 s&w. If there are any complaints, it’s that the steel buttplate thumps me with full house loads. I added a slip on recoil pass and it feels much better as well as added some needed length. Mine also feeds 44 special just fine.
    Better man than I am; figure full power loads would be a real thumper. I already had a detached retina from hot 45-70 loads.
    Britons shall never be slaves.

  10. #10
    Boolit Buddy
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    Rossis still have factory support. Any JM or Remington Marlin is completely without factory warranty now with no parts available yet from Ruger for most models. My 1894's forearm nearly fell off on my last range trim and it needs a forearm tenon and I found out last week I have no warranty and the part is not being made.

    I bought this junky Remlin after having mixed, but overall good results and service from 4 different Rossis. I had to do some warranty work on a few Rossis and it took about a month or two each time, so I thought I would be better off getting American made. HA! That was three or four years ago an now the American company left me with NO warranty or factory support. Ruger did a sneaky move buying Marlins IP but not any of their obligations or debts.

  11. #11
    Boolit Master elmacgyver0's Avatar
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    I have an Interarms Rossi in 44 Mag. I like it.
    It had some issues, but the new Rossi's seem to be better, the only thing that might make people shy away is the safety on the bolt.
    I wanted a .357mag/.38spl and it has the dreaded safety, not a deal killer for me.
    All in all, it is a lot nicer gun than the old Interarms Rossi .44 magnum fit and finish a whole lot better, I was impressed.
    I would not hesitate to buy another Rossi.
    Take it for what it's worth.

  12. #12
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    I have one in 45 Colt, 357 mag, and 44 mag. No issues with any of them.
    NRA Benefactor Member NRA Golden Eagle

  13. #13
    Boolit Master
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    I thought I'd already replied to this post, but I guess it was on another forum. I own a Rossi M1892 in .45 Colt, and cannot say enough nice things about it. I use "Elmer Keith" loads of 2400 with 250 gr RNFPs from Missouri Bullet Co. and can shoot 5-shot 3" groups at 100 yards (when I'M in good form).
    I have chronographed only the lower-level handload, but it gives 1595 f/s at 8' from the muzzle. Since the charge weight for the heavier load is 2.0 gr. higher, I expect a healthy increase in velocity when I try it.
    If your .44 Mag carbine performs anything like mine, you'll like it. The ONE negative thing about mine is that it doesn't like to feed LSWCs very well. I consider this a minor shortcoming in an otherwise very worthwhile carbine.
    For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. Ecclesiastes 1:18
    He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool become servant to the wise of heart. Proverbs 11:29
    ...Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Matthew 25:40


    Carpe SCOTCH!

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    Boolit Man gunboat57's Avatar
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    vonb, can you tell me what recoil pad you're using? I'm looking for one small enough to fit my Rossi R92.

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    Boolit Master
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    Nice short range, woods rifle>>

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    Boolit Master elmacgyver0's Avatar
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    The recoil pads on my Rossi's are steel.
    I remember going to a friend and former supervisor's house.
    I let him shoot my .44 magnum Rossi, it was like a little toy in his hands. He is a big man.
    When he shot it, he didn't have the butt against his shoulder.
    He pulled the trigger before I could tell him to hold it tight against his shoulder.
    Even with my rather anemic .44 mag reloads it gave a healthy wallop to his shoulder.
    This guy is not new to shooting and I figured he knew better, and he does, just had a brain fart as the little 92 replica is so tiny in his hands.
    I thought it was pretty funny, but he didn't at the time.

  17. #17
    Boolit Master Shawlerbrook's Avatar
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    Steve’s Gunz has the parts and tricks to slick up the Rossi M92.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master Castaway's Avatar
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    I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. If the Rossi was so good, Steve of Steve’s Guns wouldn’t be famous. I had nothing but trouble with mine in 45 Colt. Wouldn’t feed Lee 255 RNFP’s or Hornady XTP’s. Fore stock was routed through between the barrel and magazine tube. Rossi wouldn’t make it good because the rifle was out of date for their warranty. I tried to explain it was obvious it left their facility that way and wasn’t due to use or abuse. They were unsympathetic. You’d think something as simple as that they’d send one out on the next truck. Also, could never find an accurate load. My suspicions are they use a twist rate of 1:30 to stabilize light bullets for the Cowboy Action crowd so they can ”game” the competition and fire faster. I could never get better than 4” at 50 yards with any load I tried, using cast 250, 255 and 280 grain bullets or 300 grain XTP’s

  19. #19
    Boolit Bub
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    Quote Originally Posted by gunboat57 View Post
    vonb, can you tell me what recoil pad you're using? I'm looking for one small enough to fit my Rossi R92.
    Here you go:

    HIVIZ SP-S Slip On Recoil Pad,... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AVJMNFK...p_mob_ap_share

  20. #20
    Boolit Buddy
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    Pretty much every lever action I laid my hands on had multiple choke points in the barrel from the dovetails and stamping a few paragraphs of letters on each barrel. For plain base accruracy you pretty much need to expect to fire lap about 15-30 rounds.

    My Remington Marlin was the worst I have ever seen with about 4 choke points based on the 4 shiny rings in the barrel after fire lapping 40 rounds. This barrel is flared at the muzzle about 1 thou in the last 6 inches and the crown is cut off center, so it will never be a great shooting gun. I got my hands on it and when I first swabbed the barrel I got rusty colored residue. It has a lightly pitted barrel from the factory. It has the barrel installed with the front sight pointed at about 11:30 (over tightened) and it still has sloppy headspace. They will lathe the shoulder back a few thou so they can screw the barrel in further if it is out of headspace tolerance, and when they did mine they barely got it to passing spec and the front sight is cockeyed. The stocks fit like crap and on my last range trip the forearm tenon warped into a rainbow shape from recoil and the forearm almost fell off. The bolt sticks out of the back of the gun almost enough to cut you, and it also is proud of the receiver on the right side. My Rossis were all fitted much better than that, even if they came with no finish on the wood and water based stain that stained my face.

    I had one Rossi with horrible headspace that ruined cases on first firing, sometimes rupturing cases above the rim on first firing and Rossi replaced the rifle. I was able to stick 12 pieces of scotch tape on the rim of a case and still close the bolt on that bad rifle. Other than that, with about 10 lapping shots, they all shot 2MOA with gas checked or 3-4 MOA plain base at 100 yards with full power loads 1700-2100 fps at the muzzle. My current Rossi 357 is a stainless and it took like 25-35 shots to shoot right, where the blued guns only took a few. Maybe the stainless is harder or maybe it crushes the bore more when they cut the dovetails.

    The slow twist rate is sufficient to shoot all common bullet weights, even heavy for caliber. They did the math and figured the gyroscopic stability and they are not wrong. A 30" 357 will shoot a 190 grain with no tumbling at 200 yards with full power loads. A 30" 45 will shoot a 395 grain at 1200 fps without tumbling, and a 38" 45 will shoot a 350 grain at 1400 fps without tumbling. All from my personal experience. All my personal experience lines up with stability calculators. Greenhill formula is inaccurate. The military uses stability calculators, not Greenhill.

    The slow twist allows awesome accuracy with lead bullets because they do not skid on the rifling. I can shoot softish 9 BHN lead very accurately at 2000 fps with a clean barrel when I am done. My revolvers will have minor leading and shoot larger groups with that soft of lead, even with a gas check. Revolvers, and I assume fast twist rifles like the Henry like at least 12 BHN to shoot 4 MOA at 100 yards. Same load, same bullet, but 9 BHN lead and the revolver shoots 6 MOA with minor PC fouling on the trailing edge of the lands from the bullet skidding and the rifling engravement on the bullet getting wider than it should be, allowing gas to blow by.

    I shoot plain base 158 gr 357s at 2000 fps and 4 moa in these slow twist rifle barrels. Stan the steel man, my steel 3/4 torso, is not safe at 200 yards with these cheap bulk loads. The gas check designs shoot 2 MOA and rarely 3 MOA. For 10 shot groups. You could shoot a few 3 shot groups and claim I have a MOA lever gun, but I always shoot 10 shot groups.

    My Marlin should shoot plain base 45 colts great, but the loose bore at the muzzle makes only a few plain base loads shoot great. It really likes a plain base vs a bevel base. The low pressure near the muzzle must jet around the bevel based bullets easily because I get PC or lead fouling in the last 4 inches. Some plain base loads around 1000-1200 fps with really soft lead shoot cleaner, but still lead or PC foul the last inch of the barrel.
    Last edited by mnewcomb59; 09-03-2022 at 10:07 PM.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check