Rossi 511 rivals Smith 63 for fit and function.

[wallythacker]

I'll start by saying I believe S&W make the best precise revolvers. They may not the very best at any specific thing but taken as a sum Smith revolvers are, IMO, the best.

On a lark, I bought an old Rossi 511 online. For those of you unfamiliar , it's a 6 shot DA .22LR, medium 4" barrel, fully adjustable sights in stainless steel.

It arrived yesterday and after 5-10 minutes of playing with and firing it something dawned on me. I already own one of these and it's called a Smith & Wesson Model 63. Sure enough, putting the 511 and 63 side by side its obvious they're brothers by another mother.,

My smith was a babied gun before I got it. No marks anywhere. Clean and shiny. Now the Rossi has some battle scars and holster wear. That surprised me. I never expected stainless to show holster wear. The Rossi probably has thousands of rounds through it.

Here's what surprised me. All the mechanical aspects of the Rossi are comparable to the Smith. The amounts of play in both guns are darn close to identical. The Rossi trigger breaks clean at 3lbs. In SA and 12 DA. My smith breaks clean at 2.5 SA and 10 DA.

This little, old, and I bet inexpensive at the time, revolver made by a newish Brasilia company can stand equal with a Smith of similar specs.

I get Rossi and Taurus made some questionable guns over the years but so far, with my luck, I've only seen the cherries of the crop.

BTW, anyone know how to date my little 511?