Rossi 92 #1

Maximizing the performance of your Rossi firearm.
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rman
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Rossi 92 #1

Post by rman »

Well... it's been a long road, with a few twists and turns. In May I ordered a case hardened .357 with a 20" octagon barrel. The rifle was pretty good out of the box, but of course I had to do all the tinkering that we 92 owners do. I removed the rear sight and replaced it with a blank. I had a gunsmith drill and tap the receiver and installed a Williams Foolproof receiver sight with target knobs. I replaced the slotted elevation locking screw with a gib lock screw on the Foolproof. I disassembled it and did a lot of polishing on the hammer sides, the locking bolts and bearing surfaces on the lever. Replaced the ejector, hammer, trigger and lever springs with those from the Lee Gunslinger kit. I had problems with the hammer binding with the new mainspring and put the stock one back in. I also replaced the magazine follower and bolt safety with replacements from Steve's. Also removed small burrs from around the loading port, the notch in the back of the bolt and lower tang. Lightened the tension on the loading gate spring. I bought 2 different front sights for it - a Lyman 17AHB globe sight and a green fibre optic blade from Steve's. The Lyman was a very loose fit in the dovetail. Singleshotcajun told me how to fix it, but I'm pressed for time and decided to install the green fibre one.

I took it to the range today. It was a perfect day for shooting - temperature was in the 70's, it was overcast and there was very little wind. I set up paper cutout silhouettes of javelinas, turkeys and rams. (There is no target board at 40m for chickens, so I skipped that one.) I started out shooting at 50m on the javelinas from the bench. The little 92 shot 5 shot groups of .5 - .75" at that range, and it only took a few shots to get on target. I shot a 5 shot group off hand and went 5 for 5 on the javelinas. Then I tried going up 10 clicks and that put me dead on for the turkeys at 75m. I tried a 5 shot group offhand and only had 3 hits, but that's not unusual for me on turkeys. Next, I went up 25 clicks and that put me in the center of the rams at 100m from the bench. The gun is shooting 1.5" groups at this range from the bench. I shot a 5 shot group offhand and ended up with 4 hits. I think I can truthfully say that all misses were on me.

I was shooting my reloads in .357 Magnum brass.
Norma Brass
CCI 500 Primers
Berry's Hard Cast 125 gr FP Bullets
5.3 gr of W231 powder
This load shoots good and feeds through the rifle great.

I really like this little rifle and it shoots better than I can when shooting offhand. The action is now as slick as glass. I used the scale and tested the trigger pull. It breaks between 15 oz and 1 lb consistently. I've done all the safety tests on the trigger and it passes with no problems. I don't like the front sight. It shows up good, but at 1/16", it's just too big. I plan to try the globe sight again, but not until after this Sunday's match. The Lyman has a bead insert that is pretty tiny. That is what my grandson uses on my Marlin 39A and he loves it. This should make a great little rifle for pistol caliber silhouette shooting. Now I just have to learn to shoot it better. :oops:
At my age, there IS nothing better than shooting.
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Re: Rossi 92 #1

Post by Conman »

Dang, sounds like you had a great, fun, day!!! Congrats..................
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Re: Rossi 92 #1

Post by NavyDoc76-80 »

Enjoyed your story....you also confirmed what donhuff was telling me today about using standard primers in 357 reloads. Thanks for sharing...
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Re: Rossi 92 #1

Post by Jaybm »

100m / 109y ... 1.5 " groups. WOW. even using a rest that's some shooting.

ha ha, my efforts have been at 50 yards off hand and I'm happy if I can get five
in the nine and ten ring. I do see puffs of dirt in the berm behind the 100 yard
marker but doubt my ole eyes can focus that far.

Great report ... Jim
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Re: Rossi 92 #1

Post by rman »

Jaybm wrote:100m / 109y ... 1.5 " groups. WOW. even using a rest that's some shooting.

ha ha, my efforts have been at 50 yards off hand and I'm happy if I can get five
in the nine and ten ring. I do see puffs of dirt in the berm behind the 100 yard
marker but doubt my ole eyes can focus that far.

Great report ... Jim
Thanks! Since my recent cataract surgeries, my vision is good for an old timer. The Williams receiver sight helps a great deal also, as does the 1 lb. trigger pull. I find that given a good rest, and the right target, and good ammo, shooting with peep sights comes close to rivaling a scope at reasonable ranges. I used to train with the PD's SWAT team and I used a heavy barreled bolt action with a Leupold scope. I was pretty proud of my groups at 300 yds, until a fellow squad member broke out his AR15 with peep sights. He came VERY close to matching my scores and that took the wind out of my sails in a hurry. :oops:
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Re: Rossi 92 #1

Post by rman »

Follow up on the 92. I've shot it in 2 matches now and shot the best scores I've ever shot in Pistol Caliber Cowboy Silhouette - a 24 and a 25. That's not very good, but much better than I usually do. Now if I could just learn to shoot off hand better... the gun is definitely up to the task.
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Re: Rossi 92 #1

Post by Archer »

I tried to get the color case hardened versions a few years ago and they were unobtainable.
I've seen a couple that looked DDG over the years but they've almost always been in calibers I was avoiding.
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Re: Rossi 92 #1

Post by rman »

Archer wrote:I tried to get the color case hardened versions a few years ago and they were unobtainable.
I've seen a couple that looked DDG over the years but they've almost always been in calibers I was avoiding.
I like the case hardened look, but if someone was to offer me a blued one cheap, I'd jump all over it.
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Re: Rossi 92 #1

Post by akuser47 »

All I have seen from Rossi are faux hardened so your better off doing it yourself I have yet to see a real case hardened Rossi 92 if some in has one post up
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