Ejecting .38 Specials

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Ejecting .38 Specials

Post by SoonerPGH »

Hey, guys and girls! I have an older model 92 that I love shooting. It's a tack driver for accuracy, loads smooth as a dream, and came from my late father, so it has sentimental value for me also. My problem with it, however, is that when shooting .38s, it will chamber the first round just fine, but after firing, it will eject the next live round along with the spent casing. It works flawlessly with .357 Magnums, but the .38s get frustrating fast. It doesn't seem to matter how fast or slow I work the lever. It just won't cycle .38s properly.

I tried to dig around a bit to find something about this but couldn't seem to find the same type of issue. It doesn't stovepipe, or even hesitate to toss the spent casings, it just launches the next round along with it. Any similar experiences and/or fixes would really be appreciated.
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Re: Ejecting .38 Specials

Post by HarryAlonzo »

I have a .44, so I may be speaking out of turn.

Out-of-the-box Rossi's tend to launch spent brass about 15 feet behind the shooter. Is that what yours does with .357s? If so, you might start by lightening up the ejector spring. I used the StevesGunz video, but I believe there are other methods.

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Re: Ejecting .38 Specials

Post by JRexA »

The problem is, that unless it is worked over, by a competent gunsmith, or you do some tuning, yourself, the Rossi 357 isn't happy, with the shorter .38 Specials.
You need a COAL of around 1.50-1.60 to get it to work.
Some say 1.55-1.58

But a too short COAL gives exactly the scenario, you are descriping.

Some write, that the tuning info, from stevez Gunz DVD can fix this issue.
https://store.stevesgunz.com/index.php? ... 3ibs3td6i7

Or the kit, with springs and Follower:
https://store.stevesgunz.com/index.php? ... 3ibs3td6i7

And here is some tuning info, for this exact problem(Main Source: Nate Kiowa Jones):
http://marauder.homestead.com/files/ros ... _guide.htm
This should be similar, to what is on the DVD.

As for all this info: Use at your own risk.
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Re: Ejecting .38 Specials

Post by SoonerPGH »

Thank you both for your replies. I am not certain about the distance on the eject. I haven't really paid much attention to that. As to the "use at your own risk" statement, that is pretty much a given with us gun nuts, especially those of us with less money to dump into professional tuning of a firearm. I have done several trigger jobs on both long guns and handguns, but never had this kind of issue with anything, so I'm new to this problem.

Again, thanks for the links and info. I'll keep you folks posted on my discoveries and see where I end up.
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Re: Ejecting .38 Specials

Post by golfish »

JRexA wrote:The problem is, that unless it is worked over, by a competent gunsmith, or you do some tuning, yourself, the Rossi 357 isn't happy, with the shorter .38 Spec
We sure do hear a lot more about them have problems with 38 so rounds. My first Rossi 92 357 was just the opposite, it shot 38sp just fine and had problem with 357 rds
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Re: Ejecting .38 Specials

Post by GasGuzzler »

My old one feeds 1.45-1.63. New ones don't.
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Re: Ejecting .38 Specials

Post by btoran »

if you handload, you can make some very mild 357 rounds for target shooting.
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Re: Ejecting .38 Specials

Post by zippy »

I had that same double ejection issue with my .357 92 when it was brand new a couple of years ago. It happened about half a dozen times in the first few range sessions.

Unfortunately, I don't remember details like which ammo it happened with, or which tweaks were done at that time. I do know it stopped happening without me specifically addressing it as a problem. The only tweaks done were the Steve's Gunz spring kit and SS follower, and easing the mag spring and loading gate spring. And of course since it was new, several thousand cycles of the action to break it in.

Good luck.
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Re: Ejecting .38 Specials

Post by dlidster »

btoran wrote:if you handload, you can make some very mild 357 rounds for target shooting.
Also, if you handload, seat bullets in .38 spcl cases for a COAL between 1.5" and 1.6". They'll feed beautifully and you won't have the cartridge waiting in the magazine tube popping up prematurely.
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Re: Ejecting .38 Specials

Post by SoonerPGH »

I don't have the means to hand-load (yet), and it is a pre-safety rifle. However, I don't know how many rounds it has through it. I've not put many through it but hope to do so over time. I may try the springs first and see what that does. If no change, then more work for me. Either way, I get range time, so I'm not whining.
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