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Rossi 92 Which calibres is most reliable.

Posted: 25 Mar 2018 11:09
by nagantino
I took a lot of time this month to finally rectify my 92 problems. Double feeding was ruining my Cowboy Action Saturdays. 6 stages and double feeding on 3 of them. I read everything I could on the problem. It seems most agree on cartridge length or OAL. I made them short, I made them long and finally settled on 1.58. With dummy rounds and practice the problem seemed to ease, just one or two double feeds. Hmmmm. Yesterday was an embarrassment. I did notice that a few guys were having no problems with their 92's. I also noticed they were not .357's either but 44 magnum.

Is it only the .38/357 calibres that experiences Double feed problems?

The problems I'm getting make the Rossi 92 a liability in competition, which is a pity cos it's a handsome piece.

Re: Rossi 92 Which calibres is most reliable.

Posted: 25 Mar 2018 13:19
by Strawdawg
I don't recall ever having my .38/.357 miss a beat with a rpft bullet. I shoot more .38's than .357's tho. should be an interesting thread

Re: Rossi 92 Which calibres is most reliable.

Posted: 25 Mar 2018 19:11
by Nashville Stage
I assume you're firing hand-loaded ammo? Aside from functional issues with the rifle, the bullet length/shape/weight might make a difference.

Re: Rossi 92 Which calibres is most reliable.

Posted: 25 Mar 2018 23:06
by jayb514
I asked Steve about reliable cartridges and this was his response:

The thing to keep in mind is these modern straight wall pistol caliber ammo leverguns (all, not just the 92’s) are a lot like semi-auto handguns. There’s just some ammo they aren’t going to work well with.

All leveraction, pump action and semi-auto guns (long guns or handguns) are ammo length and bullet shape sensitive. Some more than other. For example, you don't think about it much if you are dealing with a rifle cal. like 3006, 308 or 223 and even 30-30. Those are bottleneck calibers. Bottlenecks always feed better than straightwall ammo, whether it is a rifle cal or a pistol cal. That's because you have a small diameter bullet going into a really big hole by comparison, the bottleneck chamber being much like a funnel.

The original Winchester 92's were designed to work with bottleneck ammo in the 1.5" to 1.6" OAL with round nose flat point bullets. Ammo like 44-40, 38-40, 32-20 and 25-20.

What that means is they may not work well with really long 357’s. (They tend to hit the top inside of the chamber before they make the turn into the chamber) or really short 38’s.

The most common problem with the shorter 38's is when working the action at speed the gun will sometimes throw out, flip or stovepipe live rounds with the empty's. This is because the shorter 38 coming on to the carrier from the tube can bounce forward enough that the rim is too close to the rim slots in the guides and when you lever it fast the carrier just catapults them up or out with the empty. (One of the things Rossi did years ago was redesign the cart guides by changing the angle of the rim slots so the back end comes up sooner. So they tend to be less ammo sensitive than other pistol cal 92 leverguns)

Also, bullet shapes can make a difference. Bullets other than the round nosed flat point profile they were designed for can cause issues. The truncated cone or TC style bullets will work but can end up too long for some guns. As for SWC, the cutter bands tend to hang going in the chamber.

However, the 92 tends to work better than say the Marlin 1894 or Win 73’ and 94’s. This is because they kinda roll the cart in as opposed to pushing it straight forward.

For 38’s, this is what I have found to cycle best. A 158gr elongated round nose flat point seated above the crimp groove and just crimped into the side of the bullet just above the lube groove. This allows them to be loaded to a 1.5” OAL. You can do the same with the 44 spec.







For years there were commercial reloaders that offered CAS ammo, offered 1 1/5" long loaded Cowboy leveraction 38's.

I directed my rifle customer to "T" ammo for his 1.5" cowboy 38's. But, Roy retired so I was recommending Ammo Direct.

Well, they are out of business at least temporarily. (had a fire I believe)

Here is the new source.



Contact

CUSTOM AMMO & RELOADING SERVICES,LLC

817-326-3855

Email; landjb7@charter.net



Larry Benningfield

3110 Marble Court

Granbury, Tx 76049.



they sell this ammo and will also reload your brass.



As for 357mag, the best feeding I’ve found is the Hornady 357 Mag 140 gr FTX® LEVERevolution







Thanks,

Steve Young aka Nate Kiowa Jones Sass# 6765

Re: Rossi 92 Which calibres is most reliable.

Posted: 25 Mar 2018 23:30
by golfish
Thats a good read OP, thank you for sharing.
I sold my 44 because it cost too much to feed and I didn't like the 16" platform.
I'm hoping Rossi will come back strong and I can get a solid 20" round barrel.

Re: Rossi 92 Which calibres is most reliable.

Posted: 26 Mar 2018 05:36
by Ranch Dog
I have all the cartridges offered except the 44-40 Win and have had to address cartridge feed with all of them except the 480 Ruger. That rifle was a used firearm, all the others new. My 44 Mag, out of the box was the worst and required the purchase of new cartridge guides. More on that below. The 454 Casull had a problem of flipping everything out the top and required that the guides be shimmed.

The 44 Mag's cartridge guides had been "adjusted" at the factory by filing the forward angle of the slot when it is the back that needs the work, so the base of the cartridge comes up sooner. They kept at the filing too long and removed too much metal so that nothing would work. Filing blank guides is a lot of work and costly. I want to say a set of guides is around $55.

What my rifles have in common are the bullets. All the various cartridges use the same round, flat nosed bullet with a similar ogive, scaled for the specific caliber. Despite the manufacturing issue with the 44 Mag, hands down the small diameter cylinder of the 357 Mag makes it the stiffest to come up the carrier and into the chamber. I think on the average; the forum has seen more 357 Mag chamber mouths relieved on NIB rifles than the others. I know the worst examples of this lazy feed correction have been 357 Mags.

As a comparison with the JB Marlin, I own a 41 and 44 Mag and have owned a 357 Mag and 45 Colt, and none have had feed issues. I also own JB Marlins, the "CL" series, chambered n 218 Bee, 25-20 Win, and 32-20 and they feed as slick as any AR.

Personally, if my interest were cowboy action shooting, the R92 that I would purchase would be the 44-40 Win. I believe the slight shoulder of the case offers a heck of an advantage with cartridge feed. Even as of late, I've seen some NIB rifles come up on the auction sites and must fight my urge to purchase. As a hunter rather than a cowboy shooter, the cartridge offers no advantage over the 44 Mag. These rifles seem not to sell well, and I believe it is just that the average shooter is not familiar with the cartridge.
44-40_Win.jpg

Re: Rossi 92 Which calibres is most reliable.

Posted: 26 Mar 2018 06:28
by GasGuzzler
There seem to be a lot more .357s than the others combined so they will naturally have more complaints. RD is sadly correct on the bubba-chambers we've seen on new .357's. My old one feeds short .38's and long .357's and always has for me. The only adjustments I made to mine was trigger pull weight, ejector strength, and slicking of the action.

Re: Rossi 92 Which calibres is most reliable.

Posted: 26 Mar 2018 12:40
by nagantino
All good stuff. GasGuzzlers point on .357 being the most common calibres is well made. I think the Rossi 92 in stainless, octagonal 24" is the most handsome rifle I have ever owned and I want it to work, but double feed is so depressing when on a stage. I feel the magazine cut-off is the culprit but it moves OK and is well lubricated.

Re: Rossi 92 Which calibres is most reliable.

Posted: 26 Mar 2018 21:15
by zippy
I only have the one 24" stainless .357 92. I was a relatively new shooter when I got it, and was getting numerous brands of 158gr FMJ and RNFP brass cased .357 factory ammo for my 92 as well as my revolvers. I had 2 or 3 instances of double feeds during the first week I had the 92, though I've forgotten which ammo it was. Settled on 158gr .357 Herters FMJ and American Eagle RNFP and it's run flawless.

The only thing that "needed" smithing was relieving the loading gate spring to facilitate problem free loading. The stiff OEM spring caused rounds to hang up in the gate.

I've let a bunch of people, mostly novice, run my 92 since I adjusted the gate, and don't recall a single malfunction.

Good luck with your issue.

Re: Rossi 92 Which calibres is most reliable.

Posted: 28 Mar 2018 23:16
by 44WCF
Naturally it would have to be the one that the gun was originally designed to run, the 44wcf (44-40). And stick with the bullet they were both designed to shoot, a RNFP. Mine feeds jacketed HP's just fine too though. It's never had a feed issue. Of course it's the only one I have owned so...