CBC Rossi 92 observations

[Fordtruckfan89]

Picked up a used CBC made Rossi 92 16" blued 357. Right off I noticed a smooth trigger, breaks at 3lbs. If not for not having a box I would have thought it was new. I stripped the wood due to some uneven stain color that I wanted to fix. Water wouldn't cut it, used citristrip, then minwax stain in gunstock color followed by Tru oil. The bluing and the machine work on this rifle is superb. Ordered a metal mag follower and safety plug, but I see no reason to smooth the action beyond what it is.

[Umpire]

Picked up a used CBC made Rossi 92 16" blued 357. Right off I noticed a smooth trigger, breaks at 3lbs. If not for not having a box I would have thought it was new. I stripped the wood due to some uneven stain color that I wanted to fix. Water wouldn't cut it, used citristrip, then minwax stain in gunstock color followed by Tru oil. The bluing and the machine work on this rifle is superb. Ordered a metal mag follower and safety plug, but I see no reason to smooth the action beyond what it is.

Hello mate... I had same impressions... these new CBC made rifles are by far way better than Taurus and Amadeo Rossi version, My old Taurus is picky to load 357 magnum and Winchester ammunition, even with good ammunition like American Eagle or Remington in .38 Special sometimes gets jammed. I honestly think no upgrades are necessary for the newer models, but I just added a saddle ring to mine

[Fordtruckfan89]

I agree on the upgrades,my reasoning is just preference more than necessity. The safety accidentally got bumped when my buddy tried shooting it, look on his face when it wouldn't fire was priceless, I've had no issues with the polymer mag follower on my remington 870 and it's 38 years old. I ran across somewher saying CBC owns Taurus, but I'm not sure.

[Archer]

CBC bought Forjas Taurus and Taurus Holdings Inc. back in 2015. (Companhia Brasileira de Cartuchos)

Apparently Taurus Holdings was founded in 1982 for certain operations (probably mostly U.S. importation etc.) and at some point included as 'subsidary branded firearms'
Taurus International Manufacturing Inc (Taurus)
Braztech International, LC (Rossi)
Heritage Manufacturing, Inc (Heritage)

CBC also owns Magtech, MEN, Seller and Bellot.

So for some reason CBC has decided to replace the Braztech imprint with CBC but I am not sure that means there's a substantial difference in the assembly or manufacture of the underlying rifle. A lot of the reports of the Braztech guns were good quite a few reports were less than acceptable. I'm not sure we have enough CBC reports to draw a conclusion. Time and more reports should tell us something.
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I haven't gotten around to swapping the part but I do have the stainless followers for the Rossi.
There have been enough reports of the followers swelling, distorting or cracking and causing issues that I will swap them out when I get around to tearing the guns down.

Given the number of reports of problems with the screws on these guns I don't want to be pulling them apart more than necessary.

[GasGuzzler]

these new CBC made rifles are by far way better than Taurus and Amadeo Rossi version,

The original Amedeo Rossi rifles do not belong in the same sentence as a Braztech or Taurus Rossi. Not sure I have ever heard of an old model R92 with a hogged out chamber, crooked barrel, water soluble stain, stripped band screws, or loose/maladjusted cartridge guides...but all those are often reported about the "Taurus" Rossis. It may be too early to tell but I have only seen one comment here about a CBC gun having a problem.

[Archer]

I can't find anything much about when Rossi started producing R92s. It is almost certain that every Armando Rossi I've ever seen was produced after the man took his final trip west as they say in 1956. I am not certain when Rossi stopped using the Armando markings.

Firearms International were importers of the Rossi in the 1960s but since that was probably prior to the 1968 GCA there may be little information available on that and they might not be importer marked.
Garcia Corp. apparently started importing them sometime between 1968 and 1970 to the U.S. and continued until 1974.
Interarms started importing in 1975 and continued until sometime around 1998.
About 1998 Rossi created Braztech for importing Rossi firearms to the U.S..
~2000 Rossi retooled with CNC machinery.
At some point Navy Arms imported Rossi 92s. I've seen reference that this was around the 2000 time frame but I'm reasonably sure I saw their catalogues around 1990 or so with Rossi produced 92s.
LSI (Legacy Sports former Interarms employees) started importing Rossi 92s ~2000 this lasted until ~2008 when LSI sourced 92s from Armi Sport/Chiappa (Italy). Apparently Puma is a trademark of LSI although their current levergun offering if any appears to be marketed under the Citadel logo.
EMF switched from importing Italian ASM produced 92s to importing Rossi 92s due to quality problems with ASM. EMF currently lists Rossi under their 1892 link but pickings are slim.

~2009 Taurus acquired Rossi

Early guns were said to be pretty good but had several characteristics that indicate they may have been based as much on the Spanish copies of the Winchester by Gárate y Anitua marketed as El Tigre and manufactured between 1915 and 1938. Many of those Spanish rifles (used by police and civilians) were surplused starting in the 1940s. It is reasonable to expect some of those rifles to end up in Brazil probably well before 1940. The Rossi also probably copied the front sight location on the front barrel band from the Spanish copies.

Guns in the 1980s through the 1990s were said to be unacceptably rough. Hence the rise of the lever action smiths. The retooling around 2000 supposedly made the guns better but there have still been issues as GG mentions it appears that whatever fitting has been done has been inconsistent and sometimes involved modifications that are best described as dumb as dirt.

Most of my Rossi experience is with guns produced post 2008 with the ones I have purchased being post 2012 or so. I looked at them several times over the 1990s but never seriously considered getting one. I've seen some that were pretty rough and others that were quite nice. Mine were smooth enough that I picked them up. As far as I can tell I only need to make some minor adjustments and finish sealing the wood. Since I'm in the middle of the desert I haven't made that a priority.

[GasGuzzler]

The 80's and 90's R92s are the smoothest. I have never seen an R92 new enough to have a safety have fit and finish even approaching mine from around 1987. I cannot remember complaints on fit/finish/function of a pre-safety R92. Can't get parts for them and the front sight is on the band. No worries, fine trade for me. The newer ones have way more problems.

[Umpire]

The 80's and 90's R92s are the smoothest. I have never seen an R92 new enough to have a safety have fit and finish even approaching mine from around 1987. I cannot remember complaints on fit/finish/function of a pre-safety R92. Can't get parts for them and the front sight is on the band. No worries, fine trade for me. The newer ones have way more problems.

I had an Amadeo Rossi Puma that my dad bought for me back in 1994. That rifle works well with any 38 special, but was pretty picky with all 357 magnum ammunition even with light semi wadcutter rounds. I sold that rifle and I bought a Taurus made Rossi 92... this rifle had same issues feeding 357 magnum except for the American Eagle JSP rounds, also never worked with any Winchester ammunition 38 or 357 magnum... always got jammed. With the new CBC Rossi is a huge difference, it works great with all kind of ammunition, FMJ,JSP, RLN in 38 or 357, I’m really surprised as I was expecting same feeding issues like my two previous rifles, but this new one definitely is an step ahead for Rossi

[Archer]

One of the reasons I never bought one back in the 80s and 90s was all the examples I saw simply were not smooth. The claim I found looking up the history is that Interarms as the major importer to the U.S. simply did not demand the level of fit and finish normally found on domestic firearms. By the mid 80s and throughout the 90s the tooling had worn out. Rossi attempted to compensate for the worn out tooling by using heavier springs instead of hand fitting. Interarms avoided QA and sold whatever Rossi handed them.

This was also about the time Cowboy action was getting more popular and Steve Gunz got into working the guns over because the quality of fit and function was so poor.

Rossi retooling solved some of the poor tolerances but they continued to use spring that were too strong AND the habit of poor quality control and assembly by bigger hammer continued. It has also been noted that throughout many Latin American countries the work force tends to be quite fluid so it is possible the people putting the guns together has a lot of turnover rather than workers who have the experience and skill to do the job correctly.

All in all, the information I did find on Rossi production and quality more or less mirrored that of Marlin stories we've been seeing since just before Remington bought the company. It took Remington over four years or so to start making decent Marlins after having to reblueprint and retool with a skilled U.S. workforce without a lot of turnover.

[Ranch Dog]

I had been into the Interarms (the importer) building several times in Alexander, VA (Old Town Alexander right off the River). The building was like an old, large house with rooms full of racks—all kinds of guns, from the Rossi Lever to AKs.