Fixed tight loading problem

[AKShawn]

First let me introduce myself, my name is Shawn and I'm an Air Force armament specialist with years of experience working 20mm and 30mm guns. That being said I've never before owned a Rossi but have owned a .44 Taurus both have been great experiences so far. Upon purchasing a RG 45-70 I found this website and saw that new Rossi rifles sometimes required some spit and shine to run smoothly. I disassembled mine and with a little fine grit sandpaper and steel wool began polishing up common problem areas. Everything ran well except for the loading, it was incredibly tight and I kept taking skin off the tips of my fingers. Excuse my nomenclature but I'll try and get my point across. At first I thought it was the follower, I disassembled, cleaned, lubed and polished everything in the ammo tube, still no luck. So I pulled the lever again, I'd already done this to clean up the burrs, but this time took the lever to my bench grinder. I took the blueing off of the end that goes through the bolt, and then took a file(lightly) to the part of the lever that the loading door pushes against when loading a round. The thickness of the coating combined with a very small amount of material off of the lever and the polishing of the lever now allows me to load a round without destroying the tips of my fingers. I'm sure others have done this as well, but when I was looking had not seen this as a recomendation.
[hr][/hr]
DIYRG

[Tuco Ramirez]

Welcome aboard AKShawn… From one Vet to another, thank you for your service to your country!!!

I also took some metal off my lever to allow the gate to open more. Mine was denting the side of the ammo due to having to force the case past the gate. Not to mention having one heck of a sore thumb after doing that (6) times.
The area on the lever where mine was making contact was just below where it engages into the bolt. That area is recessed already but needed recessed some more as well as hitting the loading ramp in the middle section.

I do not believe there is a cookie cutter fix to this issue; it all depends on what is stopping the gate from opening up enough to allow the round to be pushed into the ammo tube. Thank you very much for sharing your personal experience of what corrective action you took. Someone out there will have the same problem and be able to make their own repairs based upon your observations and corrective action.

[pricedo]

I found this website and saw that new Rossi rifles sometimes required some spit and shine to run smoothly.

Throw in a few choice cuss words for when you jab or pinch a finger or thumb and that's about right.

Tuning up the Rio Grande is easy as eating a banana sundae but when you embark on your first strip/clean & polish/reassemble project with a Rossi 92 best take the hanging pictures down off the walls before you get started.

Welcome to the forum.

[Tuco Ramirez]

Hopefully I will have my 92 in a few months. Will start taking photos down this weekend....

[Ranch Dog]

Welcome to the forum, thank you for your service! It will be great having another weapon specialist on board!

[Heretic]

I had to shave metal off both the end of the lever (though carrier end) and the underside of the loading gate in order to feed a round into the magazine with ease. The lever end and gate combine way too large of a thickness to allow the loading of a round into the magazine. Probably took about half the thickness off both before round could pass through. Had to take apart the internals of the Rossi several times (not to mention clean, stone and re-blue). Have not fired a live round yet, but snap caps cycle through nicely now. Almost too effortlessly. Either I've fined tuned the action of this rifle, or I've weakened it greatly. I hope this Rossi as strong as a Martin of old. Hate to have the carrier fly back into my eye socket, ya know?

[Ranch Dog]

I had to shave metal off both the end of the lever (though carrier end) and the underside of the loading gate in order to feed a round into the magazine with ease. The lever end and gate combine way too large of a thickness to allow the loading of a round into the magazine. Probably took about half the thickness off both before round could pass through. Had to take apart the internals of the Rossi several times (not to mention clean, stone and re-blue). Have not fired a live round yet, but snap caps cycle through nicely now. Almost too effortlessly. Either I've fined tuned the action of this rifle, or I've weakened it greatly. I hope this Rossi as strong as a Martin of old. Hate to have the carrier fly back into my eye socket, ya know?

You will be fine, Welcome to the forum!

[ironhead7544]

Standard mods for the 92 include shortening the mag spring and reducing the loading gate spring thickness. Also, I polish and remove burrs in the receiver loading port and the gate itself where it goes through the receiver. Works great on the 92 and makes it a breeze to load. Dont know how much you need to take off the springs for the RG but someone here has probably done it.

Welcome to the forum. I have learned a lot here. The 92 is easy to slick up and you will like it. I was a Small Arms Repairman 69-72 for the Army in a Depot shop. Later, Security Police for the ILANG at O'Hare, full time, 79-82.

As Ranch Dog said, thank you for your service. Tough choice to join the military today.

[DRJ30]

I had to shave metal off both the end of the lever (though carrier end) and the underside of the loading gate in order to feed a round into the magazine with ease. The lever end and gate combine way too large of a thickness to allow the loading of a round into the magazine. Probably took about half the thickness off both before round could pass through. Had to take apart the internals of the Rossi several times (not to mention clean, stone and re-blue). Have not fired a live round yet, but snap caps cycle through nicely now. Almost too effortlessly. Either I've fined tuned the action of this rifle, or I've weakened it greatly. I hope this Rossi as strong as a Martin of old. Hate to have the carrier fly back into my eye socket, ya know?

I did this as well. (minus the rebluing) And like you, I can cycle snap caps effortlessly. Live rounds are a whole different story. I'm still getting jams during extraction where the lever will only move about a quarter of an inch. These I can usually clear out by repeatedly yanking downward on the lever as hard as I can for several minutes. I'm also getting them less frequently when chambering the next round. It appears as though something is causing the rounds to tilt downward at the tip so they don't clear the breach and slide into the chamber properly.

[akuser47]

Great work, another thank you for your service.