I Was Inspired To Slick Up My Action

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Iplayfarmer
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I Was Inspired To Slick Up My Action

Post by Iplayfarmer »

I was inspired yesterday at a gun show. A guy was walking the floor with a model 92 for sale. I asked to see it, and it was one of the smoothest, easiest to operate lever actions I've ever held. If it wasn't a 45 colt it would be in my gun cabinet right now. (I really prefer 357's.)

I talked to him a little about what he did to slick it up, and then came home and worked mine over. I am pleased with the results.

First, a word of caution... I pulled the loading gate off to smooth out a burr in the frame there. When I put it back together I didn't get the gate spring snugged down right. I nearly didn't get the rifle back apart again after that. Be sure to snug down the screw that holds the gate spring.

So, here's what I did:

-I smoothed out the burr in the loading port (Yay!! No more scratched brass.)

-I got this spring kit from Harbor Freight... http://www.harborfreight.com/200-piece- ... 67562.html There is a 7/32" X 1 1/2" spring in there that works well as a replacement for the troublesome ejector spring. This is thanks to advice on this youtube video... I need to give credit where it's due.

-I smoothed any of the places on the gun where I saw evidence of wear. I really didn't spend a lot of time on this step. I used a very fine grit sharpening stone on the moving parts. I did use some 320 grit paper on the insides of the locking bolt channels on the frame. I went very lightly at this point.

-Here's the part that made the most difference on my particular gun. Even after smoothing things out and putting in the lighter ejector spring there was still a very stiff part of the action right at the very top of the lever swing. I did a little investigating, and the right locking bolt was much tighter in it's track than the left locking bolt. There was a bulge at the top of the bolt that didn't match the left bolt, and didn't seem to match the channel that the bolt rides in. It was about 10 thousandths proud of the surface of the rest of the bolt. I took a triangle file to just this part of the bolt and got it down to where it matched the other bolt. (I actually still left it a little thicker just because it's easier to remove more material later if needed than put it back on). I polished the filed surface with the fine sharpening stone. This made the action cycle SOOO much more smooth.

-As a final step I replaced the main spring on the hammer. I bought a spring kit a while ago for my Blackhawks... http://www.midwayusa.com/product/341536 ... wk-vaquero I had a 19 lb spring left over after working over my revolvers. As I was disassembling and reassembling my Rossi multiple times I kept noticing the similarity between the hammer mechanisms on the rifle and on the pistols. The Wolff springs are slightly shorter than the Rossi springs, but the one I put in is still compressed when the hammer is down. Replacing this spring made a small difference. It leads me to believe that the lighter springs in this same kit (that are now in my revolvers) may work better. I'm sure the best option is to get the hammer spring from Steve's Guns and install it. Installing this hammer spring was pretty simple.

In the end I still think the rifle at the gun show was smoother than mine, but mine is MUCH better than it was. I haven't shot it yet to see if I've totally screwed it up, but it cycles ammo nicely and smoothly. It's not flipping brass across the room either. There was a nice neat pile of bullets at my feat after I emptied the magazine.
rondog
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Re: I Was Inspired To Slick Up My Action

Post by rondog »

I still have to get my lazy butt around to slicking up my Rossi, but I just received my new PGW stock set Monday, so I'll be a-workin' on it soon.

You should have snapped up that .45! .45 Colt in a rifle is a joy!
Iplayfarmer
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Re: I Was Inspired To Slick Up My Action

Post by Iplayfarmer »

rondog wrote:I still have to get my lazy butt around to slicking up my Rossi, but I just received my new PGW stock set Monday, so I'll be a-workin' on it soon.

You should have snapped up that .45! .45 Colt in a rifle is a joy!
At a minimum replacing the ejector spring helps without doing anything that can't be undone if you don't like it.

I did get out to the range on Saturday to test fire my rifle after working it over. It shoots great and cycles spent brass just as good as it did the loaded stuff in the living room. I figured it would all work fine, but it's nice to know for sure.
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alphalimafoxtrot
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Re: I Was Inspired To Slick Up My Action

Post by alphalimafoxtrot »

Hey there, farmer -

That's a great feeling, isn't it - when you do your own work on your own Rossi and get it to shine?

Nice to hear you're having fun with your Rossi! I went through the smoothing process too, trimmed the action spring is all I did in terms of springs. Going to replace the ejector spring one of these days. Smoothing those bolt parts really helped, I noticed.

Adam
I am a regular joe, consisting of 78% coffee, 12% hot air, 9% organizational abilities, and 1% luck.
Iplayfarmer
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Re: I Was Inspired To Slick Up My Action

Post by Iplayfarmer »

I really like these Rossi guns. I think they may have earned their sub-par reputation a number of years ago, but anything recent that I have seen has been as good a gun as other brands out there. If there's any benefit to the history of poor quality control or whatever gave them a bad name in some circles, it's that there's a following of people who know how to work on them and how to improve them. I'm glad for the advice I got that allowed me to slick mine up a bit.

I'll probably improve the main action spring on both of mine at some point.
rondog
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Re: I Was Inspired To Slick Up My Action

Post by rondog »

Finally got around to slicking mine up, it's lots better now! I went after every burr, sharp edge, machining mark, and moving surface I could get to. Greased and oiled too. Did a trigger job too.

Haven't had a range trip, just had shoulder surgery so it'll be awhile - but it sure seems 1000% better, and the trigger's like glass.

Also stripped and refinished the wood.
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Re: I Was Inspired To Slick Up My Action

Post by rondog »

Action spring -

Last two posters mentioned "action spring", same thing as the hammer spring?

How much did you shorten it by?
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zippy
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Re: I Was Inspired To Slick Up My Action

Post by zippy »

I think they mean Ejector Spring. I got the one from Steve's Gunz.

https://store.stevesgunz.com/index.php? ... 30r2ga0mm6
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Re: I Was Inspired To Slick Up My Action

Post by rondog »

zippy wrote:I think they mean Ejector Spring. I got the one from Steve's Gunz.

https://store.stevesgunz.com/index.php? ... 30r2ga0mm6
I shortened my ejector spring .040, that helped. I also have the HF springs if I decide to change, but my rifle has never thrown cases far anyway. Might now though, after all the work I did on it.

But I'm wondering if the hammer spring really NEEDS to be so stiff? Shortening that spring would definitely make the action easier/smoother, as in less force needed to cock the hammer back.

I'd love to know what length guys have successfully shortened the hammer spring to, if anybody has.
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