Rossi Rifleman

I love the two Ranch Dog molds I use in my Marlin 45-70 and 444 rifles. I just about have my older (no safety) Rossi 92 finished and am looking for a bullet mold for it in the 180 grain range, preferably tumble lube design.

I realize that the Ranch Dog molds were designed for Marlin rifles but would like to use his 175gr design in my Rossi 92. Does anybody know if the Rossi will feed that bullet? Is the rate of twist on the Rossi sufficient for that bullet design?

Thanks if you can help me.

bluesman423 wrote:I realize that the Ranch Dog molds were designed for Marlin rifles but would like to use his 175gr design in my Rossi 92. Does anybody know if the Rossi will feed that bullet? Is the rate of twist on the Rossi sufficient for that bullet design?

I have two R92 chambered in 357 Mag, the TLC359-175-RF, sized at .357, is all I have shot in these rifles. It has fed and functioned through both rifles from the "get-go" without any fiddling. As far as bullet stability goes, I feel the Greenhill formula and others are just guidelines. More important are the factors that go into the design of a bullet, adjusting the features of the bullet to co-locate the center of pressure with the center of gravity, and how well the bullet fits the chamber as the initial start pressures act on it.



This doe was shot with the 359-175 at 92 yards. Aimed at the heart and hit the heart. According to the "formulas", this bullet becomes unstable below 2,122 FPS! These formulas only look at chunking a cylinder downrange and that is the issue with them.

I cast the bullet with a Lyman #2 clone and water quench it at the drop, putting 16.1-grains of Lil'Gun behind it and seat then bullet with an OAL of 1.59". It delivers 1800 FPS with the best accuracy of any of my R92 models, it is an extremely accurate combination with sub-MOA performance.

Thanks for your quick reply!

I do believe I will order a mold from NOE today. Any preference to which gas check to use?

bluesman423 wrote:Thanks for your quick reply!

I do believe I will order a mold from NOE today. Any preference to which gas check to use?

Hornady 35 caliber #7110.

Thanks again! Don't know if I should call you Michael or Ranch Dog but I certainly appreciate all of the research you have done and also for sharing it.

bluesman423 wrote:Thanks again! Don't know if I should call you Michael or Ranch Dog but I certainly appreciate all of the research you have done and also for sharing it.

I believe Carolina Bullet makes them also. If you have doubts or can't wait you might buy a small quantity to try out in your gun first. I can't cast but buy my ready made bullets through him for Ranch Dog bullets. Good customer service and great guy to boot. I buy my 290 gr RD 45 colt/454 Casull bullets from him and love them.

RD, in our high power model rockets, we try to put the center of gravity 1 and 1/2 calibers in front of the center of pressure. You say that you put them at the same point? Fastest I have gone with that setup was around 1300 mph, but man was it stable. Too bad the charge did not fire at apogee @ around 19,700 feet (according to the GPS packet). Now it's under ground somewhere in Argonia Kansas.

bluesman423 wrote:Thanks again! Don't know if I should call you Michael or Ranch Dog but I certainly appreciate all of the research you have done and also for sharing it.

Either one is good by me!

donhuff wrote:RD, in our high power model rockets, we try to put the center of gravity 1 and 1/2 calibers in front of the center of pressure. You say that you put them at the same point? Fastest I have gone with that setup was around 1300 mph, but man was it stable. Too bad the charge did not fire at apogee @ around 19,700 feet (according to the GPS packet). Now it's under ground somewhere in Argonia Kansas.

Perfectly together always ideal. The software I use displays an acceptable range (in the drawing it is the circle around the crosshairs) but I must manipulate the bullet's features to get it there. In the case of the 359-175 it is very close. The actual calculated values are displayed in the spec.

Big difference I guess because bullets spin and rocket usually don't. We can make them spin but that brings in a whole nuther set of problems!!!