Rossi Rifleman

I finally braved the cold and blowing snow today, and went to the range with my new toy. It went bang every time I pulled the trigger, as long as I remembered to switch the safety off.

One time it wanted to jam with the lever open and it looked like the carrier had one round ready to lift but was letting the next round in the magazine come out too far and interfere. This never repeated, so hopefully it isn't an issue, yet.

I only shot at 25 yards and was very pleased with the accuracy. Considering both sights were loose in their dovetails and have been shimmed to keep them snug, I was surprised the windage was right on the money. New Winchester 150gr power point ammo was used. The recoil was mild and I noticed most of the primers backed out just a little, some more than others. I've read this is not uncommon and can happen with light loads. I plan on reloading for this rifle, so it will be interesting to work up a load for it and see what happens.

In general, I'm quite happy with the Rio Grande.

Martin

Cool.........it works!

Don't fall into the trap of cocking the rossi over to one side to see how if functions. The 336 design needs..."has"...... to be pretty much straight up in the shooting position to function correctly. I know when I got mine, I tilted it over to watch what was going on in there, and it would jam up tight....don't do that. Just shoot the danged thing and work that lever like you mean it!

Yeah, primers backing out will happen sometimes with weak loads. But also on some of the old calibers they tend to size the brass down quite a lot to be sure it will fit into any 30/30 chamber ever made. That will also make primers back out some. When you go to size that brass, do it just enough to chamber EVERY SINGLE TIME and I'll bet the primers stay put.

25 yards.........what ya waiting for? I bet it will surprise you with some tight 100 meter groups.

donhuff wrote:Cool.........it works!

Don't fall into the trap of cocking the rossi over to one side to see how if functions. The 336 design needs..."has"...... to be pretty much straight up in the shooting position to function correctly. I know when I got mine, I tilted it over to watch what was going on in there, and it would jam up tight....don't do that. Just shoot the danged thing and work that lever like you mean it!

I kept the rifle shouldered while cycling the action and thought it was upright. I might have unknowingly tilted it a bit because I was trying to get the empty brass to land on a table next to me. My fingers were getting pretty cold picking them up out of the snow.

Yeah, primers backing out will happen sometimes with weak loads. But also on some of the old calibers they tend to size the brass down quite a lot to be sure it will fit into any 30/30 chamber ever made. That will also make primers back out some. When you go to size that brass, do it just enough to chamber EVERY SINGLE TIME and I'll bet the primers stay put.

Great minds think alike! I don't have 30-30 dies yet, but plan on doing as you described. Thanks.

25 yards.........what ya waiting for? I bet it will surprise you with some tight 100 meter groups.

I'm looking forward to shooting at 100 yards. Today was very cold with blowing snow. 25 yards was about as far as I could see, and didn't feel like walking 100 yards through knee deep snow to set a target. This was mostly a function test, and a successful one to boot. I hope we have a break in the weather to try 100 yards. I might have to wait until spring.

Martin

They are going to hiccup every now and then when cycling, so it aint always something WE do.

Knee deep???? Being from Georgia, I don't know what your talking about It's like in August when it's 102 degrees and 105% humidity and we cant even think out loud because it takes too much energy.

They are telling us that next week it will be in the single digits!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That aint happened in 30 years down here. We're all gonna die!!! You should see how we act when the weather man sez the "S" word...(snow) were all gonna die, again!

That sounds great!!!!!! I am really chomping at the bit to get a 30-30. My 410 was behaving the same but after about 100 rounds through i can even cycle it upside down now. Smooth as butter

Martin,

Like bueller sez. Have you sat down and worked the action 500 times? It really helps to smooth out the rough spots.

I've been working the action a bit when I get a chance. Probably not up to 500 yet.

just try to get 50 in a day it adds up fast and just gets smoother and smoother I still will cycle mine whenever I watch westerns when home not as much as I wish I could.

AK,
I hope you don't slip up one day, and leave a live one in there and KILL John Wayne!

Well, spring has finally arrived here and I was able to take the RG to the range yesterday. I had the place to myself which gave me plenty of time to sight it in at 100 yards. It didn't take much adjustment at all and I was pleased to end up using the 3rd notch up from the lowest elevation setting on the rear sight. I think I read that some were having problems getting the rear sight low enough. My eyes are less than perfect so the 4" groups were probably my fault, not the rifle or ammo. I figure that's acceptable for me using iron sights. I'm on the fence about putting a scope on it. Maybe later if I feel the need.

I only had one minor issue with the lever wanting to jamb when all the way open. It appeared the nose of the cartridge in the carrier was catching on the back side of the next cartridge waiting in the magazine tube. The carrier itself was not catching on the next cartridge, or trying to let two in at once. This happened with new WInchester 150gr Power Point ammo. A little extra muscle closing the lever got past it. I then started testing a couple batches of reloads that used Speer 150gr Deepcurl bullets and had no cycling issues at all. The Speer bullets have a wider flat nose and the OAL of the cartridge is at least .040" shorter. Perhaps the Winchester ammo is a little long for this rifle?