Rossi Rifleman

Was at the Portland, OR gun show last weekend and spotted a new LSI Rossi M92 in 480 Ruger, 20 inch bbl blue model on a dealer's table. He said it was new old stock and that he had forgotten it in a back room for a few years. Cash and carry for $415. After doing the paperwork, I walked the floor looking for components, found a set of Lee Carbide 480R for $30. Interesting though, I was unable to find a single 480R casing, a single .475 bullet or any factory ammo for it. I picked up a box of Hornady 325XTP at Sportsmans Warehouse and have now ordered some brass and leads. I have a Lee M92 spring kit on order from Brownells and I just finished going through and slicking the action up. It wouldn't chamber the Hornady 325XTP without jamming and I could see that the cartridge guide had too narrow a slot for the rim, so along with polishing everything, I widened the guide slot for the rim. Now it cycles perfectly and smoothly. A spring set will be like frosting on the cake.

Oh, forgot to mention, this one has the Hi-VIZ sights.

Sweet find there will be envy on this they are hard to come by. Give us a range report once you shoot her.

TB,

That is an outstanding find, I'm glad to hear you are not a fellow that does any pondering but acts! Makes you wonder how many rifles like this, what I call unicorns, are in the back on some shelf waiting to be dusted off!

I'm just finishing up my cast bullet design for The Rossi, it will be ordered tomorrow It is going to be a TLC477-365-RF. The "TL" is for Lee Micro-Band lube grooves for tumble lubing with Liquid Alox, the "C" for a gas checked design, "477" is the bullet diameter, "365" is the bullet weight", and the "RF" is a "Round-Flat" nose with a 72% meplat.

Against the Rossi chamber impress dimension, I built 5 bullets in 25-grain increments starting at 300-grains and ending with 400-grains to model both the internal and external ballistics to find the ideal weight of bullet for the Rossi's 20" barrel. I had hoped for the unknown bullet weight to have a 3" rise, point blank range, out to 150 yards as the terminal ballistics are quite good out there. After comparing everything through graphing, 365-grains maximizes everything and delivers the 150-yard shot. I will have a post up soon with everything.

Good job buying a hard to find rifle!

akuser47 wrote:Sweet find there will be envy on this they are hard to come by. Give us a range report once you shoot her.

Thanks akuser47, I will give a range report when I get out (planning for this weekend). I'm looking forward to shooting it. I really like big bores though this one is my lightest so far. Not sure how it will compare to my 375 H&H, 416 Rigby or my 458 Win. I also shoot Marlins in 444 and 45-70 and have another Rossi '92 in 44 mag. I just love the thump that big bullets make. Sorta like throwing frying pans.

Ranch Dog wrote:TB,

That is an outstanding find, I'm glad to hear you are not a fellow that does any pondering but acts! Makes you wonder how many rifles like this, what I call unicorns, are in the back on some shelf waiting to be dusted off!

I'm just finishing up my cast bullet design for The Rossi, it will be ordered tomorrow It is going to be a TLC477-365-RF. The "TL" is for Lee Micro-Band lube grooves for tumble lubing with Liquid Alox, the "C" for a gas checked design, "477" is the bullet diameter, "365" is the bullet weight", and the "RF" is a "Round-Flat" nose with a 72% meplat.

Against the Rossi chamber impress dimension, I built 5 bullets in 25-grain increments starting at 300-grains and ending with 400-grains to model both the internal and external ballistics to find the ideal weight of bullet for the Rossi's 20" barrel. I had hoped for the unknown bullet weight to have a 3" rise, point blank range, out to 150 yards as the terminal ballistics are quite good out there. After comparing everything through graphing, 365-grains maximizes everything and delivers the 150-yard shot. I will have a post up soon with everything.

Good job buying a hard to find rifle!

Thanks RD, I'm starting to understand that the Rossi M92's in 480R are a bit hard to find right now. To your point, I don't believe my wife has ever accused me of hesitating when I see an interesting new to me rifle. Unicorns, hmm...interesting name. Kinda fits in a way. I wonder sometimes as well. 10's of thousands of shops got to have stuff they've forgotten about. I was in a shop a couple of months ago where the owner let me into one of his back rooms. Floor to ceiling boxes of gun stuff. He had long gun racks circling the room but I couldn't get close to any of em, just no room. Owner said he hasn't been able to get to the long guns in more than 30 years due to lack of walking room. Nearly took my breath away. I could see lever actions, bolts, single shots, pumps, doubles (rifles and shotguns).

That new bullet mold sounds very interesting. Will it be avaiable for purchase in the future? That weight and design seems like an excellent choice for the Rossi M92. Do you plan to size em? What sizer do you use for the 480?

I am definately interested.

Trailboss wrote:That new bullet mold sounds very interesting. Will it be avaiable for purchase in the future? That weight and design seems like an excellent choice for the Rossi M92. Do you plan to size em? What sizer do you use for the 480?

I am definately interested.

I only had a few minutes to work on it this afternoon and I made an adjustment in the body diameter to .478". I also had to add length to the bullet's nose to fill a bit of throat, step, and freebore as indicated by my chamber impression. That extra length adds weight so it is lining up to be a TLC478-375-RF. Here is what the bullet looks like in the chamber.
And the bullet drawing.
I will start asking to see who wants a mold as I am not going to commit this design to inventory as there just isn't enough rifles out there to support it. Those molds will be $60 plus shipping. If you are not a bullet caster, I already have plans to get a mold to Carolina Cast and Jerry will offer them as a completed component.

All that I have left to do is spent some time measuring the dimension of the Hornady gas checks to make sure my shank dimension are correct. I have Hornady's spec but want to make sure what they are delivering is at spec.

Michael, you can put me down for one. It's looking excellent.

tb

I would like to reserve one also.
Will notice be made by P.M. or a thread?
Thanks;
Pepe Ray

Your Killen me...

It looks Great!


Snake

Trailboss wrote:Michael, you can put me down for one. It's looking excellent.

tb

Pepe Ray wrote:I would like to reserve one also.
Will notice be made by P.M. or a thread?
Thanks;
Pepe Ray

temmi wrote:Your Killen me...

It looks Great!

Snake

I'm working out how to handle this right now as it is a design that I am not going to commit to inventory because of the limited number of rifles out there. This is also a first for me because I always shoot the heck out of the design before I sell it as I need to know if any revisions are needed before it is inventoried, there will not be time for this initial shooting.

This design will be cut from the Lee 6 cavity mold blocks, which do not include the handles. Cost of the mold will be $60 plus some fixed charge for shipping. I doubt that I will require any form of payment until the molds are here but the buy will not be open very long. I will make a specific post concerning the buy as soon as I'm ready.