Follow up From Action Job
Posted: 09 Feb 2016 00:04
So yesterday evening I took my Rossi 92 16" SS 44 Mag apart and did an action job on it. It only takes a few hours from start to finish. This was the first time that I have completely torn one down, and I noticed a few things that others may find useful.
If you are following Steve's video and you have a newer Rossi 92 with the bolt mounted safety, then Steve leaves out an important step. He says that you simply remove the firing pin "retaining pin" and the firing pin "falls out". This is not true. You need to first remove the safety mechanism as well. He fails to mention this. Be careful when removing the safety mechanism as the little ball bearing and spring are easy to loose.
Another note about the safety. You can not re-install the hammer with the safety on. The firing pin sticking out the back side of the bolt gets in the way of the hammer and the hammer will not fit through the frame.
I had already done the "hose down" with the brake cleaner and re-lube routine, but I found that I still had some large metal chips in the action. They may have happened after the cleaning though. I saw a lot of chips that were still hanging onto the bolt and frame. Rossi obviously does not deburr their parts after machining. The pieces would have eventually, one by one, broken loose and be a potential jam or galling in the action. It is well worth taking it all apart just for a good cleaning and deburring.
The extractor in Steve's video was much thicker than mine. Perhaps Rossi saw his video and started making them thinner. I don't know. I still thinned mine down as he describes, but I didn't have to take as much off as he did.
Steve's instructions are for getting your rifle "race ready" as he describes it. Mine is for hunting and not competition, so there are two things that I did not do. First is that I did not replace or modify the hammer spring. I'd rather not take the chance of a light primer strike, and it is still much easier to lever than it was when I first got it. The second item I did not do, was to grind down the bottom detent for the lifter. I don't think that it will make that much of a difference and it is a pain to get to.
The "blank" screw on the left hand side of the frame was already loose when I took it apart. I found out later why. When I put that screw back in on re-assembly, I found that the last quarter turn would lock up the bolt solid. This didn't really surprise me as I have seen Rossi screws vary in lengths from gun to gun before. Obviously, the screw was a tad bit too long so the factory just didn't tighten it down all the way. I simply shaved a bit off the end of the screw with a "Dremel" tool and was then able to torque it down properly without any binding on the bolt.
Steve does not talk about relieving the wood between the barrel and the magazine tube. I'm actually quite surprised about this since it has proven to be such an issue with a lot of these rifles.
The biggest or most noticeable help in getting the action "easier" to lever, is to replace the ejector spring. That modification is worth it.
In total, here are the modifications that I made to the rifle since I got it.
* Refinished the wood. - Well worth it since the factory "stain" comes off with water. (not good for hunting)
* Removed the wood on the fore stock between the barrel and the magazine. Keeps from getting "vertical stringing" when the barrel heats up from multiple rounds being fired. Not good when sighting it in.
* Modified the butt stock to take a recoil pad, and installed a Kick-EEZ pad. "Needed" for multiple shots of hot 44 magnums (Like when sighting it in)
* Removed the front sight (not needed)
* Installed the NOE scope rail and a Leopold scout scope. Very happy with this set up so far.
* Replaced the magazine spring with Steve's stainless steel spring. Probably not needed.
* Replaced the plastic magazine shell holder. May or may not be needed, but the plastic one looks and feels like cheap junk and Steve's stainless steel one is really nice.
* Replaced the ejector spring. Made a huge difference in the feel of the action. Well worth it in my opinion.
* Deburred, cleaned and relubbed all the parts. Very important.
* Polished up all of the parts that Steve recommends except or the lifter bottom detent. Feels like it helped. Not too sure if it was needed or if I could have just deburred the parts and replaced the ejector spring.
* Slightly shortened the "blank" screw on the left hand side of the frame. This was needed in order to tighten it down all the way without it binding against the bolt.
If you are following Steve's video and you have a newer Rossi 92 with the bolt mounted safety, then Steve leaves out an important step. He says that you simply remove the firing pin "retaining pin" and the firing pin "falls out". This is not true. You need to first remove the safety mechanism as well. He fails to mention this. Be careful when removing the safety mechanism as the little ball bearing and spring are easy to loose.
Another note about the safety. You can not re-install the hammer with the safety on. The firing pin sticking out the back side of the bolt gets in the way of the hammer and the hammer will not fit through the frame.
I had already done the "hose down" with the brake cleaner and re-lube routine, but I found that I still had some large metal chips in the action. They may have happened after the cleaning though. I saw a lot of chips that were still hanging onto the bolt and frame. Rossi obviously does not deburr their parts after machining. The pieces would have eventually, one by one, broken loose and be a potential jam or galling in the action. It is well worth taking it all apart just for a good cleaning and deburring.
The extractor in Steve's video was much thicker than mine. Perhaps Rossi saw his video and started making them thinner. I don't know. I still thinned mine down as he describes, but I didn't have to take as much off as he did.
Steve's instructions are for getting your rifle "race ready" as he describes it. Mine is for hunting and not competition, so there are two things that I did not do. First is that I did not replace or modify the hammer spring. I'd rather not take the chance of a light primer strike, and it is still much easier to lever than it was when I first got it. The second item I did not do, was to grind down the bottom detent for the lifter. I don't think that it will make that much of a difference and it is a pain to get to.
The "blank" screw on the left hand side of the frame was already loose when I took it apart. I found out later why. When I put that screw back in on re-assembly, I found that the last quarter turn would lock up the bolt solid. This didn't really surprise me as I have seen Rossi screws vary in lengths from gun to gun before. Obviously, the screw was a tad bit too long so the factory just didn't tighten it down all the way. I simply shaved a bit off the end of the screw with a "Dremel" tool and was then able to torque it down properly without any binding on the bolt.
Steve does not talk about relieving the wood between the barrel and the magazine tube. I'm actually quite surprised about this since it has proven to be such an issue with a lot of these rifles.
The biggest or most noticeable help in getting the action "easier" to lever, is to replace the ejector spring. That modification is worth it.
In total, here are the modifications that I made to the rifle since I got it.
* Refinished the wood. - Well worth it since the factory "stain" comes off with water. (not good for hunting)
* Removed the wood on the fore stock between the barrel and the magazine. Keeps from getting "vertical stringing" when the barrel heats up from multiple rounds being fired. Not good when sighting it in.
* Modified the butt stock to take a recoil pad, and installed a Kick-EEZ pad. "Needed" for multiple shots of hot 44 magnums (Like when sighting it in)
* Removed the front sight (not needed)
* Installed the NOE scope rail and a Leopold scout scope. Very happy with this set up so far.
* Replaced the magazine spring with Steve's stainless steel spring. Probably not needed.
* Replaced the plastic magazine shell holder. May or may not be needed, but the plastic one looks and feels like cheap junk and Steve's stainless steel one is really nice.
* Replaced the ejector spring. Made a huge difference in the feel of the action. Well worth it in my opinion.
* Deburred, cleaned and relubbed all the parts. Very important.
* Polished up all of the parts that Steve recommends except or the lifter bottom detent. Feels like it helped. Not too sure if it was needed or if I could have just deburred the parts and replaced the ejector spring.
* Slightly shortened the "blank" screw on the left hand side of the frame. This was needed in order to tighten it down all the way without it binding against the bolt.