Rossi Rifleman

Hi all,

Recently I´ve purchased a R92 chambered in .44-40.

My rifle was manufactured in 2012. Well, to be correct, in 2012 it was imported to Spain by the importer and sold now, NIB.

After watching all the videos and reviews about these rifles and their problems I was expecting issues, but IMHO it´s a good rifle.

Feelings:
-The action, at first, was a bit rough, rougher than my 100 years old El Tigre carbine, but after 100 shoots I find it smoother.
-Finish is good, better than expected.
-No feed issues.
-I don´t like it´s sights. I´m used to squared or mauser front sights, and it´s rounded front sight isn´t very good to get accuracy without effort with the rounded buckhorn rear sight, excessive effort at least for me.
-The yellow plastic plug is horrible, so I´ve installed an used steel one from a Tigre carbine I had as a replacement. It fits ok.
-It doesn´t have a saddle ring and I think it is an "must have" part for a 1892, so I´ve ordered one of those hammer screw with saddle ring.

First, I slugged the bore, and it is in the common .429/.422 bore. Chamber neck diameter is +/- .443.

I was thinking about reaming the chamber neck to .448, but since it chambers .429 bullets with starline and winchester brass, I´ll give her a try.

I´ve tried several handloads with various bullets and I´ve got quite different results.
-H&N .427 200gr copper plated bullets with 10gr of Vectan Ba9 I can get more or less good groups, about 4-5in at 50m.
-H&N .428 200gr copper plated with 8.5gr of Vectan Ba9 I get 6 inch groups at 50m. I think it is a too slow load for its 1in30 twist rate.
-Old FMJ .427 200gr 8.5gr of Vectan Ba9. Complete disaster, bullets all over the target.

I have ordered Sierra 210gr .429 bullets and I will increase powder loads to resemble .44-40 H.V....because, at the end, the rifle is built for .44MAG pressures, and it´s slow twist rate need speed for stabilizing bullets. The problem is that I don´t know if .44-40 thin brass cases will stand hot loads...

My old worn El Tigre can shoot consistently 2in groups at 50m with Winchester .425 jacketed bullets....let´s see if I can get good accuracy from that girl

You have a real treasure.
good shooting rifle for sure.

Great find!

If you have a tight chamber you may loose a little case life but I don't think it would be drastic. No experience with the 44-40, but years ago I shot the 32-20 in a Contender pistol in IHMSA iron animal matches. I shot pretty hot loads (I wouldn't have used them in a older SA) and I never had a case fail. Oddly enough Thompson Center used a 308 bore in these barrels and loads for them would work in 32-20s of correct dimension.

Make smoke,

Great find and glad it seems GTG

Thank you for providing a detailed report on your rifle and welcome to the forum.

I believe my 44-40 was built mid-90's, it has a groove diameter of .4285". I stumbled in a load that shoots great and just keep using it, definitely a H.V. load. I was wanting a load I could use for deer, started with a 200gr XTP and Aliant 2400 and everything I could find on the old H.V. loadings. I worked up to 1,812fps and settled on that, near as I can figure it should be somewhere around 25,000psi, well under 44mag pressure so I hope my brass will last a few loadings. At 50yds this load and gun from a steady rest will shoot 3 holes touching in prettiest clover leaf I ever seen.

Still need to reduce the power of the ejector spring as it does deform the empty case mouths a bit. And I need to get around to loading some cast bullets for it.

Congratulations on your Rossi .44-40. Try Hodgdon Lil Gun powder with Hornady 200 gr. .430 xtp bullets to reach these gun's high velocity potential. Lil Gun will give you the velocity with less pressure than Alliant 2400 or H110. I load 25 grs. of Lil Gun with this bullet in Starline brass, and get 1975 feet per second over the chronograph with good accuracy. That's a snappy load, but pressures seem normal and I get 7 or 8 reloadings out of cases. I don't know how Remington or Winchester brass would stand up to that load, as Starline brass is heavier and stronger. Also, DO NOT use this load in model 73 Winchesters or clones or in revolvers. This a load for 92 Rossis or Winchesters in good condition, or late-model Marlin lever actions.

Hi,
Thank U all for your comments.

This weekend I´ll have time to go to the shooting range and shoot the handloads I´ve loaded.
Now I only have on hand powder for 9x19 (9 Luger) Vectan Ba9 (equivalent to Unique) and, here, now I only have access to Vihtavuori and Swiss Reload powders.
Next step is getting a slower powder to increase fps .

Right now I´m in the process to dress her "correctly", I´ve installed a hammer screw with saddle ring, and I have ordered a Chiappa 92 ladder rear sight to resemble a SRC...BUT I found 2 unexpected problems with the new rear sight:

-Easy fix problem: dovetail sizes. Rifle DT size is .381, but the Chiappa rearsight DT size is .361.
-Problematic problem : when removed the original rear sight adjusting piece I found 2 drilled and tapped holes, that are completely visible if I wanted to install the SRC ladder rearsight, as it is way shorter.

I think I´ll have to stand the original rearsight ...