Rossi Rifleman

Could you recreate the malfunction & post a picture of it here? I think that would help clear up the confusion.

If I'm interpreting your situation correctly, the fresh cartridge gets raised by the lifter, but keeps going & rotates past the breech opening. When the bolt tries to close, the bullet doesn't align with the chamber and jams the bolt open.

If that's true, I'd suggest going back to the cartridge guides; perhaps they're still not in quite the correct orientation or spacing. While my .357 92 is a 2017 model instead of your Puma, some pictures of it might get you on the right track. The rear part of the cartridge guides (with the red arrow in the picture) are spaced so that it's slightly too narrow for the brass to pass between them. This is what stops the cartridge from going vertical or flying out of the action after it's raised by the lifter.
If I point the barrel vertically, this is how far a .357 cartridge will flop out, but no further. Perhaps the guides on your rifle are spaced too far apart, allowing the brass to move too far up & get stuck.
Here's a close-up of the guides. Another thing to compare is the shape/profile of the guide edges. Perhaps the guides on your rifle got shaved down by a previous owner, or are otherwise misshapen.

I ordered the spring! I'm hoping it works, it could be a really good shooter..... I have another question: my Barrell is marked .38 special/.357...... Since
38 special is listed first, does that mean it prefers 38 over 357.... Just a thought

I couldn't get it duplicated with my dummy rounds for some reason. I can't post a picture for some reason, I'll keep trying

Recoil357 wrote:I ordered the spring! I'm hoping it works, it could be a really good shooter..... I have another question: my Barrell is marked .38 special/.357...... Since
38 special is listed first, does that mean it prefers 38 over 357.... Just a thought

Only means it'll work with either cartridge. But the chamber is cut for .357 magnum.

Bullet profile?
Bullet weight?
Overall cartridge length?

Profile and too short/long are the common causes of faulty loading. This might explain why the dummy rounds had no issues.

Recoil357 wrote:Ok, I'll try it, but it seems like it an ejecter spring wouldn't help a stovepipe round trying to go into the Barrell

That's not stovepiping.

"A stovepipe or smokestack typically occurs in pump action, semi-automatic, and fully automatic firearms that fire from a closed bolt, when an empty cartridge case gets caught partway out of the ejection port instead of being thrown clear."

What you have is a failure to feed, a totally different issue. I wondered why you thought the cartridge guides would correct it. A bit on the shimming you mentioned. The only time you need to shim a cartridge guide is when the action takes a loaded cartridge from the magazine tube onto the lifter and tosses it clear of the receiver, out the ejection port.

So, follow what GG had to say, what is the OAL of the cartridges that work and don't work. Is this store bought ammo or handloads?

Ranch Dog wrote:I guess you could try and new ejector spring. With so many clipping springs on their rifles, this might be the handiwork of the previous owner. Some here on the forum have been using the Century C-530 compression spring. If I'm reading the eBay listing correctly, it will be a bag of six. I've been meaning to buy some, so I went ahead and purchased a bag myself.

I received my order of springs, I'm happy to report they came very quickly, as advertised at $6.95 - no shipping charge. These are in a Century Spring package, item C-530. They look to be close to the same length as originals, yet MUCH softer. Should be better than the Harbor Freight springs I've been using.

Now I've got to install one and see how they work.

I just got my springs in, hopefully I'll have time today to put them in

Not sure if the springs are going to help the feed issue.

I just took delivery of a 2018 Rossi 92 SS and am having the same fail to feed issue. She feeds .38 spcl ok, but .357 hangs up in the guides as in the photo. Oddly enough, upon trying some different brands of ammo, the longest oal .357 brand feeds ok. Not perfect, but ok. This defies logic; shorter .38's feed middle length .357' don't, longer .357's do...

Has anyone found a fix for this?