Rossi Rifleman

Here is my modified Rossi R357S single shot 357 magnum which I purchased new about 10 years ago. It started out with a 23" barrel. I right away replaced the crappy plastic rear sight with a rear sight from a TC Contender which I found on eBay for $5.00 and a perfect fit! I shot it like this for about 4 years. From research I later learned that the only advantage the long barrel had was sight radius but that the .357 magnum cartridge uses up all it's powder in 16" so the extra 7' actually slowing down the velocity though not enough to make any practical difference. I would not lose any velocity by cutting down the barrel and most like gain some speed. I had the barrel cut down to 16.25" and the muzzle crowned by a gunsmith friend. He also cut a dovetail for the front sight to which I installed a post from a Winchester 94AE I had lying in my parts bin. I replaced the TC rear sight with a Williams WGRS peep sight (made for TC Contender). Last but not least I stripped the stock's black paint to discover some nice grain in whatever tropical hardwood Rossi uses. I oiled it with boiled linseed oil reduced 10% with gum turpentine giving it several hand rubbings. Finally put back a ammo butt-cuff. Now I had a super handy little trapper that's perfect for the hunting I do. This gun weighs a tad over 3 pounds!

Before


After

Very nice looking Single Shot and thanks for the comments about the refinish. I doing a TruOil finish on all my Rossi's this winter, not staining the wood, just using the oil to highlight the natural colors and it is turning out very nice. I decided to tackle the "tar" colored stock on my 480 Ruger next and was curious what I might encounter. Your photos give me an idea of what I will find.

Cool. It reminds me of some short-barreled Win Low Walls I've seen pictures of. I know they don't look the same, but the idea is the same.

Very nice Ahnkochee! Did you do any before and after accuracy testing with the shorter barrel?

I just picked up a R357B and am considering shortening the barrel as well.

Ranch Dog wrote:Very nice looking Single Shot and thanks for the comments about the refinish. I doing a TruOil finish on all my Rossi's this winter, not staining the wood, just using the oil to highlight the natural colors and it is turning out very nice. I decided to tackle the "tar" colored stock on my 480 Ruger next and was curious what I might encounter. Your photos give me an idea of what I will find.

You did a great job on that short barreled B/O..........looks fantastic...........congrats !
The resident wood has a little more natural color & darker tone than some of the light wood I've seen on Rossi 92s with the factory applied "shoe polish" finish stripped completely off.
If the wood is too light the guns furniture looks like one of those cheap white birch Lee Enfield stocks.
Your stock turned out great........not too light.

I like the dark color so I put 2 coats of Tru-Oil on over the Rossi "shoe polish" finish to preserve the wood and protect it from the elements on my 92s.
Covered any adjacent metal with masking tape and put the Tru-Oil on without dismounting the butt stock & forearm.
With the wood left on the Tru-Oil cures in the cracks and seals all the w/m contact areas.
I will put a coat of Tru-Oil on every time I do my annual strip/clean/check/fix if necessary/lube in the late fall after hunting season & thus renew the wood protection and the moisture seal.

Nice looking 357. I would like to do the same thing but have not been able to find a barrel.
Rothgun

Pricedo,
I have a 16.5" R92 and after a bit of practice and different load mixes I am shooting Silver dollar 8 shot groups at an indoor range with factory sights. The best mix so far is 357 magnum, 158 gr,sic with 7.5 grains of herco and small pistol primers.