Not my First 92, but my First .357

The Rossi Model R92, a lightweight carbine for Cowboy Action, hunting, or plinking! Includes Rossi manufactured Interarms, Navy Arms, and Puma trade names.
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sandog
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Not my First 92, but my First .357

Post by sandog »

Greetings.
The last couple years I've been wanting a lever carbine in .357, especially since I got a S&W M66 a couple months ago and have been handloading for it.
Most places I've lived (Alaska, Montana, Wyoming ) had grizzlies and other large critters, so I stuck with calibers like .44 Magnum, .45-70 and .338 magnum.

Now that I've retired to the desert (and gotten older), I've found more use for the .38 Special and .357.
A guy was selling a stainless R92 with 16" barrel. I met up with him and bought it.
He is 77, and had a broken collarbone that doesn't like the metal buttplate on the carbine, and eyes were bad too.

He bought a Triple Black and mounted a red dot on it, and likes the rubber recoil pad it came with, so he decided to sell the stainless carbine. He said he only shot it a few times.
He had ordered an anodized mag follower, a SS saddle ring, stainless filler screws ( for when you remove the rear sight to mount the rail), and the short 1 slot rail, but he never put any of that on.
Saves me from having to order a mag follower.

I was hoping that this was one of the new CBC Rossis but it is marked BrazTech.
It is so much smoother cycling that the other two .45 Colt Rossi's I've had, I doubt I'll meed to do any work on it.
The ejector spring and hammer spring aren't overly heavy either which helps it seem smoother.
The old guy said all he did to the gun was push the gate in and smooth around the gate with some fine sandpaper.
Trigger is good, as is the wood to metal fit, except for where the wood is shy along the upper tang.
I fired a few dozen of my "Lite" .357 loads on the drive home, cycles great, sights were dead on and fun to shoot except for the short LOP and deep buckhorn.

The stock finish needs some help though. You can see where the stock is lighter in color where hands have been holding it.
Gonna strip (shouldn't be too hard, there's not much there)) and use Watco Danish medium Walnut and then BLO.
You can see some grain, straight dark tick marks like a Marlin Black Walnut stock has. I want the stock to be darker, but not so dark that the dark grain disappears.

And when I take the tube apart to put in the new anodized follower, I'll clean and polish the inside of the tube and check the spring length. One of these days I'll order an aftermarket SS spring.
The only other thing I don't like is how square the leading edge of the barrel band on the fore end is.
When I have it off I'll radius that front edge of the band.

I'm looking forward to working up some loads with this Trapper.
I've been using W231, Universal, HS-6 and A#7 in the 4 inch handgun, I'll need to get a slower powder now that I have a "long" barrel.
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Re: Not my First 92, but my First .357

Post by GasGuzzler »

Lil Gun, A2400, H110, W296 in that order for me.
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Re: Not my First 92, but my First .357

Post by mr surveyor »

AA#9



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Re: Not my First 92, but my First .357

Post by sandog »

I have used all those powders mentioned in other calibers.
These days, it's whatever powder is available.

I saw a R92 video where the guy said when you remove the barrel bands that the screw will break, and you need to have a spare on hand.
Is that the case with these ?
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Re: Not my First 92, but my First .357

Post by golfish »

sandog75 wrote:
I saw a R92 video where the guy said when you remove the barrel bands that the screw will break, and you need to have a spare on hand.
Is that the case with these ?
It's a good idea to have an extra one or two. I don't recall breaking one on ressemblely, they are usually broken before shipping from the factory..Braztech, CBC, it doesn't matter.

That's been my experience
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Re: Not my First 92, but my First .357

Post by sandog »

20220507_131209.jpg
The band screws came out easy enough, they should go back together O.K.
I usually try to align the hole for the band screw by putting a punch in from the other side.

While the stock and forearm stain are drying, I disassembled the receiver and mag tube.
The insides were pretty clean but dry. Not too much as far as wear marks.
Only burred place was where the hole is in the bottom of the bolt for the pin that connects it to the lever.
I reassembled with Brownell's grease on the bolt rails and Wilson Ultima Lube on the pivoting parts.

Oh, and I thinned/hourglassed the spring part of the loading gate, it's still a bit stiff but not super stiff now.
I'm gonna let the stain on the stock dry overnight and see if it's ready for linseed oil tomorrow.

Sights ? The cheap way would be to use the Marbles tang sight I already have, all I need is the longer gun- specific stock screw. I think a tang sight might be a bit much on a 16 inch carbine though.

Another option is to get one of the bolt safety peeps from Steve's Guns. I have a short (carbine style) ladder sight that came off a Uberti 1866 that I could put in the dovetail and flip up for longer range, and keep the Steve's peep zeroed for short range.

Down the road, if my eyes worsen, I might get a rail and put a red dot or a 2.5x pistol scope there.
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Re: Not my First 92, but my First .357

Post by GasGuzzler »

sandog75 wrote:Another option is to get one of the bolt safety peeps from Steve's Guns.
I am not a fan. I got one for a Puma .454 and it was so loose I had to turn the base and make a new pin recess (per instructions). Once I got it fitted, the threads on the adjuster never seemed to get tight enough. I never shot that rifle but I don't see how it would hold up to even mild .454 rounds.
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Re: Not my First 92, but my First .357

Post by sandog »

Yes, the one I had was loose also, I eventually got it tight. And mine also was hard to keep the ring around the post tight. $60 seems like a lot for what it is.

I don't think I'd like the Skinner that mounts in the dovetail, too far from my old eyes for a peep to be.
Tried the Marbles "Bullseye" sight that mounts in the dovetail and didn't like that either. It blocks a lot of your downrange view.

All I need to do is order the $6 screw set for the Marbles tang I have. It would really increase the sighting radius. I just wonder if the tang sight would be goofy on a 16 inch barreled carbine.
I like not having a tang sight in the way of my thumb too.
Might just use the tang sight for a while until my eyes require a dot or low power pistol scope.
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Re: Not my First 92, but my First .357

Post by Archer »

One thing to keep in mind with the stainless is that lubricating the screws or using antiseize can be a good idea. Stainless screws in stainless threads have a tendency to gall and essentially stir weld together.

I've seen this with stainless muzzle devices on stainless barrels and on aerospace fasteners when both nuts and bolts are stainless steel EVEN when the nuts are dry lube coated.
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Re: Not my First 92, but my First .357

Post by sandog »

I haven't seen screws do that on stainless S&W and Ruger stainless SA revolvers, but an Anti seize is a good idea.
A seized screw would suck.

I saw a sticky about serial numbers of 2016 thru 2018 R92's, and inside the upper tang mine says 05/25/2016
(etched, along with the number 8669).
But my serial number is not even close to the numbers listed for 2016 rifles.
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