Rossi 92 .357 carbine

[FergusonTO35]

So I went to the fun store today and they had a really nice new Rossi 92 .357 lever action on the rack. Fit and finish on it was surprisingly good and the bore is nice and shiny. I've been wanting another .357 lever action for a long time so I cancelled my layaway on a Sig P365 and put the 92 in.

So, anybody have experience with these? Word on Cast Boolits is that the current 92 is really good, the problems with rough actions and poor parts fit are mostly resolved. My Marlin really likes the Lee 358-125-RF driven around 1400 fps, hopefully this one will too.

 

[timberjack90]

I have handle an older model that had the action cleaned up, and they are very nice to operate and it was point and shoot for me very little aiming needed

 

[Tim N]

I had one from the 80s. Straight shooter. Would only chamber semi jacketed rounds tho

 

[FergusonTO35]

That's strange, did it have no throat perhaps?

 

[FergusonTO35]

Well fudge, this thing is due out Jan. 3 and I just got hit with some big bills. I may have to sell it NIB. My total on this rifle is $667.75. My dealer would charge around $25.00 to ship it to yours, so if anybody wants to make me an offer on it just let me know!

 

[FergusonTO35]

The vet bill turned out to be less than what was expected so I went ahead and bailed out the Rossi. First load I'm going to try is 6.5 grains IMR 4756 under a Lee 125 grain lead slug. My Marlin loves this round so if the Rossi doesn't then we have a problem.

 

[FergusonTO35]

Tried out the Rossi today at 65 yards, the load is actually 7.2 grains IMR 4756. It seems to shoot as well or close to my Marlin, and functions 100%. Only thing I don't like is I had to drift the rear sight to the left a whole lot to get the windage correct. I may run some jacketed rounds through it to break in the bore, I have found that rifles usually change POI as the bore gets broken in. The somewhat springy trigger pull doesn't help either. But overall I am quite pleased with it. I am planning to have the receiver drilled and tapped for a Lyman 66 receiver sight in my little gun junkyard.

 

[FergusonTO35]

The Rossi comes with a Marble's Buckhorn copy rear sight. It works well enough, but still doesn't work great for my eyes. I've always been a fan of the Marble's folding leaf type sights. They are simple and have about the best sight picture for a barrel mount sight for me. Turns out I had one in my little gun junkyard and it fits perfectly. I took it out to 50 yards in the fading light after work and it works great.

https://www.midwestgunworks.com/page/mgwi/prod/006910

 

[FergusonTO35]

Put a bunch of rounds through the Rossi today. I find that I have to grip the forend pretty tight or I'll string shots upward. In a five shot group, I might put three right on the money and have two flyers up a couple of inches. Otherwise it does pretty good. I have less than a pound of 4756 left so I need to figure out what a good substitute would be. Alliant powders are only seen on the side of milk cartons around here so it would have to be Hodgdon or IMR.

 

[Lnk]

Put a bunch of rounds through the Rossi today. I find that I have to grip the forend pretty tight or I'll string shots upward. In a five shot group, I might put three right on the money and have two flyers up a couple of inches. Otherwise it does pretty good. I have less than a pound of 4756 left so I need to figure out what a good substitute would be. Alliant powders are only seen on the side of milk cartons around here so it would have to be Hodgdon or IMR.

4227, 2400, 296/110 for hot loads. All good 357 powders on the slower side, which should be good for you levergun. What bullet are you shooting? Plenty of good data for 357 out there. As always, consult the manuals.

Edit: I see you are using a 125 grain pill. Might be able to go down to unique burn rates, blue dot also. I always favored the heavier bullets in 357. I don't have a lever though. How well does it feed semi wadcutters. I shoot a bunch of 170's out of revolvers. But also 148 grain dewc's too.

 

[FergusonTO35]

Thanks. 4756 is a bit slower than Unique, mebbe similar to Accurate no. 5. I would guess my current load does around 1500 fps, which is plenty for anything that I would shoot with it. We can use any center-fire rifle we want for big game here, so I don't need to hot rod the .357 for deer.

The Lee 125 is the only slug I've tried in it so far. It shoots good in every .357 I've tried it in and saves lead. I'm not against using other bullets by any means, but don't feel a need to right now. I guess you could say my .357's serve the niche previously filled by rounds like the .32-20 in the past. Economical and easy to shoot, plenty of power for varmints, and could do for larger game with good shot placement.

 

[srb08]

4227, 2400, 296/110 for hot loads. All good 357 powders on the slower side, which should be good for you levergun. What bullet are you shooting? Plenty of good data for 357 out there. As always, consult the manuals.

I see you are using a 125 grain pill. Might be able to go down to unique burn rates, blue dot also. I always favored the heavier bullets in 357.

Many years ago I had a friend who loved to shoot 125gr jhp’s over a near max load of 296, in a 4” Colt Trooper Mk III. He could clear the firing line at the local range. The muzzle blast was horrific and the resulting fire ball was impressive even in daylight. Every time he touched one off, he’d giggle like a little girl.
That load didn’t do his forcing cone any favors.

With light bullets in .357, I prefer faster powders like tite group, universal or 231.
For heavier bullets, 2400 has always given good results.
Unique is another powder that does an adequate job in a variety of applications.

 

[Lnk]

Many years ago I had a friend who loved to shoot 125gr jhp’s over a near max load of 296, in a 4” Colt Trooper Mk III. He could clear the firing line at the local range. The muzzle blast was horrific and the resulting fire ball was impressive even in daylight. Every time he touched one off, he’d giggle like a little girl.
That load didn’t do his forcing cone any favors.

With light bullets in .357, I prefer faster powders like tite group, universal or 231.
For heavier bullets, 2400 has always given good results.
Unique is another powder that does an adequate job in a variety of applications.

Same goes for blue dot, they actually pulled reloading information for the 125 grain load. Too much flame cutting. I try to use powders appropriate for the bullet. 296 is not for light bullets. 158+ yes, but not lower. Bullseye, reddot, up to unique for lighter, and 2400, 4227, 110/296 for the heavies. This is all in the reloading manuals, which everyone should use.

 

[FergusonTO35]

That poor Trooper probably had a lot of frame stretch by the time he was done with it. Ruger and Freedom Arms are about the only wheelguns that I would feed such King Kong .357's. To me the .357 has always been a carbine round, which it excels at.

This spring I'm planning to chronograph some loads through it. The longer barrel and lack of cylinder gap always yields surprises!

 

[srb08]

Put a bunch of rounds through the Rossi today. I find that I have to grip the forend pretty tight or I'll string shots upward. In a five shot group, I might put three right on the money and have two flyers up a couple of inches. Otherwise it does pretty good. I have less than a pound of 4756 left so I need to figure out what a good substitute would be. Alliant powders are only seen on the side of milk cartons around here so it would have to be Hodgdon or IMR.

If you can find some Universal, try a pound. I like it in a number of different loads.

 

[FergusonTO35]

Sure wish I could, Universal is rare even in normal times. The powder supply here is just strange.

 

[srb08]

Sure wish I could, Universal is rare even in normal times. The powder supply here is just strange.

CFE Pistol? or is it all Hodgdon powders?

 

[FergusonTO35]

Don't see CFE much. It's mostly the really popular ones like Titegroup, HP-38, 296, and the rifle powders.

 

[FergusonTO35]

Gave the Rossi more exercise today. 6.8 grains 4756 is the sweet spot so that's what I'll stick with until it runs out.

 

[FergusonTO35]

I determined that the trigger pull on this rifle is actually pretty good, but the very strong trigger return spring is covering it up. It causes me to jerk the trigger, spraying shots all over the place. I disassembled the action, which comes apart mostly like a 94 except everything fits together much more snug and there is a very specific way to reinstall the hammer and trigger assembly. Rossi did a heckuva job with clearances on this thing, everything is really smooth and snug. Not sure that Miroku could have done a better job. I bent the trigger spring upward a bit to relieve the pressure. I would guess that reduced the force by 30% or so. I would like to go further, but don't want to compromise the function.

Gave the 92 some exercise yesterday. The trigger is definitely more manageable now, I would prefer the trigger spring to be a little lighter but I didn't want to go too far. Tried 6.2 to 7.2 grains IMR 4756 under the Lee 125 with R-P 1.5 primers. 6.5 grains is one of the most accurate .357 loads I've ever tried, I made a cloverleaf at 65 yards which is extremely good for my abilities. Groups open way up above that. Guess I'll load up my last few ounces of 4756 with 6.5 grains and start experimenting to find a substitute for when it's gone. I loaded up a box with 8.0-8.6 grains Accurate #5 last night to try.

So far I'm really pleased with the 92, I lucked out and got a really good one. Saw a new 92 on the rack at the fun store yesterday. Overall it looked nice, but the front sight was pointing to 12:02 which drives me friggin' crazy.