Slicking up Rossi 92

Two-Feathers

Hello Guys!<br />
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I have been a forum member for awhile but have never posted. I am a current member of the NRA and have been wanting to join SASS and try my hand in the Cowboy action shooting. The last few years have been rough due to the economy and trying to save up for gear is low on my list. I still need quite a bit of gear, like a shotgun, pistols (I'm saving for Vaqeros), leather and maybe reloading equipment. <br />
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I do however have the clothes needed for the time period. I help my father out in his Civil War sutler business a few weekends through out the summer. Recently this past summer my 9 month special order Rossi 92 .357/.38 special came in from Dicks Sporting Goods. I'm not a big fan of Dick's but my work (I work at Woodward as an aerospace machinist) gave out $200 gift cards if both you and your spouse did a health and wellness check. Well after using the $200 gift cards, winter bonus bucks off (I placed order on Black Friday 2011) and Dicks rewards points....the rifle only cost me $174.<br />
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Now that my back story is out of the way. Have any of you slicked up a Rossi 92 or did you just send it out for somebody else to do it? I'm pretty handy and I think I can do it. I have checked out some video's on YouTube and checked out sights like SteveGunz but if there is someone local and the price is right I might just do that.<br />
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Also I have dumb question to ask....what rounds are safe use in a lever action (just for target/plinking)? Are .38 special lead round nose ok to use and not FMJ. Are JSP ok too? The owner's manual does not have any info and some of the info online I have come across is half and half.<br />
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Your help would be much appreciated.

jeweler jim

TF,<br />
Thinking you might want to have the smith do it. There are two in our group that I might suggest. Huckleberry and Big Grit; Huck does it full time as his living and Grit does it by request and does not necessarily take in every job that might be offered to him. Both can be contacted through this website.<br />
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One reason for letting a proper smith do the work is that the 38/357 can sometimes be picky about what it will feed and someone who knows what they're doing can make the rifle cycle both rounds for you. Or you could request that it run one of the cartridges over the other. <br />
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Not qualified to answer the question as to what the rifle will handle, but believe that either Huck or Grit could answer what the limits of the gun might be regarding ptressures and/or loads. Better they tell you in conversation as to what it takes to be able to do the job and what would be your best bet going forward.

King Medallion

Huckleberry did a fine job on my Rossi 92.

Snidely Whiplash

I feel more comfortable shooting flat-nosed ammunition from my .44 mag Marlin lever action rifle. Ultramax and MagTech make RN FP ammunition in .357 Magnum and .38 Special caliber for cowboy shooting.<br />
http://www.buffaloar...0.aspx?CAT=4439<br />
http://www.buffaloar...6.aspx?CAT=4439<br />
http://www.sportsman...s.aspx?a=991959<br />
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The Magnum loads are a little more powerful than the Special loads, but not full power (to prevent dangerous ricochets and save wear and tear on Cowboy Action Shooting targets). They cost a bit more, but I favor the .44 Magnum rounds over .44 Special rounds because the magnum cases are a little big longer and seem to make cleaning my revolvers and rifle easier. My rifle is more sensitive to lead build-up in the chamber when I shoot the shorter Special rounds than when I shoot Magnum rounds.<br />
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If you intend to also use your rifle for hunting or keep it loaded for home defense, I'd suggest using jacketed hollow-point ammo. The also avoid the potential recoil-induced ignition of rounds in the magazine tube of a lever-action rifle. I've never heard of that happening, but why take the risk when it's so simple to avoid? I don't reload, but I'm sure some of the cowboys that do can point you toward sources for flat-nosed bullets.<br />
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Snidely

Old Blackhawk Creek Coot

[font=comic sans ms,cursive]Hi Two Feathers, welcome aboard. [/font]<br />
[font=comic sans ms,cursive]Two things to talk about.[/font]<br />
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[font=comic sans ms,cursive]1) I would like to suggest that you become a member of SASS and make Good Guys Posse your home club. That is unless of course you don't like having fun <img src='http://www.goodguysposse.org/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsup.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':thumbsup:' />[/font][font=comic sans ms,cursive]. I would check back often on our website to watch for our openning day shoot and come on out and have some fun. We always have some guys with extra guns just for such an occasion.[/font] <img src='http://www.goodguysposse.org/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/gunslinger.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':gunslinger:' /><br />
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[font=comic sans ms,cursive]To the second point I have had Huck do work on a Rossi '92 and a Henry Big Boy, both in .44 caliber. He does an excellent job and I would highly recommend him.[/font]

I M Portly

Welcome Two Feathers. Don't mess around!!! Have Huckleberry do it--you will not be sorry. I M Portly.

Two-Feathers

Thanks for all the info gents....I will contact Huck and see what he has going. I'm a little tight on money right now, as I have been off of work since Dec 13th due to foot surgery and not due to start back until March 7th. Any of my spare cash right now has been going into my other firearm needs and ammo for my 9's, .22's and my AR15. I keep hee hawing around about selling some of the Native American Indian stuff I have and the 12" action figures of Custer, Crazy Horse, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday and Billy the Kid. I just collect too much stuff and need to cull the herd a bit.<br />
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Also how many rounds of ammo do you gents shoot regularly at the shoots? Just trying to figure all this stuff into my budget.<br />
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Thanks<br />
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Two Feathers<br />
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P.S. I need to change out my avatar to my updated photo of myself.

jeweler jim

Average for most one day local shoots is 50 +/- for the pistol, 50 +/- for the rifle and one box of shells +/- for the shotgun. You can figure out the round count by looking at the stages that are usually posted prior to the shoot. Again, if you go to the stage descriptions you will see how the stage is suppose to be shot and how many rounds are necessary. Most stages call for ten rifle, ten pistol and two/four +/- on the shotgun. We run six stages at our shoots and stage six is all shotgun with up to twelve rounds on that stage.<br />
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http://www.goodguysposse.org/forums/index.php?showforum=5

Two-Feathers

I just sent Huckleberry a PM so maybe I can talk to him about my rifle. I would really like it to feed both the .38 & .357 without any issues, lighten the lever and loading gate.

ChrisO

I had similar issues with a stiff lever and problems feeding certain profiles of bullets. I'm not a gunsmith but I found a .50 spring from harbor freight and cut a bit off my mag spring and now my rossi is great.<br />
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I threw a video on youtube with all the steps if you feel comfortable working on your own guns, If not it sounds like Huckleberry is the way to go.<br />