Mini range report-Rossi 92 .44 Magnum

[Muley Gil]

A couple of years ago, my wife bought me a Rossi lever action copy of the Winchester Model 92. It's chambered in .44 magnum and has a 16" barrel. Regular loop.

Well, I hadn't gotten around to firing it and i decided it was time. Last Thursday was a decent day, 50s and sunshine. Due to still having some snow on the ground, I drove out back and set up my portable target frame at 20 yards. I had some .44 Magnum cowboy loads, a 200 grain flatnose bullet at 750 fps. I fired one round from the magazine to see if it would feed. It did, so I loaded up three and shot them. See the group below.

I had a couple of 240 grain jacketed soft point .44 maggies too. I shot one. Ouch! That hurt in this light weight carbine.

I also had some cowboy .44 Specials loaded the same as the Magnums; a 200 grain flatnose @ 750 fps. i loaded one in the tube and it feed OK. I shot it and loaded a few more Specials. Well, they feed fine, but they all keyholed! Probably the extra jump to the rifling.

I'll try and take some pictures of the carbine and post them too.

 

[kennyb]

I have a rossi in 45lc mares leg lever action.My only Rossi and I need to give it a go.It looks good.

 

[Straightshooter2]

I have a Rossi 92 in 38/357. I put a steel plug in place of that dinky little safety, metal follower to replace the plastic follower in the mag tube, a reduced power hammer spring and a saddle ring. Shoots great. I love lever guns!

I forgot to mention I also changed out the front sight to something sturdier than that blade that seems like it would be easily bent. Plus a stainless steel magazine tube spring.

 

[k22fan]

Back in the late 1970s I owned first a .44 Magnum Rossi Model 92 then a .357. Both had round 20" barrels. I fired them at 100 yards with home cast bullets in magnum cartridges. The .44 was not accurate enough. Its recoil did not help a bit. With a Williams FP aperture sight the .357 was more accurate than a little lever action has any right to be. Recoil with .357s was pleasant. If for some silly reason I was going to get another it would be .357.

 

[D Brown]

I have a Rossi .44 Magnum with a 16" barrel as well. It shoots great and has the slickest action I've ever encountered in a factory rifle.

 

[6518John]

I love these little rifle but have had horrible trouble with ours shooting high and I mean really bad. I am going to install a peep sight to correct. You can google, this is a common problem with these rifles.

 

[sandog]

I have the 16 inch "trapper" 92 in .45 Colt.
I used that bolt safety hole to install one of Steve's Gunz bolt peeps, replaced the plastic mag follower with a metal one, and installed a lighter ejector spring. That, along with some internal smoothing, made the action quite nice.

 

[max]

Glad you enjoyed it Gil. I have a M-94 in 44 and a Rossi like yours in 357. The 357 is stainless and when I saw it in the LGS, I thought it would go well with my nickel Smiths.

 

[Alpo]

Are you practicing to be a movie cowboy? Shooting him in the hand like that.

 

[max503]

My 357 is back at Rossi because it won't eject spent cases 50% of the time. But yes, it can be a very accurate gun. If mine gets to functioning properly I would like to add a peep sight.

 

[Muley Gil]

Are you practicing to be a movie cowboy? Shooting him in the hand like that.

Did you happen to notice the bad guy's hand was over his heart, right in the center of the 10 ring?

I'm going to be lazy and not post a picture of mine since D Brown's carbine in post #5 is identical to the one I have. So far, I have replaced the safety with the plug. Thinking about a Skinner peep, though I was surprised that the semi-buckhorn wasn't that bad. I will also look at that bolt peep too.

 

[mtgianni]

I have two in 357 and sold one in 44 mag. A lace up recoil pad was my biggest improvement to the 44. I wanted one that was easily removable to keep the finish as it was.

 

[Dieseltech56]

I lost count of how many Rossi 92s I have, 8 or 9 in all different barrel lengths and calibers. I love them but the 44 is a bruiser with the metal buttplate.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I have had 3 Lever Action 44 Mag Carbines. One was a Browning 1992 production Model 92 and 2 were Marlins, a 1978 336 and a 1978 1894 both had Ballard rifling and the Gold trigger, all had 20" barrels. The stock design causes ALL 92's to have the massive felt recoil impulse!

If your carbine shoots high at 50 yards with the rear sight lowered all the way, installing a peep sight (at any location) will not cure it until you lower the front sight! And that is sometimes almost impossible if it is part of the barrel band. For Cowboy action shooting my 45 Colt Rossi 92's rear sight has the elevator removed and is sitting against the barrel; it is dead on with 200 grain 750+/- fps ammo @ 25 yards.

I had one of the "Tigre" 44-40's built in South America on Winchesters machinery in the 1950's! They are as good as any Win 92 ever made.

I have 2 Rossi 92's and a 1894 Marlin Cowboy Special, in 45 Colt, all 20" barrels. It seems all newer production lever actions need the burrs knocked off the inner parts, Many of the 92's Locking Lugs are curved and need honed flat, And lots need trigger, Magazine and lever latch springs replaced or trimmed. (Ejector's are supposed to throw your brass, so it won't go down your shirt or land on your head!)

When operating any Lever Action, there are two things that Hollywood movies have been teaching wrong!

1) DO NOT ALLOW THE BUTTPLATE TO LEAVE YOUR SHOULDER WHEN CYCELING THE ACTION!

2) DO NOT BE GENTIL WHEN CYCLING THE ACTION. This has caused more jams on perfectly fine guns! J.M.Browning designed the gun to be used by real men in times of "excitement"!

Recoil, I believe factory 240 grain 44 mags recoil in a 92, is as bad or worse, then factory 300 grain 45-70 in a Matlin Guide Gun. But to understand what real recoil is, shoot some 1800 fps 500 grain ammo from a Guide Gun! You then under stand what hardened men used those guns in the "Old Days".

Ivan

 

[vonn]

My 44 mag left bruises every time I fired it! My Shiloh Sharps 45-70 is heavy and still has a little bit of kick but nothing like 44 mag!

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Well I have a 77/44 that works just fine so THERE!

 

[RWPBR]

I have the stainless 20" and absolutely love it. It feeds my 44 Special Skeeter loads without a hitch.

 

[lawandorder]

Picked up one the Trappers in .357 the other day and have not had time to try it out yet.


Looking forward to it.

 

[Alpo]

Did you happen to notice the bad guy's hand was over his heart, right in the center of the 10 ring?

.

If I've learned one thing from TV westerns, it's the bullet never penetrates the target to hit something behind it. You can shoot the bottles on the bar and not break the mirror.


So the fact that his hand was over his heart is irrelevant. You shot him in the hand. You Rex O'Herlihan wannabe.

 

[Alpo]

I have a 20 inch in 44 Magnum. I have no idea how much he kicks with 44 Magnum. I've never shot anything but 44 special in it.

 

[tennexplorer]

This is the part that bothers me the most.

"I drove out back and set up my portable target frame at 20 yards."

He drove maybe 30 yards.

 

[Muley Gil]

This is the part that bothers me the most.

"I drove out back and set up my portable target frame at 20 yards."

He drove maybe 30 yards.

No, no, no! I had to drive at least 60-65 yards! It took me longer to load the target frame and range bag in the truck than it did to drive out behind the old hog barn.

The old hog barn is about 50 yards or so from my back door. I was shooting about 10 yards beyond it.

 

[Rock185]

I've had my .44 carbine, a 16" Marlin, for some years. It didn't seem like much back when I was younger and stronger, but last time I shot it I was surprised at much recoil it had with 240 grain @ ~1750 FPS ammo. Funny how my guns seem to develop more recoil over the years

 

[Puller]

Muley Gil, I'm wondering why you waited two years to shoot it.

I have a Rossi 92 saddle ring carbine with 20 inch barrel and I love it. It's taken a two whitetails and a couple of yotes.

 

[VictorLouis]

I had a couple of 240 grain jacketed soft point .44 maggies too. I shot one. Ouch! That hurt in this light weight carbine.
.

I have the same one in 16". I just got it used, with a Bushnel TRS-25 red-dot mounted atop a nice picatinny rail. I haven't played with a red-dot in many years, and I thought it was easily tossed if I didn't care for it.

Well, suffice to say, the little L-lever safety switch WORKS! If you don't have that sucker all the way in the off-position, you get a nice click. Perhaps that replacement peep from Steve's would make a great back-up iron-sight?

I had both Speer and Winnie 240 JSP Mags with me. First pair from each with the dot on big-setting were about 2" apart, and both left of POA. I dialed the sight in several clicks to the right, then turned it down to minimum. This really gets the appearance of the dot down to a pin-point. Both brands gave me a pair touching one another, with POI about an inch above POA. No need for me to go any further, LOL.

I agree about the thump. I wouldn't much care to go through a whole magazine of them, LOL. If I can't find a replacement pad for the curved butt, I'm going to get creative with some dense foam, and stairwell tape.

 

[S&WIowegan]

I hate to tell you this Muley but them critters are cows not hogs. Do you harvest a turkey every once in a while?

 

[David.Hylton]

If your carbine shoots high at 50 yards with the rear sight lowered all the way, installing a peep sight (at any location) will not cure it until you lower the front sight! And that is sometimes almost impossible if it is part of the barrel band.

Ivan

Don't you mean raise the front sight? It has to be higher to push the point of impact lower. (All other variables remaining the same.)

 

[Straightshooter2]

Well, suffice to say, the little L-lever safety switch WORKS! If you don't have that sucker all the way in the off-position, you get a nice click. Perhaps that replacement peep from Steve's would make a great back-up iron-sight?

Either the peep or just the plug which is what I put on mine.

 

[Muley Gil]

I hate to tell you this Muley but them critters are cows not hogs. Do you harvest a turkey every once in a while?

I went to Auburn. I know about cows! Every time I suggest harvesting a deer or a turkey, I get the stink eye from the Mrs.

 

[TIMETRIPPER]

Bought a Rossi 92 last summer chambered in 357/38 Special. It's a blue 16" barrel model. Wonderful to shoot though it is a little painful on the fingers to load. It's been very accurate with both cartridges and I was surprised to find that it even fed my 158 Gr SWC cast lead bullets as flawlessly as the RN loads.

John