Rossi R92 Lever action opinions

[BB57]

Maybe, but I really liked mine until I tired of the cartridge a few years ago and stopped shooting the carbine. I much prefer the .44 Special over the .45 Colt nowadays.

How about an 1892 reproduction Miroku/ Winchester in .45 Colt? I had one of these some years back. Very good gun with one drawback: the Lyman #454424 260 grain SWC design had to be seated considerably deeper for the '92 repro to function through the magazine as opposed to normal seating length for a revolver.

I saw one in the local gun shop several months back but just couple not quite wrap my head around the $2200 price tag they had on it (a deluxe model with color case hardened receiver). I *only* paid $1600 for my Model 94 Trails End Take down and that was a lot of money.

But that Miroku made Winchester Model 92 was a very nice looking rifle and it was in .45 Colt.

—-

I should do a post comparing my new trails end take down .38-55 with my Uberti 1892 rifle, and my 1979 Model 94 LF in .38-55 to show relative fit, finish and quality.

 

[Retiredguns]

I had a carbine .357 for a couple years, but sold it to fund a Henry. I wish I had kept it as once I refinished the mystery wood stock, slicked it up, replaced the follower, it not only shot well, but looked nice also. The only thing that made me chuckle is it would eject rounds into the next zip code!

I do like my new Henry as it is the best of both worlds. Side loading, tube loading and safely unloading with tube.

 

[squidsix]

I love mine. I have a 16” .357 mag. I swapped the large lever for a standard one. Added an aperture rear and gold bead front site. I cut the stock crescent off and made it flat, and added a thin pad. Mine is 32” tip-to-tip, and shoots 180 grain bullets into cloverleafs at 50M.

 

[Sistema1927]

I have an older Rossi 1892 in .45 Colt. It pre-dates the awful safety. It also has the dark, almost black wood furniture.

It was a bit rough when I got it, so I sent it to "Nate Kiowa Jones" (Steve's Gunz) for a tune-up. It is now as slick as snot, and is a very handy carbine.

Steve's Gunz | "The Rossi 92 Specialist"

 

[dsf]

Lots of great info. I would only add that the older rifles imported by Interarms are better made out of the box, so to speak. And no silly top mounted safety to figure out how to remove. Whether older or current, the wood does seem to take Pilkingtons Winchester stain very nicely.

I went with a ringed carbine look for mine, including a repro rear sight from Dixie Gun Works.

 

[BC38]

I don't own one in 45 Colt (though I'd like to).
However, I have one in 357mag and one in 44mag - both with 20" barrels.
I got them both used and the 44mag took a little work to get it slicked up and working smoothly.
Otherwise they have been just fine.

 

[Ethang]

I have a 24" 45 Colt that I slicked up using the Steve's Guns video, it is super smooth, accurate and really fun to shoot. It can go from mild to wild and take any game animal you want to take on this continent. My 357 magnum Rossi though has become my favorite rifle. I did nothing to it but refinish the stock and cycle the heck out of it. It is every bit as smooth as the 45.

 

[fordson]

This is my Rossi 92 in 44Mag. I got it new a year ago. Since I was recovering from shoulder surgery at the time, I made it a therapeutic “project gun” and refinished the stock and slicked up the action quite a bit. I think it turned out nicely. It'll handle 44Mag and 44 SPL; at 25 yards (my limit with iron sights) it’s a tack driver. It’s a blast to fire the 44SPL after shooting the Mag loads - sounds (pop, pop, pop…) and feels like an air rifle!

 

[ISCS Yoda]

Seems like we just discussed this recently. Okay, I searched, it was a parallel subject. My answer there works here, too:

Just reread an article by John Taffin in the Jan 2020 GUNS Magazine He called the Rossi M92 the "Perfect Packing Rifle.

Of course he had the action slicked up by a custom gunsmith with the trigger pull down to 4 pounds and new adjustable sights put on it.

My answer:

I have had two of those, a basic Rossi M92 in .44-40, probably a 16" barrel (sold it awhile ago), and the other a fancier Navy Arms/Rossi, nicer wood, color casing, octagon barrel, 20", I think (haven't used in in a long time), in .45 Colt. I stuck with the .45 Colt version in my cowboy action shooting days because ammunition was more easily obtained. The 16 inch barrel would certainly be more practical for "packing" but the longer barrel was far more accurate for cowboy action shooting, especially with a peep sight attached instead of the original buckhorn sights. I had original Ruger Vaqueros in both calibers but a friend really wanted guns in .44-40 so they went to him.

Anyway, my overall points are (a) .44-40 ammunition is very tough to find, whereas .45/c is far easier to obtain, (b) none of the lever rifles of the Old West came in .45 Colt (long story for another time) so (c) if you are trying to be any kind of a purist (which I was not) you want to avoid .45/c even though I like it better, therefore (d) .38 Special more closely resembles .38-40, a popular caliber of the 19th century.

Having said all that, you would do very well with a Rossi Arms M92 in .45 Colt.

I took a small deer with that .45/c Rossi back in the day, too.

 

[DGNY]

Another commendation. My ~16 inch carbine in 44 magnum is accurate, reliable, and a pleasure to use, despite that it shoots a bit high.

The silver lining - it’s just about “on” at 150 yards.

 

[robvious]

I have an oddball Rossi 1892 45...
24 inch half octagonal half round rifle... only made a few years.. not very popular with the SASS shooter at that time... so that means it is rare and sought-after now.. will have to look for a photo to share... and it has been a great rifle... though it hasn't come out to play in well over a decade.

 

[Miracle Man]

I have a 24" 45 Colt that I slicked up using the Steve's Guns video, it is super smooth, accurate and really fun to shoot. It can go from mild to wild and take any game animal you want to take on this continent. My 357 magnum Rossi though has become my favorite rifle. I did nothing to it but refinish the stock and cycle the heck out of it. It is every bit as smooth as the 45.

I'll probably refinish the stock and give it the the Steve's gunz action job if I'm not happy after couple hundred break in rounds. Couple articles I've read say they're a bit rough early on but will smooth up decent after some use.

I'm not sure if the safety will bother me or not? Again I've read a couple articles and they say they never pay any attention to it and it's not an issue, I dunno?

I just want a fun gun, it doesn't have to be a Cadillac.

 

[sipowicz]

If you drink Martinis, then this gun is for you!

 

[Faulkner]

I have a Rossi 92 and a Winchester 94, both in .357 magnum. Frankly, I prefer the 92 and have been very pleased with it. Functions fine, plenty accurate, and much smoother to operate than a 94 action. I've taken several deer and a few feral hogs with it, and a couple of coyotes to boot.

 

[damienph]

One more vote for the Rossi R92. Mine is a newer Braztech 16” large loop .38/357. I really like lever actions and have one older Mossberg, four Winchesters, five Marlins and this one Rossi.

A few other forum members have recommended buying a Miroku/Winchester 92 or a Marlin 1894 or a Henry instead of the Rossi. Well, if money is no object then I agree, especially with the Winchester, however the Rossi’s are typically one half to one third of the price and are an excellent value for money.

I highly recommend them.

 

[Miracle Man]

One more vote for the Rossi R92. Mine is a newer Braztech 16” large loop .38/357. I really like lever actions and have one older Mossberg, four Winchesters, five Marlins and this one Rossi.

A few other forum members have recommended buying a Miroku/Winchester 92 or a Marlin 1894 or a Henry instead of the Rossi. Well, if money is no object then I agree, especially with the Winchester, however the Rossi’s are typically one half to one third of the price and are an excellent value for money.

I highly recommend them.

Yup

That's the thing with me. You know we're all different. I enjoy my S&W model 19-3, a lot. But it's a different kind of gun to me. Not quite a full-fledged safe queen. However, I'm very delicate in how I handle it.

I don't want this to be a gun I'm treating like that. Oh I'm not going to throw it in the bed of my pickup from 10 feet away. But I'm not going to flinch to go dragging it thru some thick underbrush.

A gun to be used not admired I guess?

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

One of the things I notice about the Pistol Caliber Lever Guns is that none of them have any sort of ammo carriers. Almost all of my bolt action and Rifle Caliber Lever Guns, have an ammo sleeve on the butt stock. But it seems that with PCC's, people plan on not reloading or carrying a same caliber pistol on a cartridge belt. My 45Colt 92 holds 10, but if I load it with 45 S&W Schofield ammo, it holds 14! Not much for plinking, but plenty for assorted farm pests!

Ivan

 

[TIMETRIPPER]

The Rossi is certainly the best bang for the buck. I own a 16" barreled newer 38/357Mag rifle and it has been reliable and accurate. Has taken anything I've fed it without fail. Mine is blue and has the hammer block safety which I like. It's unobtrusive, simple and effective and doesn't have to be used or can easily be removed.
My neighbor also has one. I was with him when he bought it. The shop had a Rossi stainless 38/357 Mag for $710, a Henry for $900, and a new Winchester Miroko '73 model for $1200 plus. The cost made it easy to choose the Rossi.

John

 

[diyj98]

Some work great, some don't. I had a 357 magnum that wouldn't feed 38's, but some other do fine. I have a 44 magnum and 357 magnum now that I've had about a year and haven't gotten around to shooting them yet. Hopefully they'll be two of the better ones.

 

[Old Corp]

Mine is the Rossi 92 .357 16", bought at a discount when I was working p/t at an LGS about 10 years back. Had done some research and knew that it occupied a lower price point, so didn't expect a prime Winchester duplicate.

And it's not. It was to be a 'woods gun' and used some during deer season.
Wood has all the appeal of a very nice fence post. Metal finish acceptable.
Really did not care for the chintzy safety atop the bolt, nor the fairly crude rear sight.

Had already read up about 'Steve's Gunz', so ordered the rear peep sight that replaces that safety, along with a Hi-Viz front sight. A blank was placed in the dovetail left by the removed OE rear sight.
This combo works great - increases sight radius and is very quick to pick up in the deep woods.

On my list of things to do, not done yet is an action job. I have just kept shooting it with all manner of .38's and .357's and as one might guess, it just keeps getting a bit smoother with use and cleaning.

My other 'Trapper length' carbine is a Winchester 94AE in .45 Colt. It shoots great, and I've taken a few deer with it. It's just that the M94 action is over-large for pistol calibers. The 92 action is near perfection.