Rossi 92 in .357

[Thumbcocker]

A local shop has these rifles in various flavors. I have lots of molds and .38 special brass laying around and some trade goods that could go towards one. I am liking the octagon barreled models. How well do these guns shoot with cast? I have found some old posts on obscure forms claiming 2"-3" at 100 with iron sights. That seems a bit optimistic to me but I would be pretty pleased with that. The 92 is my pick of the Winchester actions. Any experience you want to share would be appreciated.

 

[waco]

My Dad gave me one as a gift a year or so before he died. It is a 16" SS 38/357. Mine is all stock. For some reason it doesn't like to feed 357's very well. No biggie to me, I prefer to shoot .38's in it. The load I stumbled across that shoot good for me is an Accurate 36-158-V RNFP over 6.2gr of HS-6 for a speed of about 1100fps.1 1/2"-1 3/4" five shot groups at 50 yards with the factory sights. My rifle likes fat .360" bullets. Slick handy little rifle. Too much fun to shoot.

 

[Brad]

I have one in 44 mag and it is a fine rifle. Shoots well, feeds what I give it so no complaints there.
If I could find an older one in 357 I would gladly trade my Marlin 1894 in 357 for it.

 

[fiver]

the 24" rifles are sweeet, and stupidly hard to find.

i only have a blued round barrel carbine in 357 but it is pretty much the perfect 100yd. truck gun.
as in i can whip it around the truck almost like a pistol, and whatever i shoot at better not be within 100yds. if it wants to live.

 

[waco]

the 24" rifles are sweeet, and stupidly hard to find.

So Dad gave me the 16" and when he died I got the 24" Marlin 1894 Cowboy .357 and my brother got the 24" SS Rossi with the octagon barrel.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

I have a 16 inch Rossi 357, and an 18 inch marlin 357. The marlin out shoots it pretty easily. But that doesn't mean the Rossi is less useful or un accurate. I'd say 4 inch hundred yard groups.

I just picked up a new Rossi in 454 and although I haven't tried a lot of different loads, the three or four that I have tried all shoot under 2 inches at 50 with a red dot the barrel the only issue I have come across so far is heat. When the barrel heats up, the dot moves. Pretty much just higher low.

 

[462]

My .357 Mag. Rossi/EMF is the sporting rifle version with a 24 1/4" full-octagon barrel, and I installed a Marble's tang sight. With that sight, my lousy vision, Lee's 358-158 RF and some 2400 it is quite capable of 1" 50-yard five shot groups, however with a SWC bullet, groups become patterns.

For some reason it doesn't like to feed 357's very well.

Walter, I've read that Rossi 92s don't like a .357 round that is longer than SAMMI maximum length. Even with the Lee RF sometimes the lever requires some extra movement, or a double clutch as Fiver calls it. I think it has to do with the end of the barrel being squared off. Or put another way, there is not any angle to help direct the bullet into the chamber.

 

[fiver]

the bullet part should angle up to the roof of the chamber and just about bump it before rolling over as the case is pushed forward.
mine don't like short rounds.

 

[Rushcreek]

My wife had one that fed .38s a lot better than .357s no matter how many times I did the Steve’s video work….
It was deadly within 100 yards like above.
I brought home a .30 Carbine Howa and she didn’t want the Rossi anymore…..
I had a 20”44-40 Rossi and that’s the one I miss!

 

[Missionary]

Ya never sell a 44 WCF until your eyes have failed completely.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

I had a Rossi in 357 but it mostly saw 38 Special. Wish I still had it. Fun carbine. The action was rough when I got it but it cleaned up nicely.

 

[Winelover]

Purchased a new Rossi 357 carbine about ten years ago from LGS. Took dummy cast bullet cartridges, in both 38 & 357, with various designs including 158 SWC's. Loaded them randomly, with owners permission, and the all fed without a hitch. So it went home with me. One of the first things I did was strip the gawd awful brown stain off the stock and refinish it with tung oil.







My 70+ eyesight prefers a red dot in Rossi's forward mount rail. For accuracy testing, I swap out the Romeo 5 with a Vortex 2 x 7 long eye relief scope. Most of my testing is done at 60 yards, sitting with a camera tripod as a front rest. The target with one inch squares was shot at 100 yards off the shooting bench.

 

[richhodg66]

My wife had one that fed .38s a lot better than .357s no matter how many times I did the Steve’s video work….
It was deadly within 100 yards like above.
I brought home a .30 Carbine Howa and she didn’t want the Rossi anymore…..
I had a 20”44-40 Rossi and that’s the one I miss!

What rifle does Hoawa chamber in .30 Carbine? You have my interest peaked up now. Never heard this before.

 

[Rushcreek]

Apparently Howa made these M1 Carbine Sporters in the 1960s.
I never knew about them until the day I bought it from a coworker for $400.
I brought it and its leatherette case into the house and Wife picked it up, shouldered it a couple of times and said “It’s mine!”
It’s a very good gun.

 

[richhodg66]

OK, I see. Your comment had me thinking they made one of the mini actions in it, I'd be going to order one today if they did.

 

[Jeff H]

.....
If I could find an older one in 357 I would gladly trade my Marlin 1894 in 357 for it.

A lot of folks would cringe at the thought of trading a Marlin for a Rossi, but I too prefer the Rossi 92 over the Marlin 94.

The Marlins are great guns and less "busy" inside - the 92 having a lot of unique, complex little parts, and the Marlin can be cleaned from the breech,...

BUT...

...handling a 16" 92 in 357 is very different. It's lighter, and I believe handier. This is more subjective than objective, but that makes a big difference to me regarding what I want to carry and shoot. The 16" 92 is just the handiest little thing.

I moved to the Contender Carbine for my 357 long-arm and sold t he Rossi to my brother. Now HE loves it and I doubt Ill ever see that one again. Mine was a basket case right out of the box, but I learned a lot in the process of making it go. It tuned up so much nicer than I ever expected and shot most cast bullets very well. Having a 1:30" rate of twist, it would NOT shoot 200 grain bullets, but for whatever reason, the RDO 360-190 shot very well in it. I did shorten a small lot of cases by .020" to accommodate that.

The Lee 125 RFN, 158 RFN and 158 TL SWC all shot great in it. It took care of a lot of 'coons during a "'coon pestilence" one year.

 

[Missionary]

We did the same "case shorten" to shoot a 350 grain in our 50-95. What a difference those 70 grains make when smacking into whatever critter.

 

[462]

Purchased a new Rossi 357 carbine about ten years ago from LGS. Took dummy cast bullet cartridges, in both 38 & 357, with various designs including 158 SWC's. Loaded them randomly, with owners permission, and the all fed without a hitch. So it went home with me. One of the first things I did was strip the gawd awful brown stain off the stock and refinish it with tung oil.

View attachment 38123



View attachment 38124

My 70+ eyesight prefers a red dot in Rossi's forward mount rail. For accuracy testing, I swap out the Romeo 5 with a Vortex 2 x 7 long eye relief scope. Most of my testing is done at 60 yards, sitting with a camera tripod as a front rest. The target with one inch squares was shot at 100 yards off the shooting bench.

View attachment 38126View attachment 38127

John, I, too, removed the dark shoe polish (almost black, but no before picture) and refinished it with 0000 steel wool and Tried and True. Your Brazilian mystery wood has nice character.

 

[RBHarter]

A friend has a SS 92' Rossi . Stupid thing would run even 38 WC as fast as you could shuck it but nothin' doin' ina 357 case . I did the defarb on the inside and it would run 357 WC . You could manage 357 with some jiggly manipulation of the lever or rolling it on its side .

It also didn't matter if the cases nickel or brass .

 

[Brad]

A lot of folks would cringe at the thought of trading a Marlin for a Rossi, but I too prefer the Rossi 92 over the Marlin 94.

The Marlins are great guns and less "busy" inside - the 92 having a lot of unique, complex little parts, and the Marlin can be cleaned from the breech,...

BUT...

...handling a 16" 92 in 357 is very different. It's lighter, and I believe handier. This is more subjective than objective, but that makes a big difference to me regarding what I want to carry and shoot. The 16" 92 is just the handiest little thing.

I moved to the Contender Carbine for my 357 long-arm and sold t he Rossi to my brother. Now HE loves it and I doubt Ill ever see that one again. Mine was a basket case right out of the box, but I learned a lot in the process of making it go. It tuned up so much nicer than I ever expected and shot most cast bullets very well. Having a 1:30" rate of twist, it would NOT shoot 200 grain bullets, but for whatever reason, the RDO 360-190 shot very well in it. I did shorten a small lot of cases by .020" to accommodate that.

The Lee 125 RFN, 158 RFN and 158 TL SWC all shot great in it. It took care of a lot of 'coons during a "'coon pestilence" one year.

For me it is the fact that my Marlin shoots like crap. Period. It sucks.
And that from a die hard Marlin guy.

My Marlin 44 mag is bad as well. My Rossi 92 44 mag is a far better shooter.