Is This What Happened to All the Rossi Lever-Actions?

462

California's Central Coast Amid The Insanity
Having a 24" .357 Magnum Rossi/EMF 92 and a 24" .38 Special Uberti/Cimarron 1866, I could very well be tempted to buy an 1873 clone in .357 Magnum or .45 Colt.

Neither rifle has shown signs of leading.

The local gun store has a consignment .38-55 Winchester 1886 that the rifle's owner is willing to accept offers, but the rifle is a Chief Crazy Horse commemorative complete with a plethora of decorative(???) brass tacks. The very nice wood is the only thing that kept my eyes from bleeding.

Michael
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
definitely snag any navy arms imported rifles you find.
they didn't actually import the rifles,, they imported the parts and built them into rifles.
mine is still as smooth as when I first got it, and it hasn't got sloppy over the nearly 30 years I have had it.
it's never had so much as a patch down the barrel since the single one I put down it when I first got it.
 

462

California's Central Coast Amid The Insanity
After buying an older, though slightly used Pedersoli/Navy Arms .45-70 rolling block, I e-mailed Pedersoli in an attempt to determine when the rifle was made. The lady who replied said that Pedersoli shipped Navy Arms only the receiver and Navy Arms obtained all the other parts and did the final assembly.

Michael
 

Missionary

Well-Known Member
We have one of those Navy Arms rollers. Was called the "Buffalo Hunter" 45-70 with a straight Octagon barrel about 24 or 26 inches. Still have it but now wears a 32" 45-90 barrel. Bought it in 82 if the cells are still remembering right.
Our Interarms Rossi's have been fine shooters since the first day we received them.
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I have never, ever seen any Navy Arms. Uberti, EMF or any other of that type maker lever gun up here, not even at any of the few shows I've attended. The few Navy Arms items I have seen have been minuscule numbers of Rolling Blocks and 1 Lee Enfield converted to 45-70 which I snagged without wasted time. Rossi's I see once in a while, but this I stand a far better chance of finding a Winchester 73 or 92 than a clone. Probably just the area I live in, but pickin's are slim!
 

Missionary

Well-Known Member
When we get north again gonna have to take apart a Navy 92 and see if it was assembled with standard Winchester parts.
 

462

California's Central Coast Amid The Insanity
My Pedersoli/Navy Arms rolling block has a 30" half-octagon/half round bull barrel, and is stamped "Buffalo Rifle".

It's my understanding that the Rossi 92/EMF "Sporting Rifle" clones were made to EMF's upgraded specifications, though I don't have any idea what the specifications may be.
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
Mine was pretty nice by the time I got done working on it, which was something of a chore. It had to have been an unusual one because no one else seemed to have the number of issues I encountered on this one - at least not all on one gun. I paid less than $450 new for it about ten years ago, which I felt was steep at the time. It shot reasonably well, consistently and always round groups but wasn't knock-your-socks-off accurate - rarely "holes-touching" groups (50 yards). The peep was a new-old stock Remington 740 sight I modified to fit the Rossi. Even the sight had issues. It was like a cursed project. Again, I think mine was anomalous in the number of issues it started with. Typically, I think they're OK guns for $500 or so. This one was a 16" and it was incredibly light and handy. The scope came off when the peep sight went on but had both on just for the photo.Rossi 92 Left.jpg
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
on the Rossi forum we were speculating that they were building guns one at a time.
the good ones were from the experienced builders and the rest fell in line with the experience of the builder.
if you picked one up and the wood was decent, the fit was decent and it felt fairly smooth you had a decent one.
if the wood fit was a bit off, etc... it, well,, it seemed like everything else was too.