Off to the gunsmith

waco

Springfield, Oregon
Tomorrow I'm dropping off two rifles to my gunsmith. A Marlin 1895 45-70 and a Rossi 92 .357 Mag. I'm having a recoil pad fitted to the Marlin while I wait for the arrival of my new Accurate mold. The Rossi is a gift from my late father. It's a SS rifle with a 16" barrel. I'm having him slick up the action and give it a trigger job. This should make both rifles a lot more fun to shoot!
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
I have a blued version of that rossi.
they aren't all that hard to slick up yourself, just tear them down and clean them.
you can also replace some/all the springs yourself super easily, but they really just need to be shot to smooth them out.

usually 2,000 rounds makes them function much smoother and shoot more accurately, I have about a dozen of the model 92 rossi's and a couple of Winchester 92's and they all work themselves into shape after a bit of use.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Marlins are the same way. Best way to smooth them put is to shoot the hell out of em. That tends to be a pretty fun method too.
My 45 Colt Marlin is smooth as can be after 5 K or more rounds.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Yep, new ones are stiff. My 45-70 wasn't bad off the bat but my 357 Marlin was a real bear. It was stiff and had a few catches in it. Now that I have a bunch more rounds thru it things are better
 

Ian

Notorious member
My levergun break-in and slick-up routine is to take off the wood, rinse out the grit and metal shavings with Ed's Red in a spray bottle, jack the lever hard about 300 times (thumb the hammer down each time, this part is important as it affects bolt and hammer nose wear patterns), then take it all apart and put a fine polish on all the shiny places you can see. The ejector on Marlins and the groove in the bolt that they ride in need special attention with tiny files and emery paper. Smear a tacky, synthetic grease lightly on all the contact points, swab a light coat of oil inside the magazine tube, and put blue Loc-Tite on all the screws when you put it back together, including the lever pivot screw (some people won't put threadlocker on that one because they want/need to remove the bolt for frequent cleanings, but the screw can back out and bugger the receiver threads before you know it during rapid-fire shooting).
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
I believe it's steve's gunz that has a video on the 92 and it's super informative and step by step on how to work over a 92.
he explains everything in plain English and actually points out what you are looking at.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
A video is worth a thousand words.
If all else fails use a digital camera to record the tear down step by step. Is helps you know how parts go back together.
Many times I have torn down my 1911 with no trouble but use a series of photos online to get it back together.

If all else fails the gunsmith gets a box of parts to polish.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
until I watched the video I can guarantee I would have torn one or five down the wrong way.
the trick with the empty shell to put the ejector and bolt together is worth the price of the video alone.