Ruger made Marlins
- Thread starter waco
- Start date
Glaciers
Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
I’ve got a, dare I admit, a stainless Rossi that I’ve had but just started to get the bugs out of. First off it was close to impossible to feed shells into the magazine. Once in it would cycle the 4 samples I feed it. Getting it working well will have to wait till I return north.
I love the Winchester style levers one and all.
I love the Winchester style levers one and all.
I honestly believe that mine was an anomaly. I'd snag another, blued or stainless if one came along that I could afford. I learned a lot fixing that one, and by the time I was done, just a little flick of two fingers, forward and back, and there was a new cartridge in the chamber.
I shot up to 180 grains in mine, with the 1:30 twist and it did fine, but as soon as I tried 200s - perfectly sideways bullet holes, even at 20 or 25 yards. It loved the LEE 125 RFN, 358-158 RFN and the TL 358-158 SWC.
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
My Rossi is a great multi-tool- you shoot something with it and then use the various scalpel sharp edges to dress it! Loading through the side gate is an invitation to severe blood letting or possibly even loosing a finger, and that's after I tried dulling the edge! OTOH, after fixing the firing pin some years back, I have to say it's a pretty good shooter and one very nice little rifle. I do need to put a receiver sight on it and to dull the many edges a bit more. Beyond that the only real change I would make is to cut the carbine but stock off square and add about 1 1/2" of just about anything that would look decent. One of those black pads would work fine. I have a habit of crawling on that particular stock and my upper lip tends to catch my knuckle with stouter loads. Maybe I should offer that service up as an alternative to Bo-Tox for all those ladies that want humongous lips...I could be a thousand-aire in no time!
fiver
Well-Known Member
i have like i dunno a dozen Rossi's.
the only issue i have with any of them is the 45 colt carbine has a tweak in the front sight.
it's an odd one too.
you can't see it in the day time because of the orange dot, but in the shadows or at night you can see the slight bend.
if you ignore it and shoot to the top of the sight the bullet hole goes right there.
i could change it since i have another front sight, but it kinda makes me concentrate on the front sight a little harder, so i leave it alone.
i probably don't have any issues since i completely avoid the ones that Taurus is responsible for from when they first took Rossi over, since then [10 or so years back up till about 2-3 years ago] they make them and Rossi kicks in a couple hundred a year too now.
if you want a real good one find one marked Navy Arms from the later 80's early 90's.
the only issue i have with any of them is the 45 colt carbine has a tweak in the front sight.
it's an odd one too.
you can't see it in the day time because of the orange dot, but in the shadows or at night you can see the slight bend.
if you ignore it and shoot to the top of the sight the bullet hole goes right there.
i could change it since i have another front sight, but it kinda makes me concentrate on the front sight a little harder, so i leave it alone.
i probably don't have any issues since i completely avoid the ones that Taurus is responsible for from when they first took Rossi over, since then [10 or so years back up till about 2-3 years ago] they make them and Rossi kicks in a couple hundred a year too now.
if you want a real good one find one marked Navy Arms from the later 80's early 90's.
Rick H
Well-Known Member
Loading my Marlin Guide Gun was like fighting with a bobcat until I took it apart and deburred/chamfered the sharp edges. Bonus was it stopped scratching the cases as well. I usually unload the magazine through the gate as well rather than racking the lever for each round.
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I have an ancient 1894 Marlin in 32-30. The loading gate on that is perfect, nice and soft and without the bear trap strength you see in some other examples. My 94 Win has a fairly stout one too, far harder than it needs to be IMO. All it's got to do is stay closed!
JonB
Halcyon member
That is why I prefer the end loading Henry BBS over my Marlin 1894. Maybe I need to do some deburring/chamfering?
All the loading gate has to do is stay closed, just like @Bret4207 said, but it's common to encounter them with enough spring force to keep a frisky baby rhino out.
ALL burrs must go. Since the 92 is comparatively more complex to tear down/reassemble, it pays to clean up every possible problem while you have one down. You can thin the loading gate spring from the back to lighten it up, just don't heat it to lose what temper it may have and do NOT leave any tool marks on it, particularly perpendicular to it's length. POLISH it bright and make sure the tool marks are gone, not just shiny, or you'll create a stress riser. @JWFilips would likely be the fella to provide the best advice on "flat springs," but I've reduced several over time and haven't had one break yet.
"Softening" the edges and polishing after removing the burrs around the opening, and on the end of the gate do not remove a lot of blue, in fact, most people don't notice it and it's all where it would eventually wear off anyway. The shine from the polish make it very difficult to see in comparison to the adjoining blue. I could stick my pinky a half inch inside the port with the loading gate acting like a snake's fang and pull it back out without pain or blood. No reason to put up with that, and it's faster to load and easier on your brass and soft bullet noses.
The magazine spring in mine was WAY over-powered too, which doesn't help the loading gate issue at all. Mine was a 16" barrel and I removed four inches of magazine spring. I was actually able to get nine rounds in the magazine without any effort or trouble. If I miscounted as loading, I knew when the last one wouldn't go all the way in. Rack the lever, stuff that last one in and you've got ten rounds of 357 at your service, AND the ability to "top off" while keeping the rifle shouldered and the muzzle trained on something dangerous.
I don't mean to come off as an "expert" on the design, but that one gun gave me an education I won't soon forget about. Tuition paid in full - in BLOOD. I cannot think of a part on that gun that I did not have to mess with. It all started with the googly-eye brass bead on the front sight, and Rossi wouldn't send a replacement without getting the bad one first. I filed a notch where the bead was and soldered in a brass inster and made it more of a patridge sight.
The receiver sight was a NOS Williams 5D for a Remington 740(?) with a curvaceous back, which I flattened to fit the slab-sided 92. I mean to tell ya, that was the EASIEST sight-mounting D/T job I've ever done. Anyone with a half-way decent drill press could do this one and it was a MAJOR improvement on that stubby little gun.
I'll shut up now, but if anyone with a Rossi 92 has a question on "fixes," I could probably remember what I had to do and how I did it. I even had to tune the cartridge guides and lifter (carrier) significantly. I'm no gun smith either - just stubborn and patient when I need to be. Took a year to get it all worked out.
Album — Postimages
EDIT: Corrected Remington model number, added link to photos of subject carbine
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Petrol & Powder
Well-Known Member
I had a Rossi 92, and it went away in some long-forgotten trade. I liked the rifle and now wished I had held onto it. At the time, I saw it as a handgun cartridge rifle that was fun, but I didn’t see it as useful. That was a short-sighted viewpoint on my part.
Externally the fit & finish was adequate but not great. The internal finish of the action was ROUGH. It looked like it had been machined with rocks as cutters, and not even good rocks. However, after some careful work with files, stones, and fine sandpaper; there was a remarkable improvement. After cleaning up the action the gun was still tight but much smoother in operation.
I shot 38 Special most of the time and it ran rather well. Wish I still had it.
Externally the fit & finish was adequate but not great. The internal finish of the action was ROUGH. It looked like it had been machined with rocks as cutters, and not even good rocks. However, after some careful work with files, stones, and fine sandpaper; there was a remarkable improvement. After cleaning up the action the gun was still tight but much smoother in operation.
I shot 38 Special most of the time and it ran rather well. Wish I still had it.
KeithB
Resident Half Fast Machinist
Even the simplest soda glass in very small diameters can have tensile strengths 3 or 4 times greater than many steels. The problem is the brittleness. The resin acts both as a binder and a protectant for the fibers. The glass can be in many forms, such as meshes used for hand layup, short fibers used in chopper guns for spray on applications or injection molding, and long strands used to wrap around mandrels to make pressure piping or pressure vessels. Carbon fibers give even greater strength.
When I was in academia I participated as a student and later as a faculty advisor in ASME student paper presentations. One of the projects I saw was by an Air Force Academy student (they're ALL engineering students there) on various ways to detect hidden damage in composite panels. Drop a wrench on an aluminum wing panel and you can see the dent, drop one on a carbon fiber panel and there may be no visible mark even if there is significant internal damage.
When I was in academia I participated as a student and later as a faculty advisor in ASME student paper presentations. One of the projects I saw was by an Air Force Academy student (they're ALL engineering students there) on various ways to detect hidden damage in composite panels. Drop a wrench on an aluminum wing panel and you can see the dent, drop one on a carbon fiber panel and there may be no visible mark even if there is significant internal damage.
