No More Rossi for Me

[LeftyDon]

Unless you are willing to put up with REMlin's QC problems on a new gun, used Marlin 1894 .357 prices are getting up there too. Seems most new guns these days need TLC when purchased.

[K-Rod]

Unless you are willing to put up with REMlin's QC problems on a new gun, used Marlin 1894 .357 prices are getting up there too. Seems most new guns these days need TLC when purchased.

I agree with you. I've been looking for a lever 357m for a long time. Use to be, a person could pick up a nice used Marlin for a decent price. Now, $700-$800!! Needless to say, I have all but given up on the reasonable lever 357m "Unicorn".

Lucky for me, I was at a show yesterday & strolling along the aisles looking at tables. I was looking at some nice Rugers when I hear my wife behind me say, "Haven't you been looking for a lever 357m?" I expected to see a big price tag when I turned around but to my surprise, it was a excellent condition SRC Puma for $400. Guy just didnt know what it was. I had to pass............Yeah right!!

Ive come across lots of these new Rossi's & had to pass on them. I just can't get past the ugly safety on them. If a person is willing to have a little self control & wait a bit, that "Unicorn" will come along.

[wrench man]

My skull is pretty thick some times!??, after two Taurus's and a Rossi I'll NEVER! own another Bazillion gun EVER! again, JUNK!
They have had a Rossi 92 in 45 Colt on the rack at the LGS for over a year now!?, IIRC? I did look at it?, I've since bought a Marlin 1894 Cowboy Limited in 45 colt, that's a FINE rifle!

[UNIQUEDOT]

Only thing I've done to mine was polish the lifter. I didn't spend money on dvd's as I figure I'm capable of disassembling my guns and doing what needs to be done and put it back together...If I can't do it there's always someone here that could tell me. Only other thing I know of that I need to do is polish the frame around the loading gate. Personally I'd rather have a replica of a Winchester than I had a Marlin, but I have always grouped guns as such. Winchester, Browning, Remington etc. in the fine gun category and guns like Marlins and Mossbergs in the cheap it'll get it done category.

[badguybuster]

Gee my rossi ranch hand 44 has the best action on any lever gun ive ever owned (I have a henry 44, jm marlin 357 and had a jm 45-70). Plus I just ordered a rio grande 45-70.

[firebrick43]

I tell everyone that a rossi 92 is a partially finished kit. I had done 9 of them so far and 7 required nothing more than a spring kit (ejector spring most important) and deburr/polish.

One required above plus shimming the cartridge guides

One 357 did require some weld on the back of the loading gate and lever due to much metal milled off.

Problem is for CAS the Henry's DON'T work. They choke going fast.
Marlins are more expensive and yet have issues as well and if they jam sometimes your done. 92 you shove your finger down the top and your back in business

92 are stout and durable and can take stout loads for hunting.

[HawkEyeEarl]

I have not had problems in function with any the several Taurus or Rossi that I have had over the years or have now.
My experiences have been good for not a lot of money.
I have never had them slicked up.
I use them like I do other brands - just as they are.
If they were broke I would fix them of course.
Some are smoother than others but all have worked.
I have a 92 44 wcf that I like a lot and carry a lot. I even kinda like the dark wood.
I also have had them in 38/357 and 45. They were fine also.
I have had their automatics and revolvers that I put quite few rounds through.
However, when you have a problem with any brand it can sour you on them.
I understand the feeling.
I have had that with another very popular american brand.
And I tell myself that I will not buy another of that one.
The taurus and Rossi are very commonly used in cowboy crowd and often not slicked up.
Just pointing out that many are happy with them. At least some of them.
Also, I also meet of the cowboy who will slick up any brand... None are good enough out of the box for all people.

Thanks
HawkEyeEarl

[HDS]

My .44 mag rossi is one of the nicest guns I own, but not out of the box. Then again you get what you pay for. My Uberti 1873 is very nice looking, but the trigger and action is stiffer than the Rossi despite it costing 2x the amount of money.

Besides most manufacturers produce lemons and there's always someone who ends up with them and then have bad luck with CS afterwards and then they go "never XXX again". It seems a small sample size for anyone else to base their judgement on. Now if you start seeing a lot of them...

[searcher4851]

I own several of the Rossi 92's. Since they all must be cleaned of the "packing grease" aka general sludge before use (a good idea with any new gun) it's a simple matter of just knocking off some sharp edges, possibly slicking up some machining marks at times, and replacing or modifying some springs to your own individual liking, while you have it apart for the initial cleaning.

My big problem with Rossi is the availability of replacement parts. Seems like they don't even stock enough to do their own warranty repairs, and on top of that, they restrict almost every part on the gun. They won't sell most parts to the gun's owner directly. The CEO says they're working on the matter, but so far, there hasn't been much improvement in the selling parts department, but their repairs are turning around faster. I sent one in for a simple replacement of a broken ejector and had it fixed and back in a matter of a week. When I called in to get authorization to send it in they initially said 6 weeks, then after talking to them a bit, they said it would probably be more like 2 weeks if I sent it right away. I did, and had I back in a week. My only complaint is that they could have just mailed me the part and it would have been faster and cheaper. (the replacement cost nothing, but it cost me to ship it to them, and cost them to ship it back).

Long story short, in my opinion, the Rossi 92 is a pretty good value. Hard to beat it for the price. (as long as you don't need replacement parts)

[rbuck351]

I only have the one Rossi 92 in 454. I have 2 Win 92s both well used at 80/90 years old. I probably should take them apart and slick them up so they will feel as smooth as the out of the box Rossi. I'm in the market for a crunchy Rossi in 357 cheap. For those that don't like the safety ( me ) you can get a replacement for the safety as a blank plug or a rear peep sight from Steve's Guns. And yeah, cleaning any new gun of any factory grease/oil and swarf and relubing is a good idea. Anybody that wants to spend $500 for a cleaning and polishing of a Rossi 92 please send a pm. Let's see the $370 I paid for my gun plus $500 for a clean and polish = $870 which is still several hundred cheaper than a Japanese Win that isn't available in 454 anyway. Right now I'm not sure I would sell the Rossi for $1000 and it hasn't even had the $500 cleaning / polishing yet.

[steg]

Years ago I purchased two Pumas in 38/357, one for me and one for my Son. BTW these rifles were pre safety guns. My son was 13 at the time, and was all charged up to go shooting. my first shot the firing pin broke, his second shot the firing pin broke, you can imagine his disappointment, and we were firing light .38 specials. Back to the factory they go, we get them back 6 months later. Back to the range and neither rifle made it past a half box of ammo before the firing pins broke again.
This time I went to the local Gunsmith brought him the broken firing pins, and he made me two new ones, yep they broke too. I took both rifles to the Gunsmith and he discovered the hole in the breach was 100 thousandths, and the diameter of the firing pin was 59 thousandths they were just laying over.

[robertbank]

I have two Rossi's, .38spl/.357Mag and a .44Mag. Love them both. I put a recoil pad on the .44Mag as it hurt when fired with anything resembling factory load. I doubt there is any factory service center for these guns in Canada so I rely on local 'smith if anything breaks. For the money they are hard to beat and I plan on getting a Mares Leg and adding a regular butt stock for use as a truck gun. I look at most guns other than CZ/Sako rifles and Benelli/Browning/Mossberg Shotguns as kit guns. Pay your money and hope you get a good one requiring only clean up.

Take Care

Bob

[Doc.Holliday]

I have a couple of Rossi's up in canada to; There is a service center in quebec for all of canada But they have no parts and cannot get any parts. Rossi in Miami don't service or sell parts to or for canadian guns either; yet your supposed to send your warranty card there for apparently no good reason. I've got my rossi parts from the other side of the fence when required as the "smiths" can only do so much without parts.
Would I buy another Rossi? Nope; not if your on on this side of the line.
Lots of 80 year plus winchesters still levering and shooting an age which I doubt any rossi will ever see unless it is left unused.
Their most redeeming feature is their price point kind of like a norinco or timex watch.

Doc.

[robertbank]

Doc and in reality that differs from every other firearms manufacture how? Beretta and Stoeger are a rumour, Ruger, Smith and Kimber????

Thankfully there isn't much that can go wrong with the 92's. Lots of pre 64 '94 Winnies up here. I had a 1970's 94 Win in 30-30. Built by someone who was trying his best.... for the first time. No wonder the company eventually went broke. Saved a lot of shooters the anguish of owning one.

Would love to get a Marlin 38/357mag to go with my 336 in 30-30. The latter is a keeper and made in 2012 yet! The last one I saw on gunnutz was on sale for $1,000CDN!

Take Care

Bob

[Doc.Holliday]

Well Bob I got a few real Winchesters 73's; 86's; 92's and 94's and of course all pre 1964 and sadly to compete with offshore junk and rising costs the heirs to that old namesake and Brownings great designs came out with some products of dubious quality. BUT Yet there are more forums on HOW to Fix and repair and improve your Rossi than any other gun manufacturer on the internet.
We expected more of Winchester and complained of their quality slipping but yet are willing to buy a gun and then pay Rossi Guru's to come up with parts, sights, springs, dvd's etc to make them shooters.
Oh well "No More Rossi's For ME"

Regards
Doc

[fecmech]

Lots of 80 year plus winchesters still levering and shooting an age which I doubt any rossi will ever see unless it is left unused.

Most of those Winchesters you speak of probably have had less than a couple hundred rounds through them in their lifetime. The average owner used a box of ammo every couple years. I'm sure that Rossi's used like the Winchesters were will last just as long.

[Doc.Holliday]

I Don't know how many Rossi's were used to feed a family, tame a country, afford protection, and in 4 seasons of weather . I also don't know if the average winchester owner only used a box of ammo every couple of years; I do know that Winchester brand were issued to the US Cavalry, Canadian NorthWest Mounted Police ,and to units of the army in both World Wars and exported overseas to other armed forces.
Given the choice and the historical record " No More Rossi's For Me". I will let others speculate on their retained value if any in the future.
Doc.

[searcher4851]

Your "interesting" rewrite of history aside, (Winchester lever action rifles were never issued to the U.S. military) Rossi's can and do put food on peoples tables, just not in the quantity it used to before the grocery store became so prolific. There also wasn't such a thing as the sport of cowboy action shooting, in which many thousands of rounds are run through Rossi 92's every year. Much more than were ever routinely run through the original Winchesters. While the Winchester patterned rifles are common in CAS, very few of those rifles are actually the Winchester brand. They are replicas made by various manufacturers, including a sizeable contingent of Rossi 92's.

[Sweetpea]

Your "interesting" rewrite of history aside, (Winchester lever action rifles were never issued to the U.S. military)

I haven't been following this thread, but there WAS a write-up several years back in American Rifleman, with pictures, about Winchesters being issued to the troops Doc.Holliday mentioned...

Brandon

[robertbank]

Regardless, there is a place for Rossi rifles. I paid an avg price of $550. for my two and they function just fine. While I would pay $1K for a Marlin in .38spl/.357mag I wouldn't for an original 92 from Winchester. I am a shooter not a collector and would not get the value out of the original Winchesters. The only reason for a Marlin is for ease of cleaning. I would be using a lot of 38spl cases in the Marlin. Util funds for the Marlin are in hand I'll soldier on with my Rossis.

Now if I run into a Japanese made '73 I would fine the money to be sure. Just not a lot of them around up here.

Take Care

Bob