Local source to look at/buy Rossi M92 lever action (.357)

[yuppiejr]

Bud's has these in stock again, tried the local sources again and everyone is giving me a 6 month backorder.. minimum.

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/prod ... ss+BarrelW

So Bud's it is! Range report when I get this bad boy in my hands in a few days.

[Eric Marleau]

Hey Yuppie, anytime that you would like to shoot mine, just give me notice and we can meet a FLSC and have some fun.
You are welcome to bring any other gun that you have, and we can make a morning or afternoon of it.

Just let me know.

Eric

[yuppiejr]

Thanks all for the info/links/advice!

I just picked up my Rossi (16" stainless) model 92 from Buds via Jerry Helm / Firing Line Sports ($10 FFL transfers, on Bud's preferred list, stand-up guy !) and it is a LOT smoother running and better looking right out of the box than I expected... smooth single stage trigger and lever action so far, wood looks good (plain Jane oil rubbed finish), better wood to metal fit than I've seen in some recent US produced firearms. There are some tooling marks inside the receiver and it looks like the barrel band chattered slightly on the top of the barrel where it meets up with the stock... not a huge deal in a working gun that sells for less than $500. The trigger is a highlight, clean breaking single stage with no wobble... while I am biased toward short guns the balance seems REALLY nice with the 16" barrel, point of balance seems to be just ahead of the loading port which makes it lighter on the supporting hand than the 20" lever guns I've handled.

I'm planning to get it up to the range this weekend (coworker outing) to give it a break-in and will post some photos when I have more time later tonight.

[Eric Marleau]

Wait until you shoot it.
I bought it figuring that it would be one of my few "fun" guns.

My Daughter will be using it for deer hunting next year. No longer a fun gun. It's a serious shooter.

Eric

[yuppiejr]

Finally got it back together after doing a strip & refinish of the original wood which was a strange dry orange of some sort... some Varthane Cabernet cut with BLO, 3 hand rubbed coats and then 3 of Spar Urethane knocked down with steel wool after each application.

This thing is FUN at the range, more about the first trip later.

[Anokamnman]

It looks great. I am looking at picking one of these up but chambered in 44 mag. how does it shoot?

[grousemaster]

I just checked with 3 distributors and they report zero availability and would not take a back order. FYI

[yuppiejr]

Keep checking Bud's, I've seen the .357 version go in and out of stock frequently in the past month even though the distributors would not let me backorder (6+ months).

They do have the .44 magnum and .45 colt models in stock:

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/adva ... 772uq4j6k4

[yuppiejr]

Forgot to update my range trip and add a bit about a couple of upgrades I added after the second trip out.

First time to range using Federal American Eagle 158 grain JSP's was a pretty good break-in, I'd cleaned and oiled the gun but found loading the magazine was a bit of a chore at first, the spring keeping the mag door closed is REALLY stiff and the port fairly small making it a learning exercise to get each round seated. After about 25 rounds it smoothed up a lot and was pretty easy to load, though I believe the mag follower was binding up as I got the last round or two in.

The rear buckhorn sight pretty much sucks... totally obscures whatever is left/right of your target which seems like a poor choice in an iron sights rifle that may well be used on moving game. After a small drift with a brass hammer I got windage nailed down at 50 yards well enough.

Second trip out I'd disassembled the magazine and gave it a good cleaning. The mag followed is a crappy yellow chunk of plastic and I've heard a frequent source of problems... it seemed to have the same issue on the following range trip so I decided to replace it along with the stupid rear sight. The lever action, hammer and trigger are all smoothing up nicely after 100 or so full power 357 magnums and the only issues I've had with the rifle are easy fixes to an internet store.

http://store.stevesgunz.com/index.php?m ... ucts_id=44 - Replacement "Bullseye" Ghost Ring rear sight ($30)

http://store.stevesgunz.com/index.php?m ... ducts_id=3 - Replacement stainless steel magazine follower ($20)

... came out to $54 or so shipped and arrived a couple days later.

The sight was about a 5 minute install, I just drifted out the old sight and installed the new one... but while I was at it I took note of the fact that the barrel is tapped for a scout scope mount just under the rear sight base (4 tapped holes)! Not that I tend to make this a Mossberg style cowboy monstrosity... but always good to know about an undocumented feature. The mag followed was a one screw quick fix (bow-chicka) and after another good cleaning and light graphite lubrication was smoothly running the length of the magazine tube without the "sticky" feeling the plastic follower was giving.

Here's the shooters view of the rear sight now:



HUGE improvement over the buckhorn -- note the front sight is not quite lined up with the rear in the camera shot since I couldn't see it thanks to auto-focus, I'm sure I'll be making final adjustments at the range to get it nuts on.