Rossi 2015 Catalog

[Ranch Dog]

Rossi has released the 2015 catalog. Seems the Single Shot series has been dropped as well the Rio Grande series. The R92 will see the loss of the rifle chambered in 454 Casull.

Rossi_models_2015_01.jpg

Rossi_models_2015_02.jpg

These guys are really thinning the herd. I'm glad I have my three Rio Grandes and the 454 Casull!

The catalog link has been update in "The Support" Forum.

[Ranch Dog]

It just dawned on me that the Ranch Hand has also been dropped!

This is absolutely crazy! Fours years ago they Rossi could have dominated the levergun world with all the troubles of the Marlin/Remington fiasco. Braztech absolutely squandered a once in a lifetime opportunity by spending all their management effort on the Taurus product. Self defense handguns are a dime a dozen, leverguns and the opportunity that was presented are not. What a bunch of boneheads!

[mr surveyor]

It just dawned on me that the Ranch Hand has also been dropped!

This is absolutely crazy! Fours years ago they Rossi could have dominated the levergun world with all the troubles of the Marlin/Remington fiasco. Braztech absolutely squandered a once in a lifetime opportunity by spending all their management effort on the Taurus product. Self defense handguns are a dime a dozen, leverguns and the opportunity that was presented are not. What a bunch of boneheads!

I agree. They should have sent out a few marketing folks to various countries where lever guns, and long guns in particular, are popular before trying to make it solely on handguns alone. Too bad there's not a ploy by someone with some integrity trying to buy the Rossi line from Braztech (or who/what ever).


jd

[Archer]

Look again,
WRT the Ranch Hand isn't it listed on page 1 above just under the R-92s and before the Circuit Judge?

OTOH:
Only 1 20" Octagonal listed and that's the .357 and it is also the ONLY Case Hardened version listed.
No .44 Magnum Stainless Ocatagonal.
.44-40 is OUT.

Looks like the Ruger catalog when they dropped all the nice Bisley single action revolvers and dropped down to a half dozen cowboy action plow handle revolvers and a couple super blackhawks for the handgun hunter crowd. Then again, Ruger added a half dozen models in 3-5 variations about that same time as well.

You're going to have to rename the forum if this keeps up they'll be just another brand name that doesn't put out firearms any more sort of like Winchester. It is going to be IMPOSSIBLE to get a decent lever gun.
(Maybe the Mossberg pseudo 1894s will start looking good...)

You may be right that self defense handguns are a dime a dozen but in that category most folks aren't looking for a Taurus or Rossi and at least half the ones who are may get pulled off to a Ruger LCR, LCP, or LC9 or a Smith & Wesson SD series gun or a Rock Island or a Springfield XD series gun at about the same price point with a better reputation (deserved or not) instead.

[Ranch Dog]

Look again,
WRT the Ranch Hand isn't it listed on page 1 above just under the R-92s and before the Circuit Judge?

You're right! Thanks!

[rman]

Surely Rossi won't abandon the 92. They may make too big a variety of them to be profitable, but you know they sell a ton of them. I've been wanting a .44 Mag to go with the .357 - guess I better "gitter dun".

[Archer]

So that's six Rio Grande models no longer cataloged Blued & SS each in .45-70, 410 and .30-30.

Rifle 92s down from 13 to 6 overall.
The Brass frame 45 Colt is gone.
Down from 6 Case hardened models to 1 in .38/.357 only.
Down from 3 20" to 1 (same .38/.357)
Dropped the SS in .44 Mag

Carbine 92s down from 17 to 14 and it looks like that's limited to dropping out the .454 chambering.

Ranch Hand's remain at 4 same as last year.

Circuit Judge down from 5 to 4 no longer offering a .44 Mag version.

Single shot rifles/shotguns/combos gone

Looks like the centerfire revolver offerings are the same as last year.

.22 LR Plinker Revolver goes from 3 to 6 adding a Stainless option in 2, 4, 6 inch barrel lengths to go with the Blued.

6 .22 WMR Plinker Revolvers added 2, 4, 6 inch barrel lengths in both Blued and Stainless.

Unless I'm wrong at least some of these moves more or less makes sense.
The .454 is a nice to have and there is a market for it but it is probably much smaller than the .45 Colt or .38/.357 crowds that includes cowboy action and hunting folks or the .44 Mag crew who like having a handgun and matching rifle for plinking or hunting but are unwilling to up the anti for the .454 in terms of recoil, availability and expense of the .454 WRT both firearms AND ammo.

With the 92s the threaded magazine tube IMO is the way ALL these guns OUGHT to be constructed but the .454 being the only one done that way is probably an added two or three machining operations and thus makes it more expensive to produce.

Probably 90-95% of the buyers for the Circuit Judge are interested in the 410 shotgun with about half those interested in the combination of that with the .45 Colt. The remainder is probably more than half interested in the .22 LR / .22 WMR for plinking. MOST of the folks who MIGHT be interested in the .44 Mag version are probably either more happy with the 92 in the same caliber with no blast through a cylinder gap or they are at least almost as happy with a handgun revolver like the Taurus Raging Bull.

The Rio Grande is something I personally have some interest in and I'm pretty sure the market is there for them especially with the current expense and availability of the Winchester or Marlin options not to mention the quality problems Marlin has had. That said they apparently have had recurring problems out of the box according to reports on this website. Hopefully they are on hiatus while they are rebluprinted and / or modified in terms of solving the problems with the mag tubes, bolts and hammer / sear OR going through the CNC code to correct what has seemed to be rather sloppy manufacturing we've seen members post about these guns.

38s and .357 revolvers are still reasonably popular and with Smith & Wesson's running as expensive as they do if Rossi can put them out at a reasonable price they should sell especially among first time buyers and low volume shooters just looking for home defense protection.

Rimfire ammo has been hard to get due mostly to all the scalpers.
That said we are starting to see at least some availability from the mail order outlets on a regular and continued basis. With a little luck the scalpers will get stuck with their inventory and stop buying it all up at the retail locations.
There have been a LOAD of folks buying up firearms this past 5-8 years. IF the ammo is available it makes sense that some of those folks are going to be willing to pick up an additional handgun in an inexpensive caliber to practice with.

Not sure about the choice to dump the single shot line.
That nitch has never been my focus. While it can make a lot of sense for the hunter who is willing to use a single shot it is not going to appeal to the panic crowd that's been buying in recent years as a self defense gun and they aren't really worried the gooberment might be coming to take them away. (although they probably should be. IF Schumer and Brady had gotten their way with Brady II EACH of the spare barrels on a switch barrel system would be an additional firearm and 5 guns or 500 rounds would have made an arsenal.)

So I'm not sure if it is as bad as it might have looked at first glance.

[Ranch Dog]

That covers it very well Archer. I'm getting ready to go out and do some nilgai scouting so this will be short. What baffles me the most is the RG4570 and The R92 in 454 Casull. I look at things from the angle of the big game hunter and Rossi really had two great rifles that covered a huge range of North American big game hunting. I always remind myself that Braztech is not a North American company and they don't understand, will never understand, how my eyes see these things. I even doubt, having worked in Brazil, that they would have listened to anything that RossiUSA would have to say. They simply don't get our hunting heritage and never will.

A North American business could get a lot of mileage out of the Rossi line, with the base of Customer Service that RossiUSA has started to provide. In my time of Rossi ownership, they have just started to market the rifles in the last two years and they had started right. The ads spoke to the individual that would be interested in these rifles.

Simply put; Rossi has squandered a huge business opportunity, a opportunity that will never repeat itself.

[Archer]

Agreed,
I've had at least two inquiries on another board about .454 92s in the last week or two. One from a fellow who owns one as to slicking it up and another from a guy who's potentially looking to open up his straight walled hunting options now that the local hunting laws have changed in his state.

I personally like the idea of the Rio Grande in .45-70 but I was pretty leery of picking one up given the reports here of dragging hammers and bolts that weren't indexed correctly. I hope that Rossi is taking the opportunity to fix those issues and will bring them back stronger but like what I hear you saying I'm not holding my breath.