Rossi Rifleman

for my 357, yes. for my 44mag I did not mess with the bottom loading ramp detent slot. Just didn't like the idea of removing material from the receiver.

Although I did remove the safeties, I ended up reinstalling both. I occasionally loan them out to one of my boys and felt better having the safeties available.

Yeah, the safety is a personal thing. I grew up with my old man's ancient Winchester 94, and I tend to be a purist - I still would rather eat rocks than own a 94 AE! When I was first drawn to the Rossi I thought the safety was abhorrent: it really didn't belong there, there was absolutely no need for it with a hammer gun, and it looked stupid. Guess what? I never removed mine, and I have grown to like it a lot. I find it a nice addition anytime I am jacking shells out of my gun in the house or reloading room, and if I ever get a chance to teach my granddaughter how to shoot, I will REALLY be glad that is on there to help teach a fundamental aspect of safe gun handling.

Interesting thoughts on the safety replacement. I'm going to keep mine in for a time and see if I like it. Honestly, it isn't a bad idea.
Started tearing into my Rossi last night and had a heck of a time getting my lever and rear tang off! The tolerances were tight on that sucker. I finally coaxed them out with a little light tapping and will be lightly sanding/filing in hopes that they will slide out easier next time.
Along with the mag follwer and ejector spring I think I am going to do the load gate mod per Steve's video and maybe some light sanding around the left cartridge guide detent area while I have it off. I may lightly sand around the edges of the bolt too. They felt pretty sharp. I'm going to leave the extractor alone for now. Hope to have everything back together soon. I'm probably going to strip the stock and forearm down and refinish with boiled linseed oil. The finish on the stock is actually pretty nice, but I want it to be more unique to me. I'll try to post pics when I have everything back together.

I've also done three, both my 20" 357mag carbine and 24" 357mag rifle and then a neighbor's 24" 357mag rifle he had to have after shooting mine; all back in 2009. On all three I replaced the ejection spring, mag follower, and safety. In addition, I did all the mods he described. All three now have slick actions and smoother, lighter triggers. The loading gates are better and all in all, I like mine a ton. At 200yds, both are deadly on an 8" steel plate and after I added a tang rear and globe front sight to the rifle, I shoot my 158grn 357mag handloads at our 14" wide steel 'boar' at 300yds!

COSteve wrote:I've also done three, both my 20" 357mag carbine and 24" 357mag rifle and then a neighbor's 24" 357mag rifle he had to have after shooting mine; all back in 2009. On all three I replaced the ejection spring, mag follower, and safety. In addition, I did all the mods he described. All three now have slick actions and smoother, lighter triggers. The loading gates are better and all in all, I like mine a ton. At 200yds, both are deadly on an 8" steel plate and after I added a tang rear and globe front sight to the rifle, I shoot my 158grn 357mag handloads at our 14" wide steel 'boar' at 300yds!

Steve,

what height or model number front Globe did you go with?
Is it the: Lyman Globe Front Target Sight #17AHB .404" Height 3/8" Dovetail Steel Blue

Well, I went ahead and did all the mods. I guess I was a bit harsh on Steve. I watched the video again and it does do a pretty good job describing the mods. Hopefully everything goes back together smoothly. I'm stripping and refinishing the wood with linseed oil so I have about a week of sanding, rubbing, and waiting every night for drying. I'm thinking I'm really going to like this rifle!

I used the dvd it was helpful got mine slick and ready. I'm pleased I got it.

oley55 wrote:

COSteve wrote:what height or model number front Globe did you go with?
Is it the: Lyman Globe Front Target Sight #17AHB .404" Height 3/8" Dovetail Steel Blue

Front - Lyman Globe front sight model 17A - Brownells' p/n. 539-017-444WB (metric dovetail). Don't forget to also get the Lee Shaver Insert Set for Lyman 17A combo card – Brownells' p/n. 781-100-017 (I use the small post). The Lee Shaver set is head and shoulders better than Lyman's clunky insert set.

I've done 3 Model 92s as well and while I've gone the whole route with all of them the last one was done ins takes and I found that the bulk of the improvement comes from just cleaning the metal shavings out and replacing the heavy ejector spring. That will get you about 85% of the total smoothing effects.

Lightening the loading gate spring by thinning it is also well worth doing as is shortening the magazine spring so it doesn't extend more than a few inches out of the end of the tube.

The metal magazine follower is also a must do item - you'll do it sooner or later when the plastic one starts to stick in the tube.

I've gone both ways on the bolt mounted safety. The safety was awful on the first safety equipped Model 92 I bought and since it would not reliably stay on or off, but just flopped around, I took it off.

The safeties on the next two I bought were fine and stayed securely put in the on and off positions, so I left them on for two reasons:

First, it allows you to cycle the rounds out of the magazine tube quickly and in reasonable safety with the bolt mounted firing pin in the safe position. I don't normally use the safety in the field, as I prefer the half cock notch for that, but it's a nice feature to have when clearing the rifle, or for things like crossing a fence, etc.

Second, in the last several years before he passed, I explained my dad's unique chest X-rays to numerous ER doctors who would do a chest X-ray or pull his chart when I'd bring him with chest pain. Dad had a bad habit of taking antihistamines when he'd get a cold and it screwed up his heart meds every single time.

He also had a bad habit growing up on the ranch of carrying his Model 1892 in .32-20 propped up on the tractor with the hammer securely set in the quarter cock notch and with a round in the chamber. The idea was that it would be ready to fire when he scared a rabbit, fox or coyote up out of the grass he would be mowing. Unfortunately his loaded and quarter cocked Model 1892 fell off the tractor one day, the hammer struck a projection on the way down, shearing the notch right off the hammer and firing a round into my dad's chest through his bottom rib on the left side and out through his back about half way up the his left shoulder blade. The bullet fragmented and over the next 50 years the fragments slowly spread all through his chest, making for the unique set of X-rays that caused so much confusion for the ER doctors.

As a result, I was raised to thoroughly respect the limitations of a quarter cock notch - as well as to use a little common sense and consider things like whether there is any real advantage to carrying a Model 92 with a round in the chamber on a tractor as opposed to just levering one in as you bring it to your shoulder - after all the noise it makes won't even be heard over the noise of the tractor.

Consequently, I'm willing to regard the bolt mounted firing pin safety for what it is - a valuable addition to th Model 92 that can come in handy in some situations - and maybe save your kids from having to explain strange X-rays when you get old.

COSteve wrote:

oley55 wrote:

COSteve wrote:what height or model number front Globe did you go with?
Is it the: Lyman Globe Front Target Sight #17AHB .404" Height 3/8" Dovetail Steel Blue

Front - Lyman Globe front sight model 17A - Brownells' p/n. 539-017-444WB (metric dovetail). Don't forget to also get the Lee Shaver Insert Set for Lyman 17A combo card – Brownells' p/n. 781-100-017 (I use the small post). The Lee Shaver set is head and shoulders better than Lyman's clunky insert set.

I've just used the Lyman 17AHB (Brownells 539-017-360WB) all three of mine and never had any issues with the fit in the dove tail. It's only .404" tall rather than .465" tall, so it's a bit lower profile and also gives you a little more vertical adjustment range on the tang sight.

I drive the barrel mounted rear sight off my rifles and just inert a slot blank - it gives a less obstructed field of view and allows the use of a lower front sight.

I recommend getting both sets of Lee Shaver inserts. There are however times when I do like a couple of the Lyman inserts. In some low contrast conditions the much thicker edged round apertures can come in handy. I don't like their posts though as they are both way too thick and designed for a 6 o'clock hold on a standard 100 yard small bore target so they shoot 4 MOA low if you're holding dead on target. The round yellow disc with the hole in the center is also quite handy in combination with several of the round aperture Lee Shaver inserts, and at short range it works great all by itself on short range, moving targets.