Rossi Rifleman

I've had several Win'94s. I have a Win/Miroku '92 - they all allow the lever to rest on the lower tang and stock when the lever is closed.

My new Rossi R92 has about a 5/16 gap between the lever and the tang/stock. Other than bending the darn lever, any clues to correcting this? The locking lugs seem to engage perfectly in the bolt. And, I've noticed that many, even most, of the R92s have some gap there.

I can heat and bend the lever.... but y'know... that's a bit drastic, so I'm open to suggestion

As far as I know, it's part of the design with the Rossi levers. Every one I've seen (including mine) has a small gap there.

If you'll post a picture of yours, we can see if something looks amiss.

The only other thing I can suggest is to inspect the spring-loaded detent on the lever which is designed to hold the lever in the closed position. Usually the detent gets jammed in the retracted position and doesn't hold the lever closed, but if the detent got jammed in the extended position it might prevent the lever from closing that last little bit.

The Win 94 has to fit flush because it doesn't deactivate the trigger block otherwise at least in the post 64 guns.
My three Rossi 92s are maybe 1/8th to 3/16ths inch out from the tang and otherwise parallel.
IMO, no harm no foul, and I won't be bending them other than normal pressure on the lever when it is closed.
Works, doesn't feel bad, doesn't even look bad.

The '94 is a different design with a purpose to the contact. Could be the Japan '92 is the oddball.

Winchester 9422M has a 'stop' protrusion at the top of the loop behind the trigger.
It stops the lever about 1/8" to 3/16" away from the tang. At rest the lever stop is about 1/16" off the tang.

Nashville Stage wrote:As far as I know, it's part of the design with the Rossi levers. Every one I've seen (including mine) has a small gap there.

If you'll post a picture of yours, we can see if something looks amiss.

The only other thing I can suggest is to inspect the spring-loaded detent on the lever which is designed to hold the lever in the closed position. Usually the detent gets jammed in the retracted position and doesn't hold the lever closed, but if the detent got jammed in the extended position it might prevent the lever from closing that last little bit.

The detent is fine, free moving. I just got a flickr account set up, so I'll see if I can get a snap later on and post it.

Everything else about the rifle is really spot on, metal fit, lack of tool marks, wood fit (amazing), feeds 44special, round ball loads, even 44 russian, so no complaints - other than the lever. The gap is a bit wider than I've seen in many of the pics online

There's the gap with the lever fully closed.

For the 92, JMB used a version of the Trammel of Archimedes for the action. To get the back of the lever upward, the front of the lever must move forward. Of course, it can't move forward, because its connected to the bolt, and the bolt is fully in battery.

After the new ejector springs come in, and the rifle comes apart, I'll be able to see more... but I think this is more or less a "live with it, or bend it" case.

Stock looks like typical Rossi banana wood. It’s not very absorbent of Dutch oil finishes.

Dunno. The test went "ok" not great but it was a BS sort of test. That wood looks like it came off the reject pile for guitar necks - more open grain mahogany - to me at least. If I can get a wiff of it under the buttplate, I'll know. I've sawn and worked with my share of "maHOGwood", as we used to call it. My finish penetrates pretty well on most wood, but you only get one shot at it usually. Once the wax blows off the solvent, its done.

The stocks are rubberwood, a Brazilian hardwood grown on plantations.