Smoothing a Rossi 92

The Rossi Model R92, a lightweight carbine for Cowboy Action, hunting, or plinking! Includes Rossi manufactured Interarms, Navy Arms, and Puma trade names.
trekker
Posts: 109
Joined: 05 Feb 2019 09:03
Location: various
Has thanked: 9 times
Been thanked: 8 times

Smoothing a Rossi 92

Post by trekker »

Well I got my second ever 1892 in 357, a 20" RB blued. The first one was someone's former cowboy action gun and was quite smooth. Very nice to look at, but working this new one and its a lot stiffer out of the box. The plus is it feeds short factory 38 specials like a dream, which is what it will be fed mostly, so if I can smooth the action up without changing anything too important that would be good.

1. I notice the brass is getting hell of a lot of scratches running through the action. No tears or anything too serious. Is this a worry, should it and can it be fixed?

2. I have to admit even with my tough old thumb, getting the gun loaded is damn hard with that spring. Its a bit raw after a few boxes of work. The last round in I actually have to rotate the gun upright so I can attack it with my little finger. Sometimes it wont go in at all, if I dont drive it positively enough, and I have to work the rim back out with a fingernail and try again. I was wondering whether there is an aftermarket spring, but also wondering if I replace or shorten the existing spring, it might affect the feeding.

3. The cycling itself I cant complain about. No jams or misfeeds so far. I assume it will smooth up with use.

I know Steve Jones does a DVD but I am not much of a DIY guy, also being from another country he wont ship internationally.

Any suggestions I will take down to a good gunsmith and get him to consider.

Thanks all.
User avatar
GasGuzzler
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 2745
Joined: 02 Nov 2015 19:54
Location: Cooke County, TX
Has thanked: 310 times
Been thanked: 451 times

Re: Smoothing a Rossi 92

Post by GasGuzzler »

1. Likely burrs on the loading gate. Fix it when you fix 2.

2. Thin out the middle of the gate spring into an hourglass shape to take some of the bite off of the gate.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
I've always been crazy but it's kept me from going insane.
Ohio3Wheels
1000 Shots
1000 Shots
Posts: 1599
Joined: 31 Jul 2014 15:18
Location: Dayton Oh
Has thanked: 227 times
Been thanked: 328 times

Re: Smoothing a Rossi 92

Post by Ohio3Wheels »

A lot of guys shorten the magazine spring to relieve some of the tension.

Stay well, be safe, make smoke,
Curt... makin' smoke and raising my carbon foot print one cartridge at a time Image
Archer
2000 Shots
2000 Shots
Posts: 3942
Joined: 04 Feb 2014 05:30
Location: SoCal Loco
Has thanked: 137 times
Been thanked: 610 times

Re: Smoothing a Rossi 92

Post by Archer »

There are probably several places scratches can be picked up.
Any burrs around the breach end of the barrel for example, possibly burrs on the mag tube end, loading gate as GG mentioned.

Obviously you would prefer to avoid scratches and deep scoring can be dangerous. If the brass was cut to the point it failed and split under pressure that could be a bad thing. Light scratching is mostly cosmetic but still something you want to avoid.

Steve's video says if you have a couple cartridges worth of extra spring beyond the mag tube length you are probably ok. I'm not wild about shortening it although quite a few folks claim they can get an extra round in the gun afterward. I keep remembering springs that were too weak to do their job.

Some folks have popped a dowel or cartridge in the loading gate half way open for a day or a few days to see if it makes the gate easier. Deburring the gate and occasionally the area around the gate sometimes makes it easier on the fingers as well. If those areas are smooth and not sharp they are less likely to catch and hold the brass from sliding past.

To some extent ALL of that should smooth out with use a little. The fact that you are running rounds through the action should knock down any sharp edges or burrs the rounds pass and slide against but it can take a lot of rounds to do what a few minutes and a little Emory cloth can knock out in a few moments.

A lot of us run the action several hundred cycles letting the hammer down easy in between cycles and wiping out the gun action every 300 to 500 cycles to get any bits that work off and refresh the lubricants. Seems to help smooth out the actions quite a bit.
rondog
250 Shots
250 Shots
Posts: 452
Joined: 19 Oct 2015 01:32
Location: Colorado
Has thanked: 181 times
Been thanked: 142 times

Re: Smoothing a Rossi 92

Post by rondog »

FWIW - I do lots to my Rossi's.

General deburring and smoothing of every surface I can reach.

Chop 1/4" off the hammer spring.

Square up and polish the trigger spring, also shim it.

Replace the mag spring w/stainless, then shorten that several inches.

Replace the ejector spring with a C-530 spring.

Deburr and polish the ejector and where it fits into the bolt.

Work over the loading gate to smooth it up.

Grind the loading gate spring to thin and weaken it.

Chamfer the inside edges of the loading port to eliminate sharp edges (be VERY careful here! You can screw up the loading gate operation!)

Smooth up the cartridge groove from the loading port to the magazine.

Polish the carrier/lifter.

Deburr the chamber mouth the best I can.

Probably other stuff too, but basically just work over everything I can.
ethang
Posts: 167
Joined: 19 Jun 2015 18:22
Location: Mid Michigan
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 44 times

Re: Smoothing a Rossi 92

Post by ethang »

I have a sample size of just two Rossi's, but my older 45 Colt I bought in 2008/2009 and it got the full treatment. Very very smooth. My 357 from 2014/2015 I just cleaned it out with brake cleaner and cycled it, only later replaced the plastic follower and put a stainless Smith's magazine spring in, it's also very very smooth. If I get another, I will just cycle it first and see if it really needs anything else done to it. And by cycling it, I mean at least a couple of good westerns worth. I suggest John Wayne and or Tom Selleck, but can't go wrong with a Clint or a Tombstone either.
Plastic has no soul...
trekker
Posts: 109
Joined: 05 Feb 2019 09:03
Location: various
Has thanked: 9 times
Been thanked: 8 times

Re: Smoothing a Rossi 92

Post by trekker »

Nice suggestions Rondog. Unfortunately I am not a DIY guy, dont own a single workshop tool to tell the truth.assuming a gunsmith doing that its going to cost me quite a bit? I didnt realise I was buying a 'project gun' with Rossi's .My previous Rossi 92 I was the second owner and the original owner must have done a lot of work on it in hindsight, as it is lightyears ahead of this new one.

I ended up sending the new one to a gunsmith just to look at the gate, and he said he deburred it and lightened the spring and it did feel better for a while, but after about 50 shots its getting hard to feed and jamming in the gate again. Not sure why it would revert like that. Brass scratches are less which is good but still occurring.

Pretty dissappointed. While not expensive guns they are still worth a few hundred bucks.

Hey why cant you Americans start making 92's again? its either Chiappa and Rossi with the revolving door warranty issues or Japanese miroku's costing as much a used car.

John wayne must be spinning in his grave. :D All that work winning the west and the civil war with an 1892 ;) and no one there making them anymore.
trekker
Posts: 109
Joined: 05 Feb 2019 09:03
Location: various
Has thanked: 9 times
Been thanked: 8 times

Re: Smoothing a Rossi 92

Post by trekker »

Well I edited the rest of my rant out,which is all it was, probably having a bad day with all the covid stuff going on. Will get cracking on learning to smooth this gun out a little
Last edited by trekker on 07 Sep 2020 05:09, edited 2 times in total.
Nashville Stage
Posts: 175
Joined: 08 Feb 2018 15:20
Location: Nashville, TN
Has thanked: 8 times
Been thanked: 96 times

Re: Smoothing a Rossi 92

Post by Nashville Stage »

It sounds like one of the Japanese Miroku Winchester rifles would be more to your liking. I've heard very good things about their fit, function, and aesthetics. They'll cost more than the Rossi 92s, but that's the trade-off.
Archer
2000 Shots
2000 Shots
Posts: 3942
Joined: 04 Feb 2014 05:30
Location: SoCal Loco
Has thanked: 137 times
Been thanked: 610 times

Re: Smoothing a Rossi 92

Post by Archer »

You mention this is your 2nd Rossi and that this one was rough out of the box. Can you give us more details on the gun in question? Is it new production or is it new old stock or was it preowned but 'never fired' or 'LNIB'?
Post Reply