Magazine Tube Retention

[Ranch Dog]

There has been a couple of topics about the magazine tube and the effects of it remaining in place under recoil. No doubt about it, Rossi has the right idea with the design of both the 454 Casull and 480 Ruger tubes. I have been shooting my 357 Mag (37.2K PSI with 175-grain bullet), 44 Mag (35.5K PSI with 305-grain bullet), and 45 Colt (34.6K PSI with 290-grain bullet) with heavy bullets for the cartridge and have yet to experience any forward movement of the magazine tube. Not saying that it won't happen but I was reminded of a possible factor that might affect the lack of tube movement in my rifles while I was cleaning them this week prior to hunting seasons start.

When I purchased the rifles, the first thing I did was adjust the forearm fit by removing the wood down the inside center of the forearm. My original object of this step was to help with the forend band fit. The tendency of the wood is to "spring" shut around the magazine tube. Prior to refinishing the stocks the forearm would slide on with hand pressure but it was tight. After refinishing the stocks, the fit is extremely tight. I actually must use a mallet to remove and reinsert the tube paying attention to the rotation orientation of the screw holes for the tube cap. The fit is tight enough that the tube can only be rotated by placing a punch through those holes and carefully applying a great amount of rotational pressure. As the forearm goes on, I test the fit of the forearm & tube into the receiver as nothing can be moved once it is in place.

I think that when I water soak the stock to remove the finish, the stock closes up even further. There is a layer of the Birchwood Casey Filler-Sealer in the channel but not enough to reduce the diameter of the "hole" to the effect that I have experienced. The tube is one with the forearm.

stock_refinish.jpg

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This rifle has soon been in use for a year and it has been out in the field continuously. I have experienced no tube corrosion despite living in a Gulf Coast environment. As I noted, there is a layer of BC Sealer in the channel and after it is in place and I spray a "line" of BC Barricade down the tube as it rests in the stock.

In another topic, a member mentioned epoxying the magazine ring on the rifle which is an idea I like and would pursue if at any point the tube started to slip. So far, so good.

[pricedo]

Time for Popeye to retire from Rossi.

The black powder era is over and the smokeless era brings new pressure/recoil related stressors in tow to challenge the inherent weaknesses in legacy firearms originally designed for black powder use.

The facts and observations to date would indicate that the Rossi rifle forearms should be properly fitted and relieved at the factory and not squeezed into a high stress fit by Popeye with his infamous wrench and also that in light of smokeless powder realities the Rossi developed double threaded magazine configuration should become standard on all modern tube fed leverguns designed to fire smokeless powder ammunition.

[Ranch Dog]

It is really two issues:

• Magazine Tube Retention
• Forearm/Barrel Relief

Both my 454 Casull and 480 Ruger, with the advanced, threaded magazine tube, still required an amazing amount of "barrel relief" to get the forearm band screw back in.



I have no idea how they contort the front half of a R92 to get the screw in. I challenge the Boss Man himself, to take a 92, remove the forearm, and put it back on. If he experienced this one time, it would be changed.

I love this from the Rossi 2013 catalog (page 2). The must have told Mr. Kressner to take off his jacket, grab an apron and a 92 so they could get a picture for the catalog. As a statement on how familiar he is with the 92, notice he grabbed a Taurus PT92 and is pounding away on the slide

kressner_catalog_for_real.jpg

Hey Mark, they meant Rossi 92, you know, the one with the lever thingy! If he had grabbed the R92, that hammer would be a file and he would be stroking across the barrel to provide more relief for the forearm screw to pass!

[Xshot]

RD - I would agree the water soaking the forearm probably made it swell and tightened up the mag tube fit. In my case, the wood color and grain was close enough that I just deepened the color and grain with a quality wood stain and sealed it with several coats of Tru-Oil.

From the very beginning my mag tube fit loosely into the forearm and it had a slight bow to it. This caused it to make hard contact to the forward left side of the forearm when the rifle was assembled. I opted to free float both the barrel and mag tube to avoid any chance of induced stress. I suppose this is just another example of the potential variations created by Rossi during their manufacturing.

Prior to drilling and tapping for the 6-32 set screw, I assembled the rifle and aligned everything for clearance and proper position. Once the set screw is installed - through the muzzle barrel band and mag tube - everything firms up nicely. The mag tube plug screw doesn't come anywhere near the barrel and its only purpose is to retain the magazine plug to the tube. I'm happy to report that I haven't experienced a hint of vertical stringing since.

[donhuff]

RD, I like the mag tube screwing into the receiver on the 454. But I don't quite understand the need for the other end of the tube being set up like it is. That looks to be like a lot more trouble to load than using the loading gate. I would rather have it made like the other calibers but just screw into the receiver, and not have the screw pushing up on the barrel. Looks kinda odd with the mag tube half again as big as the barrel.

[Ranch Dog]

RD, I like the mag tube screwing into the receiver on the 454. But I don't quite understand the need for the other end of the tube being set up like it is. That looks to be like a lot more trouble to load than using the loading gate. I would rather have it made like the other calibers but just screw into the receiver, and not have the screw pushing up on the barrel. Looks kinda odd with the mag tube half again as big as the barrel.

That would be my objection to the setup, especially for a cartridge like the 357 Mag. I see a single tube, like is currently in use, being threaded on the end and screwed into the receiver.

[pricedo]

Depends if you like to load your levergun like a Winchester or a Henry.
If I'm loading more than 3 or 4 cartridges into a levergun I want to drop the ammo down the tube like a Henry rather than mess with a loading gate.
Repeated receiver gate loading can scuff, shave, scratch lead bullets and affect accuracy.......the Henry tube loading method doesn't and it's always good to have a choice.
Here we go with that personal preference thing again.