What are the essential modifications?

[5thMarines]

Ok , ALL rifles and handguns can be improved upon , some need modifications out the gate , What are the mods I need from the get go for my .357 mag , yes I understand some rifles work awesome out the gate but improvements are always a plus , please let me know from you guys experiences what you feel are ESSENTIAL MODIFICATIONS out the gate , I wont have my Lever until a few weeks but I want advice now so Ill be good to go when it comes and I am excited!!

[akuser47]

Well not a plug, but unless you are experienced with the 92 then steves dvd is a lifesaver. I suggest his stainless follower he sells. As for mods the mag tube spring is almost always over sprung and can benefit you by cutting a few coils off to make it easy to push rounds in. Next is your loading gate which in my opinion is very tuff from factory. then the hammer spring and trigger spring. No real need to replace just slightly modify is all and the video I mentioned walks you through all these steps. I wish he sold a step by step book to as I would rather have it in a book but at least the video exists. Hope this helps. I still stand by this as a first step though remove rear stock and use nonchlorinated break cleaner and flush the action until the fluids come out clean do this to your barrel and mag tube after removing the follower and spring start with barrel and mag tube first and then start into the reciever after this relube it with a good oil and go shoot it to see how it works for you to see if you are happy as is or can be made better.

[ironhead7544]

Well not a plug, but unless you are experienced with the 92 then steves dvd is a lifesaver. I suggest his stainless follower he sells. As for mods the mag tube spring is almost always over sprung and can benefit you by cutting a few coils off to make it easy to push rounds in. Next is your loading gate which in my opinion is very tuff from factory. then the hammer spring and trigger spring. No real need to replace just slightly modify is all and the video I mentioned walks you through all these steps. I wish he sold a step by step book to as I would rather have it in a book but at least the video exists. Hope this helps. I still stand by this as a first step though remove rear stock and use nonchlorinated break cleaner and flush the action until the fluids come out clean do this to your barrel and mag tube after removing the follower and spring start with barrel and mag tube first and then start into the reciever after this relube it with a good oil and go shoot it to see how it works for you to see if you are happy as is or can be made better.

on all of this. If the trigger is OK with you then I would just leave it. Some are quite heavy so need some work. I moded the trigger spring as shown in the stevesgunz video and cut 2 coils off the hammer spring and got about a 3 pound pull on 2 M92 rifles. On one I modded the trigger spring and replaced the hammer spring with a 19 lb Ruger Blackhawk mainspring from Wolf. Came out a crisp 2 lbs even.

[5thMarines]

so the video is a must first thing ? Ok I will get that first and make adjustments after watching the video , thanks

[pricedo]

What are the essential modifications depends largely on the specifics of the particular gun you own and the use you intend to put it to.
A person intending to do the Cowboy Action Circuit and a hunter have different priorities in regards to what they want in a levergun.
First of all a fact that is glaringly obvious is that Rossi rifles are definitely not MILSPEC.
I have bought and sold a lot of Rossi leverguns and even though you try to find the "pick of the litter" on the rack each gun has its own "peculiarities" and requires different remedial methodologies to get it to where it needs to be to do the job it was intended to do.

[phonejack]

I used u-tube videos to take the rifle apart. Cleaned everything, used a small whetstone and jewelers file to smooth rough edges. Lubed and reassembled. Took a couple hundred times of cycling the lever hard to wear it in. On mine, the lever will chamber 38 sp when worked sofely, like a win 94. 357's have to have the lever worked briskley like a marlin. I left all of the springs "as is"'. As for reloading, my rifle (24") definetly does better with slow powders. As in 296,h110 and imr 4227. It won't take many jacketed rounds to "lap" the barrel in and then the groups will really shrink and you can do a final zeroing in. Have fun !

[Model 52]

First, Stevesgunz sells a kit including the video, the stainless steel magazine follower and a replacement ejector spring.

The video pretty much covers it all:

1) polishing the surfaces on the bolt that engage the lugs,
2) replacing the ejector spring to smooth the functioning and prevent the brass from launching 6' in the air,
3) polishing the cartridge guide detents,
4) lightening the loading gate spring,
5) shortening the magazine tube spring,
6) polishing the lever detent, and
7) lightening the hammer spring and trigger return springs to improve the trigger pull.

Second, you'll also want to ensure the barrel band screw does not bind, but you'll find that in another thread on this site.

Third, there are also several members who have applied Tru-oil over the existing finish to produce some very nice looking wood on the Model 92.

Fourth, the jury is split on whether to remove the pig tail safety or not. I prefer to remove it as I have a long history with the traditional half cock notch and prefer to stay with that. Some folks say the click you get when you go to full cock when hunting is too loud, but if you start the hammer back with your thumb, hold the trigger back until the hammer is all the way back, then release the trigger and lower the hammer onto the sear, you'll find the process is very quiet. And I prefer that to the pigtail firing pin safety that I found was way too easy to inadvertently move from "safe" to fire. Steve sells a plug to replace the pigtail safety as well.

Finally, the Model 92 works extremely well with a Marbles tang sight as it keeps the lines very clean but adds a great deal of precision over the standard barrel mounted sights. The regular Model 92/94 sight with the "standard" upright works fine, but you'll want to get the metric screw set. You'll also want to chase the threads in the lower tang to avoid dinging the head on the new screw as I have yet to find a model 92 that the Marbles screws will go into cleanly. You'll have to drill and tap a hole in the tang, and I recommend using the hole spacing for the Lyman No 2 sight in case you ever want to switch. Plus that hole spacing also results in the sight being as far forward on the tang as possible, giving you more elevation adjustment and more room for your thumb.

Steve's guns also sells screws to fill the holes under the barrel mounted rear sight, and you'll want a 3/8" slot blank to fill the dove tail. A lower front sight to increase the range of elevation adjustment and a ivory or gold bead will be much easier to see. .276 is about as short as you can go and .312 works well too.

[Ninety Caliber]

All I can say is $479.00 and about an hour and a half worth of work got me one awesome CAS main match rifle! It's faster than I am and that's plenty for me. Is it a '73 noooo, but I'll put it up against ANY Marlin for speed. As far as smooth it puts a Marlin to shame! Just my two....YMMV

[Ranch Dog]

All I can say is $479.00 and about an hour and a half worth of work got me one awesome CAS main match rifle! It's faster than I am and that's plenty for me. Is it a '73 noooo, but I'll put it up against ANY Marlin for speed. As far as smooth it puts a Marlin to shame! Just my two....YMMV

I sure agree with that! These little buggers are slick!

[5thMarines]

Is that a rear site on the stock? How did you get the wood to look so nice?