Rossi Rifleman

Here's why I ask. In addition to my R-92 in .38/.357 I have a Browning B-92 in .44 mag. I shoot nothing but handloads with cast bullets. And it took me a long time to squeeze accuracy out of it.

Most readily-available cast bullets for .44 spec/.44 mag are .430". But the groove dimension of my B-92 is .4315". My salvation was a special run of .432" 240 gr TCBB bullets that Robert Palermo (who owns Penn Bullets) ran for me. These enable the B-92 to shoot as it should -- which is almost as good as my .38/.357 R-92 shoots.

But I still wondered why Browning (Miroku) made barels that I felt were oversize. Then, just recently, I was made aware that there are two SAAMI specs for .44 mag barrels. For handguns the groove diameter is .429". But, for rifles the groove diameter is .431". Considering that I may have mis-measured by .0005", it would appear the Browning B-92 barrel is in SAAMI spec.

So, I became curious how Rossi bores and rifles .44 mag R-92 barrels. Have any of you who own these rifles made slug/mic checks?

dlidster
I did mine,which is an old model 44Mag with a 24" half round half octagon with a slug and it came out at .4308,so I size mine to just over .431 or .432 with good groups.
hope that helps?

My puma 92 measures out at .432. This gun gave me an excuse to start casting bullets. I make a 265gr Ranch Dog GC at .433 and it shoots phenomenally

My memory isn't so reliable now, but I thought I read a couple of years ago (and I think it was from RD's wisdom/knowledge) that the post-Puma manufactured Rossi barrels were pretty consistent at .429 to .430 (which would be closer to SAAMI speck pistol barrels than rifle barrels). I've not slugged my .44 mag R92 20" barrel, so I have nothing much more to offer. I will say that I've put well more than a thousand .430 cast bullets, both bevel base and GC'd, through the barrel and never had a noticeable issue with leading. I do drag a bore snake through the barrel every 10-12 rounds though, and bore brush with Hoppe's after 50-60 rounds.

I wish I could remember the discussion about the .429 R92 barrels. I may have been dreaming ... again.


jd

I don't have a Rossi .44mag, but my Winchester and Marlin .44 rifles both slugged at .4315. I've found some wonderful JSP bullets made by Zero that measure .4315 and they shoot wonderfully. Get them from Roze Distributing.