Rossi Rifleman

Taurus has a 2020, catalog online. They have changed their lineup this year as well as CEO (again). They dropped two cartridges in the semi-auto; 25 and 380 Auto. No longer have a small 380 Auto, the Spectrum did not make it very far. I still love my 738 (380 Auto) and 732 (32 Auto). Still, by my count a hands-down winner over the LCP or 3AT.

I own a LC380ca that's not bad and I bought the conversion kit to make it a LC9.
I haven't shot the LCP. From what I've heard it is quite a bit smaller than the LC380 and about as small as a .380 ought to get.

The LC380 is not bad. The silly posterior Kalifornia DoJ handgun roster means we get the ca version instead of the one with the better trigger. (Kamala Harris and Arnold's faults IMO.)

The LC9 is usable and not bad but it IS so thin that IMO it is at the limit of what's comfortable with the 9mm.
The Smith & Wesson Shield is slightly bigger than the LC9 but a whole lot more comfortable to shoot, particularly beyond a single mag.

The Sig P238 is excellent but it will cost you a pretty penny. I'd still like to get my hands on a Colt .380 Government but the P238 will do.

I own a couple 100 year old .32 Autos. A Colt 1903 and a Savage 1907 and IMO neither one of them is particularly something I want to rely on over any of the guns listed above in .380 and I'd surely rather have either the Springfield EMP or the Kimber CDP Ultra. Something very comforting in sending two to six times the amount of lead toward the bad guy from a reliable controllable launcher.

Got to agree with Archer on the Sigs. Linda had both the P238 and the P938. She preferred the 238 both for shooting a lot and daily carry. I like them both and try to run a box of ammo through them at least once a month, but for every day carry my SA XD-E in 45ACP has become a favorite.

Make smoke,

We should split this topic.

I have a Shield 9 and a Beretta Nano.

Ranch Dog wrote:Welcome to the forum rjk!

I don't think that the new production 454 Casull is available yet as there is not any listed on Gunbroker. That has always been the first place they appear. I haven't been able to find any pictures of the Rossi Shot Show booth, I don't think they have much of a presence there anymore.

I just got a Guns America e-mail with an article about Rossi Firearms at Shot Show 2020. They mentioned the new blacked-out lever guns and a cool-looking 22 pump, but nothing about the 454 Casull Model 92. It seems they have cancelled and brought back this chambering several times, and I think its mostly because its a niche market.

I want one right now, so I'm close to going with a blued 92 in 44 magnum. Just a PITA to buy new brass, bullets, primers and dies, when I'm already set up for the Casull. I thought of going with the 45 Colt so I could use the same bullets(.452) as my 454, but significant talk of sloppy chambers has me worried that I would need a different sized cast bullet anyhow. I feel like I might have a better chance at a proper chamber with the 44 mag rifle. It has been my experience that the 44 magnum is an exceptionally accurate cartridge that, like the Casull, I could load from mild to wild. Besides, I'm only doing this because I recently started reloading for my Marlin 30-30. What a bunch a B.S.! I can crank out 1000 quality pistol rounds in the time it takes for 100 rifle.

I found several R92 44 Mag blued 20" bbl rifles online for $485 shipped. This price helps to offset the cost of the new components. Ranch Dog, whattaya think? Your opinion is highly valued. Thanks

I wouldn't mind a new R92, blued, in .44 myself. But I want the 24" octagonal model.

What I REALLY want is that rifle in .44-40, with quality case hardening on the receiver and small parts and nice walnut! But honestly, I'd be happy with those features in any caliber.

Well, I went .44 Mag. I have a Rossi 24" Octagonal SS, Rossi 20" round barrel SS, Winchester 94 24" round barrel legacy blued and a Smith 29, Smith 629 and Colt Kodiak in the caliber.
My reasoning went something like this...

.44-40 has a certain nostalgia but I can't easily get cartridges in any retail outlet within about a hundred miles.
CA no longer allows you to mail order ammo without it going through a shop of which there is one or maybe two shops that will receive it that I know of inside of about 75 miles or so. Add to that the fact that .44-40 requires me to do all the normal bottle necked rifle brass prep and most load data does not include the high powered 'rifle only' loads that were once available in this caliber. Brass is available but isn't always common. Many of the weapons available in .44-40 (and .45 Colt) are made for standard SAAMI pressure loads and will not tolerate hot loading. Most designs for these cartridges are older designs which can be fun.

With .44 Mag, I can usually find a box or twenty at any shop that carries ammo. If not every shop then every other shop will have it (including up until last year Walmart.)
I get warmish loads with factory ammo. I can get reloading supplies pretty easy. I can down load it to .44 Special levels if I want some powder puff loads and the data is out there. I can use a carbide die and forgo case lube if I want. The guns are typically made for full magnum power rounds. Most weapons made for .44 Mag tend to be full sized mostly modern designs. Not always as much of a throwback fun factor but they usually work without problems.

As for why I wound up with Stainless in 4 of the 6 firearms mentioned above, I've only seen a few of the color case hardened Rossi's and in fact the only ones I've seen for sale were in .45 Colt. I admit I haven't particularly been looking hard but I ran up on the SS 20" RB Rossi at a price I could NOT turn down. The 24" Oct Rossi ran me what I considered to be a chunk of change. I think it ran $575 but it was in excellent shape.
Likewise the Kodiak and the 629 came to me at a price that I could probably have doubled had I wanted to when it happened and that I could easily quadruple today. I really like color case hard finish but if there's a stainless one sitting right beside it with nothing wrong with it at less than half the price I am likely to go SS.

Well thats just great -- just when i chopped .454C off my returning-to-the-states wishlist of calibers to own, shoot, and reload for Rossi has got to go and reintroduce this model *grumble*

I sent an e-mail inquiry to Rossi on Feb 1st regarding the latest line up of Rossi rifles and the new web page that displays them. I got an e-mail response on March 12th. I had spoken with Rossi reps several times before I got the e-mail response, but the answer was the same: "If it is shown on the web site, it is available for purchase, but only through a distributor. Contact a Rossi distributor to place an order."

On March 13th I contacted several distributors who deal with Rossi. This was not very hard to do. I dialed some phone numbers and spoke with some people who sell guns for a living. None were able to get the website to work properly, they all just drew a blank and no information could be entered. I e-mailed Rossi back with this information and I'm waiting for a response.

The R92 pistol cartridge rifles are widely available from what must be previous production runs, but I'm looking for the 454 Casull in particular, and they are unavailable right now. I just want an honest answer as to when I'll be able to buy one of these damn things! One of the distributors quoted me a price between $650 and $700 for the Casull R92.

I guess if they are re-tooling or improving their production facility its a good thing, but there has been no mention of this in several phone conversations with Rossi reps up to this point. My gut feeling remains that it will be around a year till we'll start seeing them in volume.

Adios Amigos