Rossi Rifleman

The rifle looks a little different now. I removed the black paint; installed a storage tin in the stock for apertures, globe sight inserts, and copies of NFA paperwork; and added velcro for ammo cards all while waiting on the rear sight to arrive. I installed a stainless magazine spring and trimmed it so I can load 9 357 or 10 38spl in the tube. I installed a blued Vtoran "Model 2" safety-replacement sight and was able to get some better groups this weekend. It rotates a little under recoil, but I have an idea on how to mitigate this down the road. I just shot some old Winchester FMJ's and Freedom Munitions Hollow points that have been on my shelf a while. I shot 3, 5-shot groups of each at 100 yards and averaged 5" with the Winchester and 7" with the Freedom Munitions fodder. My next step will be to hand-lap the barrel and see if that tightens the groups at all. In a month or two, I'm hoping I'll have the bullets and powder I ordered for this. I may even be close to having a muffler for it.

Last week I lapped the barrel using the "Barrel Lapping Made Easy" article by Bill Boggs. I've never lapped a barrel before. I shot the same course of fire as in my last post and averaged 4.1" with the Winchester and 5" with the Freedom Munitions ammo. As easy as it was to do, I think the procedure was worthwhile. Does anyone else here have experience with this method of lapping?

The next steps will be to do a little more work on the action and start handloading. I'm also going to have to grind the magazine tube plug back past the shoulder of the barrel threads so it won't interfere with a muzzle device.

I honestly really like this carbine, but If anyone is reading this and thinking about purchasing a triple black, I'd want them to be aware of these three minor things I think Rossi didn't think through on this model:
1) the stock iron sights on the 357 model won't get you on target (this may not be an issue on the other caliber, and maybe Rossi just assumed everyone would put a red dot on it anyway)
2) the stock lever wrap isn't in a useful position on the lever
3) the magazine tube plug is in the way of attaching a muzzle device that has a diameter larger than the barrel

"3) the magazine tube plug is in the way of attaching a muzzle device that has a diameter larger than the barrel"

Sounds like a a shim/washer/spacer might fix that?

Archer wrote:Sounds like a a shim/washer/spacer might fix that?

I didn't think of that. It probably would have fixed it, but I would have worried about it being repeatable with removal and replacement. A file and spray paint fixed it up pretty quick. I only needed to remove a little more than half of the rim thickness.

I had a great time at the range this afternoon with guns and coffee while the wife and kiddo opted for naps. I shot 158hp/A0/38spl and 180wfn/h110/357mag ladders at 100 yards. The best 5-shot 38 group was 3" using a medium charge, and the best 5-shot 357 group was 2.5" using Hodgdon's max powder charge. I will keep working on these loads a little, but this point I'm satisfied with the precision of the setup. Anything more I can wring out of the gun with these iron sights will be icing on the cake.


The 357 cartridges with the WFN bullet were at 1.59" with the case crimped I'm the forward grove, and the rim was getting caught under the cartridge guides when the bullet was entering the chamber. It looked like I could file the rim grooves in the cartridge guides back so the carrier could keep lifting and leveling the cartridge. I found a few other posts on the forum about doing this. Before I start filing though, are there any downsides to doing this? Is there a better alternative? I may just continue single loading until my truncated cone 180s arrive to see if they have this issue.

Before you begin filing...Might I suggest something to look for that I observed in the action for the 357. After you operate the lever to its full forward position and the cartridge lifter raises the round to an angle in preparation to the next step (loading the round into the chamber.) As the bolt goes forward and you begin to chamber the round. Does the front of your cartridge lifter drop slightly? When it does, it has slipped (down) into the notch for the lifter detent in the left cartridge guide. This then changes the angle of approach for the round going into the chamber AND changes the location of the tipping/leverage point (in relation to the chamber mouth) for the base of the round as it rises along the bolt face.
You may not have this problem...just trying to help.

Thank you for the suggestion. My carrier doesn't seem to be dropping until well after the point when this cartridge is hanging up. I grabbed a similar round loaded by Double Tap ammunition (silver in photo) that cycles fine and did some comparing. The crimp looked heavier on the Double Tap cartridge, so I tried crimping mine harder (middle in photo). It still got hung up. My reload is 0.005" longer at 1.586" OAL. The red bullet has a meplat that is 0.015" larger I'n diameter than the silver bullet. It seems like the edge of the bullet is hanging up just enough to keep the rim from being able to come up through the cartridge guides while the carrier is still pushing up on the cartridge.

5 thou longer OAL and 15 thou larger diameter at that point right at max COL...
I am not overly surprised at running into some issues.

You might try trimming the brass back about 10 thou or so, seat it that much deeper and see how that works.

I think Archer is on the right track. You'll get better results from adjusting your bullet choice and the overall length of your cartridge than by filing down the cartridge guides.

Modifying the guides is always a risky proposition, as the balance of its function can get upset in the wrong direction. And as they say, it's much easier to remove metal than to add it back on.

Use more muscle with the lever and it might go just fine.

You have a pretty fat bullet profile and the OAL is a little longish but it should feed that. Apples to oranges because mine is from the '80's but mine will eat a 185 grain at 1.6300-1.6315". It was my Blackhawk cylinder that became the limiting factor. I'm not sure how long my R92 will swallow but surely not much more unless maybe a jacketed round nose.