Few questions

[Redleg11B]

I sold the 357 20" R92 I had when finances took aduring Covid. Got everything adjusted, picked up a few new things in the meantime, but really want another lever. This time, I want to be able to shoot 180-200gr lead subsonic/suppressed as well as a mix of full power loads. I have my doubts that the 1:30 will stabilize much more than a 158-160gr bullet at subsonic speeds.

How cost effective would it be to to get a 16" R92 and have it rebarrelled? I was thinking I'd leave the mag tube the same length, but have the new 1:16 twist barrel made just long enough past that to thread. It would essentially be a Triple Black with regular hardwoos stock and lever, with a better twist rate barrel.

Another thought was to have the guides altered so I can feed 360 Dan Wesson cartridges through it for hunting. Anybody done something like that? Curious because I load the 360DW for my wife to use in a T/C Contender for deer and am pretty fond of it. My current load is moving a 158gr bullet at 1950fps with room to push it more.

Short of this, I may be forced to get a Henry X and eventually end up doing a wood stock and lever swap. However, $999 just for the base gun, I figured I could probably get a base R92 trapper and rebarrel at minimum. I prefer the size and weight of the 92, and would probably only run irons or a red dot anyway. The biggest, and about only, draw to the Henry is the barrel twist.

[GasGuzzler]

Most everything on a Rossi is metric if that helps you decide.

[donhuff]

I have done the 360DW mod, you can search for it on this forum.

While I did get some impressive results, I do NOT recommend doing it. I never got reliable feeding, and after doing the mod, 38 special didn't feed well either. And once metal is removed to make room for the long cartridge, you can't put it back without a lot of trouble. And with rossi parts being non existent, your screwed!!!

I'd just load 357 as long as possible which in my case was around 1.725 to 1.750" best I remember.

[donhuff]

Nobody makes a barrel for the rossi. And it has some extra fine barrel threads from what I have read. M19x1.0 best I remember.

[Redleg11B]

So it looks like a blank would be needed, contoured, etc. That would easily take up the savings and then some by getting a R92 and modding it. I had thought about the Chiappa Wildlands, but it is so much heavier than a little 92 really needs to be. I could also get two R92's for the same price. Or I could just not worry about shooting such heavy bullets and deal with a Triple Black or one of the threaded all weather models for less than a Henry.

Don, I did find where you did that after some looking this morning. I believe after a cusory review of the saga, I'll just load as long as I can with my selected bullets if I go the Rossi route. The Henry looks like a simpler option right now though for the heavier bullets I want to use.

[donhuff]

Several people have used the heavier bullet with good success, but you do need to push them fast to get it.

The problem with a blank is those extra fine threads. I have read that they are almost impossible to cut. There was a thread about a guy doing a rebarrel from a blank in Alaska making a 256 Win Mag barreled Rossi. Those threads gave him a lot of trouble. I think relining the stock barrel with a high twist rate liner might be an easer option. But in the long run, probably not worth all the trouble.

[COSteve]

Another thought was to have the guides altered so I can feed 360 Dan Wesson cartridges through it for hunting. Anybody done something like that? Curious because I load the 360DW for my wife to use in a T/C Contender for deer and am pretty fond of it. My current load is moving a 158gr bullet at 1950fps with room to push it more.

A much more simple solution to get you that performance would simply be to load your .357Mag handloads using a full charge (or maybe a bit over if you're feeling it) of Lil'Gun powder. I have 2 Rossi .357mags, a 20" carbine and 24" rifle and this is how well Lil'Gun powder performs in my Rossis at my range under the following conditions:

Range in Colorado: 6,000 ft asl, 84 deg. day, low humidity.

20" Carbine:
H110 powder - 16.7 grn (Max published load) under a 158 grn Zero JSP bullet produces 1,789 fps
Lil'Gun powder - 18.0 grn (Max published load) under a 158 grn Zero JSP bullet produces 1,952 fps
Lil'Gun produces a 9.1% velocity increase over H110 but with a peak pressure of only 25,800 CUP vs 40,700 CUP with H110 which is much more kind to your brass.

24" Rifle:
H110 powder - 16.7 grn (Max published load) under a 158 grn Zero JSP bullet produces 1,822 fps
Lil'Gun powder - 18.0 grn (Max published load) under a 158 grn Zero JSP bullet produces 2,005 fps
Lil'Gun produces 1,822 fps - A 10.0% velocity increase over H110 but with a peak pressure of only 25,800 CUP vs 40,700 CUP with H110 which is much more kind to your brass.

BTW, I have experimented with slightly larger loads of Lil'Gun and they produced some impressive velocity gains but as they are over max and are very compress loads, I'll leave any experimenting to the individual at their own risk.

[Redleg11B]

I have a pound of LG just sitting, maybe could try that. I have also read that at 98-100% density it is spikey, but actually likes some compression and settles back down a bit. Have you seen this? That would take care of the high end, just doesn't leave room for slow heavies with the 1:30 twist. I'll probably be happy with some 158 and lightler subs as they will mostly be used just for fun. I do have 450+ HS 190gr FN begging to be loaded. I could use them to mock the 38/200 load and run them in the wheel gun I guess.

[COSteve]

I haven't had any issues with it being spikey and I've loaded it from 14.8 grns all the way up to 18.0+ with the 158grn bullets. I have tried it with some 180grn bullets but as I use my leverguns mostly for plinking and shooting bowling pins at 200/300 yds with iron sights, I mostly stick with the 158 grn.

The 180 grn loads I did try were just as accurate but with the 15.0 grn max load producing about 200+ fps slower velocities and a higher, 34,500 CUP, I didn't see the point for my uses. My Rossis are mostly for fun plinking so I stick to 125 grn with Unique powder and 158 grn with Lil'Gun mostly.

I'm thinking about loading up some 125 grn Zeros under a max load of Lil'Gun (19.4 grns) and see what it does but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

[HarryAlonzo]

Back when I was contemplating a Rossi conversion to 256 Win Mag, I rejected the approach of rebarrelling for the aforementioned reasons. Sleeving would be your best approach to change twist rate, I think. Sleeves are not all that expensive, but I found the specialized drills to be quite pricey. I didn’t pursue the conversion project.