Rossi Rifleman

I don't know if this is possible but I'm hoping that it is. I'm having some challenges loading 357 Magnum and was hoping to do a quick mod on the loading gate spring to lighten up the tension there. I've tried many different loading techniques and angles and I have shortened my magazine tube spring to ease up some tension but simply cannot get this thing to load more than a couple of rounds.

You'd need to remove the buttstock, capture the mainspring, remove the bolt and lever. Remove hammer,strut, and spring assembly. You pretty much need to take everything out of the receiver except the lifter and both cartridge guides

Probably not a loading gate problem. Tension in the gate spring is stiff but will not keep you from loading more rounds. They are getting hung up some where.

jstanfield103 wrote: ↑07 Mar 2024 02:53 Probably not a loading gate problem. Tension in the gate spring is stiff but will not keep you from loading more rounds. They are getting hung up some where.

THIS

Check around at recent topics. It's one of the most common aside from topics regarding sights.

I also had this issue where I could not load more then a few bullets.
I did the loading gate spring mod and it did lighten the pressure to get the gate open, but did not solve my issue of loading mag tube full of bullets.
I knew buying this gun it would need some work.
I took it apart and it did take some time to get it together the first time. Good thing for youtube you can find several video on how to take apart and reassemble the R92. This guys video is clear, but I did not do any of the mods he shows as I did not have those issues with my gun. I did install the reduced ejector spring. disassembly and reassembly

I started by just pulling the gun apart a little bit and then reassemble. Look at how they are holding the parts as you will need to learn this too.

Good Luck.

click here for my post

First off, how many rounds can you get completely loaded into the rifle before you have too much resistance to load an additional cartridge? Sounds almost as if friction of the follower and cartridges in the mag tube may be the problem. Can't tell for sure without getting my hands on the rifle itself. I would suggest you pull the mag tube only off the rifle. Clean it, dry it (no oil), and inspect the "finish" of its interior. If it looks rough it was not "buffed" prior to bluing, and you'll have to remedy that situation. Hope this helps.

That's a good idea Gunny268

That should be the first step, as mine was kind of rough inside right where the follower stops when empty.

You could try opening the action just a little....just enough to see down inside the receiver,then try to load a round and see what's going on in there. If you open the action too much the bolt will block the loading gate from opening. Just guessing I'd say the cartridge is going in angled to the left and the nose of the bullet is getting hung up against the left side of the receiver right where the inside of the receiver funnels into the mag tube. That's what was going on with mine....the inside of the receiver was a little rough there. The fix was to take everything out of the receiver and the mag follower and spring and reach down in the receiver from the top and clean up and polish that area where the bullet nose was getting hung up. I used a small grinding bit in my dremel followed up by a felt polishing bit shaped like a cone with a little polishing compound on the felt.

Hey, thanks guys for all the input. In an effort to apply the simplest possible solution first, I got my hands on a box of Magtech fmj 357s today and will experiment with loading them on Saturday to see if they work better than the soft lead nose ones (PMC Bronze) that I currently have. I can only load 2 soft nose ones, and even that is a struggle. Also, I had about 7.5" of spring protruding from the magazine after I removed the end cap, so removed about 2" and tried loading again. No better, so I trimmed another 1.5". Still no better with the 357s but I think the resistance feels a lot more reasonable when loading the last 5 of 10 38s.
Oldfogey - your description of the hangup point is exactly what is going on in my gun. If the jacket material on the Magtech 357s doesn't lessen the friction enough to allow decent loading, I will be learning some gunsmithing skills to employ your method. Can you enlighten me as to what polishing compound you used, or a suitable alternative? I have a lot to learn and you have all been great. Lots of good ideas as to what to check, etc.
I'll report back! :-)

The polishing compound I used was sold by Dremel I believe and comes in a small round container like a film can