Question about ammo.

[Gabby]

Congrats on your octagon barreled Rossi. She's a beauty. The Hornaday ammo is great. I've used it in 30-30 and 450 Marlin with no problems, very safe. The only problem is it requires extra care when you reload it. I am not a reloader but have friends that are. There is something about the overall lenght of the load that has to be addressed. There are quiet a few reloader's on this forum who can give you that imfo. and they can be trusted. I am not a reloader so I'm stuck with factory ammo. That is the only reason I preferr the 44 mag over the 45LC.

[Pustic]

Thanks Gabby. I've already cycled a few of my handloads through my 92, and so far they work just fine. I have several handloading manuals that I use when I load, and so far, everything I've loaded up is a hair under C.O.L., and I have no problem cycling the ammo.

[Wills Point Pete]

You can use any factory ammo, including that hot Buffalo Bore and Cor Bon stuff. I regularly shoot the top "Ruger Only" handloads in mine.

One can load that rifle to levels that exceed the old Trapdoor Springfield - grain black powder .45-70 loads. Or load it as mild as you like. I shoot black powder lead bullet loads at a cowboy action shoot and then take it home, clean it up, adjust the sights and stuff it with the max load of Hodgdon's H110 with the 250 grain Hornady XTP bullet to repel coyotes and tractor thieves.

[Model 52]

You can use any factory ammo, including that hot Buffalo Bore and Cor Bon stuff. I regularly shoot the top "Ruger Only" handloads in mine.

It's worth pointing out to the OP that the Rossi 92 is chambered in .454 Casull and the SAAMI maximum average chamber pressures for that are 50,000 CUP compared to 25,000 CUP for a Ruger class load in the .45 Colt. To put that in PSI terms that spec equates to 65,000 psi, the same pressure limit as the 7mm and .300 Weatherby Magnums, and the .416 Remington Magnum.

If you can't bend it up with a .454 Casull, you won't bend it with a .45 Colt as the .45 Colt case head will fail long before the limits of the action are exceeded.

In terms of reloading for it, the case is the limiting factor and that's what you'll want to watch very closely.

The relative strength of .44 Mag versus modern .45 Colt brass gets debated frequently and it's one of those things people just seem to like to argue about. Data wise, the SAAMI spec for the .45 Colt in a Ruger is 25,000 CUP and that's probably close to 32,000 psi (copper crusher pressures and piezo electric measurements are not exactly an apples to apples comparisons) and there is published 32,000 psi load data for the Ruger .45 Colt. That compares to 36,000 psi for the SAAMI spec for the .44 Magnum.

In any case, I've been shooting the .45 Colt in 240 and 250 grain loadings at velocities that are about 50 fps less than full power 240 gr .44 Mag commercial loads since the early 90s in a Ruger Blackhawk and I've never blown one up. But to put that in a Rossi 92 perspective, I do worry about what a hot load for my Rossi 92 might do to my blackhawk.

[williamc]

I'm no expert, but when I compare the chamber wall thickness on the barrel of my .44 mag 92 and the thickness of the cylinder walls in my .44 Special Ruger Blackhawk, the 92 is MUCH thicker, as in like 2-3x or more.

I know from reliable sources that my Blackhawk will eat regular feedings in the 25k psi range without loosening up. So I'm not too worried about SAAMI .44 Magnum loads. I feel like my shoulder will give out before my gun ever does.

That's what attracted me to a 92. It's a light, handy little gun that several times stronger than I'll ever need it to be.

William

[Rooster59]

It's my understanding the receivers for the 454 get additional strength treating that the 45 and 44 receivers don't get. The 454 receiver is stronger than standard 92 receivers and the 454 mag tubes are attached differently to handle the extra recoil forces.

[pricedo]

It's my understanding the receivers for the 454 get additional strength treating that the 45 and 44 receivers don't get. The 454 receiver is stronger than standard 92 receivers and the 454 mag tubes are attached differently to handle the extra recoil forces.

I believe the part about the magazine tube being attached more securely because I can see that with my eyes.
BUT
I've heard the hearsay about the "special heat treatment" Rossi gives 92/454 receivers that the 92/45s don't get.
Quite frankly I'm skeptical cause I can't envisage Rossi giving any of it's generic line guns any kind of special treatment heat or otherwise cause that's not their SOP...... but who knows for sure
If I had to make an unqualified offhand guess I'd say it was BS.

[Ranch Dog]

I too don't think the 454 receivers are treated any different. I think if they were they would take advantage of it and note it in their advertising as they do the difference in the magazine tube.

[temmi]

I load my own but use the "Ruger" loads

No problem

So modern Factory ammo would be fine

Snake

[pricedo]

When a rifle comes out of that factory just be glad when you open the box and it has a receiver & "most" of the parts that are supposed to go with it.
Be even gladder when the gun works.

The advertised 5 pound weight for the 20" Rossi 92s is BS too..........the 20" 92s (the bare unloaded gun) weigh around 6 pounds unloaded according to my fish scale.
I used the fish scale cause I figured the Rossi advertised weight to be a bit "fishy".