Rossi 92 in 16, 20 or 24 inch?

stagpanther said:
I've decided to try to see (literally) just how well I can shoot my 44 mag 16" carbine without a scope. Granted, I am using a red-dot; but at 1x and a relatively low quality dot with flare on the edges, I consider it no more of an advantage than regular irons--other than the fact that I can actually see it. Took a lunch break and where I shoot unfortunately I'm shooting into the sun most of the time. Winds were pretty strong and gusty; 25 to 35 from about 11:00 position. I shot Federal's budget 240 gr jhp--OK stuff but not as good as my xtp reloads (which unfortunately I had run out of). Target was 100 yds--at which distance I cannot see every commercial target I have as anything but a blurry blob. So I decided to try some basic high-contrast targets I made which I could hopefully resolve with the unaided eye. They worked OK--but the contrasting colors really didn't help much--at 100 the whole target appears as just a vague grey rectangle. I think probably a better design would be simply a black box with white interior--which is what I'll try next.

First group is about 4" which isn't bad--and the next one was about 2.5" I think I can improve on that. With my old eyes I'm pretty pleased.



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Dude awesome shooting! Thanks for posting this! It makes me feel very comfortable with my order. Btw waiting for that tracking number to pop up is worse then the night before christmas!
 
I guess this starts going off topic, but I have a ruger vaquero in 44mag and an uberti 1873 44 special open top. Out of curiosity I might shoot them at 100 yards. Is there any resource or appropriate Google search that will give me an idea of what distance the factory zeroed them in around? I know ammo choice will affect this but I'm curious.
 
Dude awesome shooting! Thanks for posting this! It makes me feel very comfortable with my order. Btw waiting for that tracking number to pop up is worse then the night before christmas!
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Thanx for that--I actually feel that I could do better--I have done MOA at 100 with my loopie 2x scope.

In the spirit of honest disclosure--my rossi didn't shoot that way when I first purchased it--in fact it was a frustrating piece of junk which I came very close to tossing into a dumpster--I couldn't get it to group better than 7" at 25 yds.! I eventually found Steve's Gunz and purchased his kit (video and metal magazine follower) and did some--though not all-- of his recommendations since my action and trigger were OK and I felt I could give them time to improve--which they did. As I mentioned previously--the magazine cap screw I eventually figured out was torqued down so hard I believe it was pressuring the main barrel. When you see the design it becomes obvious why they do that--the magazine tube itself merely slots into the receiver--it is not threaded--and the cap screw is the only thing holding into place. I verified that pretty quickly when I loosened the screw a bit to take pressure off the barrel--and upon firing the gun the magazine tube ejected from the gun! When you get your gun you can visually reference the "pressure" the magazine might be exerting by looking at the gap between it and the barrel--if the gap has an angle to it--as mine did--chances are it's "overtorqued." Another risk factor with rossi (Braztec in the US)--at least at the time I bought mine--is that they have a policy of no sales of parts direct to consumers in the US. If one little screw brakes--chances are good you'll have to box and ship the whole thing to Brazil and might have to wait a loooooong time for it to maybe get fixed. For all those shortcomings--they can be made into wonderfully fun shooting guns--there is a "cult" following of rossi shooters but I think it's fair to say that most of them are the kinds of shooters that are confident in rolling up their sleeves and taking the gun apart and working on it to get it to shoot well; if necessary. Also--keep an eye on the screws on the receiver assembly--they like to shake themselves loose--at least mine often do but I shoot mostly higher power loads through mine.
 
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Due to the ballistic performance of the 44 mag (specifically the trajectory at distance relative to velocity and BC) I seriously doubt many--if any--weapons--especially hand guns--come zeroed for 100. I believe the stock rear buckhorn on the rossi is adjustable for elevation. I personally simply have a thing for shooting high power 44 mag loads at 100--but I think a 25 or 50 yd zero is what most people do (manufactures, I don't know)--especially if it's a revolver.
 
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I had my Rossi apart when I stripped & refinished the stocks. I kinda like the fact that the magazine tube is so easy to take off. Seems very simple to me.

I've mostly been using my Rossi to shoot steel & targets of opportunity. Just put it on paper for the 1st time in September after 5 years of owning it. Found I needed adjust both the windage and elevation. :o

Every time I let a buddy shoot it - usually with the quiet rounds - they want to buy the rifle off me. Good gun for thrashing around in the woods and shooting small game.
 
50 yards offhand with my Rossi 92 in .44 Magnum. It's the 24" octagon.

I think you made a good choice.


2013-11-03T18-16-44.jpg



I have another Rossi 92 in .357. It has the 24" octagon barrel, too.
 
Super Sneaky: As Paul Harvey (Radio personality for you young-uns) used to say, "now for the rest of the story"!

Doing that time I was using the .30-30 with the Lyman sights (late 70's to early 80's), I was also casting lead bullets for the same rifle and working up black powder loads with them. Still have many of the bullets (Lyman mold, can't remember number of weight). Loads of fun, but then I bought a TC Contender with .30-30 barrel and the rifle got cast off to the side. The Contender was
strictly smokeless powder (IMR3031) and jacketed bullets.

Still have the rifle (I actually have never sold or traded a firearm my entire life) and one of these days (bucket list), I'lll have to resurrect its use!
 
Just back from my lunch break where I had just enough time to squeeze off 10 shots on a new target design. Conditions were vastly better today--winds were only 5 to 10. Also the target design stands out really well at 100 yds--I think I found the sweet spot--especially if you mount it on a dark background board. I will post a link to it if you wish to download it and try it out--I think it works well for unmagnified red dots and irons.

Despite better conditions and targets--I shot worse today than yesterday. :( the first group of 5 shots (covered with red dots) was around 3"--but the second 5 (one shot is covered by the ruler and one was on the border of the target) was around 6" Probably due to the finger on the trigger.



You can try out the target:

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=81788406089327D8!698&authkey=!AIjbF1mdteVczHk&ithint=file,pdf
 
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BTW My rifle is scheduled to come in on Friday!! Today was a stressful day, so if I can get it on Friday, lovingly clean it and play with it on Saturday I'll be very happy.
I think if all goes well this Saturday I'll take the following toys out
Rossi 44 mag 24 inch lever action
Ruger vaguero 44 mag
Uberti 44 special open top 7.5 inch barrel
Sig P226 with new reduced hammerspring (honestly I cant tell the difference atm with dry firing)
Ruger sr1911 with new low power recoil spring #14 pounds
maybe an old single action rifle from the 1930s....maybe a remington, winchester or iver johnson.
 
Jackstraw--Did you try the link right below the photo? Theoretically it should take you to one-drive where I stored a pdf file of the target. I actually hope someone will try it out and let me know what they think. All I was shooting is the budget federal 240 jhp but I am going to clean a bunch of brass tomorrow and start a new batch of my 44 mag "home brews." : ) I can't remember what I paid at wally world for the federal stuff--but it wasn't very much--well south of a dollar a round for a box of 50. I usually buy the stuff when I forget ammo on the way to the range or hunting or I need to harvest some brass. Have fun with your new rossi! I think you'll learn how enjoyable shooting 44 mag can be with it. : )
 
Another rifle noobie question, are the iron sights adjusted at the factory for 100 yards?
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It most likely won't be adjusted for anything. Even if it was each load has a different point of impact and would need to be adjusted for whatever you decide to use.

Elevation is a sliding notch. Very easy to adjust. The front post for your windage will require a brass punch and a small hammer to get it right.

I have a Walmart laser bore sight that saves me a lot of time and effort. It gets me very close without firing a shot.
http://www.amazon.com/LaserLyte-22-...2&sr=1-8&keywords=sightmark+laser+boresighter

I use this one.
 
stagpanther said:
Jackstraw--Did you try the link right below the photo? Theoretically it should take you to one-drive where I stored a pdf file of the target. I actually hope someone will try it out and let me know what they think. All I was shooting is the budget federal 240 jhp but I am going to clean a bunch of brass tomorrow and start a new batch of my 44 mag "home brews." : ) I can't remember what I paid at wally world for the federal stuff--but it wasn't very much--well south of a dollar a round for a box of 50. I usually buy the stuff when I forget ammo on the way to the range or hunting or I need to harvest some brass. Have fun with your new rossi! I think you'll learn how enjoyable shooting 44 mag can be with it. : )
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I just ordered some 200 grain cowboy loads off of sportsmans guide for 25 dollars a box of 50, free shipping. If it's still in stock you should grab some :)
 
Another question, I'm enjoying this thread and talking to you all. Let's say you have the rifle zerod in. Is there any rule of thumb in regards to the rear leaf sight and it's notches in regards to distance?
 
I just ordered some 200 grain cowboy loads off of sportsmans guide for 25 dollars a box of 50, free shipping. If it's still in stock you should grab some
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44 mag is a bit of a "rainbow trajectory" kind of cartridge-- like sneaky says you really can't set a meaningful factory zero since you'll likely see huge variations in POI at the kinds of distances you are talking about depending on cartridge velocity. Don't be surprised if after you dial into that cowboy stuff at 100 yds that anything approaching full power will impact nowhere near your POA.
 
For comparison: I sight in my '06 for 2" high at 100 yards with 150-grain full power loads. My gas-check plinker loads are 169-grain lead at about 1,800.

At 100 yards with the full-power sight-in, the plinkers hit about 15 to 18 inches low.

So, I'd guess that a sight-in at 100 yards with a 44 cowboy load would have full-power loads hitting a foot higher, if not more.
 
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