Opinions on the Rossi Rio Grande in 45-70?

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Bill Akins

New member
I've been checking out the Rossi Rio Grande large loop carbine in 45-70. Obviously it is a close copy of the Marlin model 1895. I had heard some bad things about some foreign made Marlin 1895s having their front sight WAAAY off and severely canted. Haven't heard that about the Rossi clones.

Around close to 30 years ago I had a reproduction Marlin 1895 in 45-70 and it was a good one. Sorry I got rid of it even though it kicked heavily. Was thinking about getting one of these large loop Rossi Rio Grandes in 45-70. The only thing I would change in looking at the Rossi, is to get a front sight protector for the front sight which appears to be kinda sharp edged looking and begs for a sight protector.

Anyone here have any experience with the Rossi Rio Grande large loop 45-70 as to any detraction's or reasons not to get one?


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Bill,

Not the same rifle but I bought a new Model 92 from Rossi and the front sight needed to be yutzed to the left.

Shoots well now (well enough for me). Action is nice.

This is a short rifle at about 16 inches of barrel and so it would be comfortable to carry in heavy brush.
 
Again no experience with the Rio Grande but the sights on my Rossi 92 are spot on. The action was a little stiff but I filled it with white lithium grease and worked it a few hours and its slicker than snot on a porcelain doorknob now.
 
Thanks Doc and Hawg.

Hawg, I've also slicked up actions using grease and working them like you described. Another thing I've done on occasion with real stiff actions is to dump toothpaste and a little water into the action, and work the action letting the grit in the toothpaste wear on the surfaces a little bit like jeweler's rouge, then hot water and toothbrush rinse the dirty toothpaste out, dry it with the hair dryer, oil it and see how slick it got, and repeat if needed. Works faster than just using grease by itself and working the action, and the toothpaste grit is fine enough so it doesn't damage the surfaces but serves as just enough grit to polish things out and slick up the action.

But back to the 45-70 Rossi "Rio Grande", large loop carbine. I don't really NEED it, but I'm sure thinking about it more and more and haven't read anything bad about it yet. They appear to run around $450.00 to $500.00 brand new, and that sure seems like a good value price wise compared to the cost of a new Marlin 1895. But I'd like to make sure there aren't a lot of people with bad issues with them before I take the plunge.

Does anyone here have that particular make and model that could share their experience with it?


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I have a Rossi rio in .30-30. I was very frustrated with the gun when I first bought it as it seemed to only cycle 1 particular brand of ammo. I have heard horror stories about their customer service and I didn't want to send it back.
My solution to the problem was to shoot over 100 rds to get her "broken in". It now seems to be operating very well with no cycling issues.
For what it's worth, it originally liked the federal "deer thugs" ammo but the Winchester silver box caused cycling problems.
Again, I'm very happy with it now, but shooting that much .45-70 will get pricey and hard on your shoulder if you are unlucky enough to have the same issue.
 
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