Please explain Rossi Gallery guns?

2

2wheelwander

New member
A recent visit to one of my favorite shops had 2 Rossi gallery guns. They appeared very old, obviously .22. Octagon barrels, small pump handle. To me, they appeared clean but rough. One had a price tag of $1300, the other $3200. They looked identical to me. Owner said there was a local collector who has several of these and brings them into him on consignment as he doesn't want to deal with a private sale. Owner of the shop said when he puts them online people will drive from all over buy these. He didn't know the intricacies of each model but claimed there was a cult following and those who do know every detail.

I vaguely know the history of these from my Dad, but nothing else. What is the draw these guns bring $3k+?
 
You SURE those were Rossi's? I wasn't aware that the Rossi Gallery guns had any
serious collector value. They are a copy of the Winchester 62 pump, and my Blue
Book has a max value of about 10% of your numbers.

You sure they were not Winchesters? A true Gallery Model pre war Winchester 62 in great condition can be a $3,000+ gun, and a pre war regular 62 can hit half that. If they are Model 1890's then depending on model $3,000 could be a bargain.
 
Me too

I too am scratching my head on that one. If any of the Rossi guns are highly collectible it is news to me.

I do like the old .22 pump guns, have never seen a really old Rossi version.

I did have a Brazilian made copy of the Remington Nylon 66, and the old Stevens .22 "falling block" youth .22. Both were lost when checking out of a motel. I made the error of standing them in the corner, the corner by the door to the room. They were left there I am certain. Either the motel owner or a maid decided to steal them.
I realized upon my return home they were gone, motel claimed to have not seen them.
 
My LGS had several Rossi Gallery guns. All in great shape, none over 500. They also has a few Nylons as well... very tempting.
 
I miss the Stevens

For some weird reason I really liked that little youth model Stevens. It is or was a "falling block" style lever action. Single shot of course, very simple the loading gate fell when you jacked the lever open. Really easy to load single shot. The gate would guide the cartridge very nicely.
I rarely see the darn things, always thought these were great for the kids.
 
Like many here, I have never seen "Rossi" and "high value collector's gun" in the same sentence. The facts need to be checked on that one. Is it really a Rossi?

I drove from Virginia to Adamstown, PA to buy a Winchester Model 62 for under $200 in an antiques store about a decade ago, but I missed it by a few hours. Someone else apparently also knew how valuable it was.
 
Rossi does make a 'gallery gun' copy of the Winchester Model 62. Here is one for sale, however, it's starting bid is under $300. I think it's simply a case of the gunshop owner either being an idiot or trying to slick his customers. Looks like the 'buyer beware' adage is alive and well.
 
"...on consignment..." Means the shop's customer sets the price and the shop takes a fee for selling it. That particular guy is hallucinating if he thinks a Rossi M62 is worth $1300. Never mind $3200. They run $200 to about $400 on Gunbroker.
They're not old either. Made between 1976 and 1986. According to Gun Digest Modern Gun Values, 14th Edition.
A Winchester M62 is a different critter. The Winchester Model 62 was in production from 1932 till 1958. They start at roughly $900 and go to roughly $4500 depending on chambering and condition.
 
I have one of the Rossi 22 pumps with a 16" barrel. Its chrome or nickle plated. It belonged to my dad. He shot squirrels with it. A LOT of squirrels.

He had the lifter replaced with a lifter that will cycle shorts, longs and long rifle rounds. I have the original parts for it too. he also had the tang drilled and added a tang receiver sight.

If this sucker is worth $3000 please let me know. I will sell it in a heart beat.;)
 
I'd like to get my hands on a nice Win 62. That was a great gun but they tend to run high when they are in good shape.
 
I could've sworn he said they were Rossi's. The condition to me looked a minimum of 50 years old. According to the dealer the owner brings them in and tells him what he has to have for them. Next time I'm in Ill look at them again for make..

Even if they were Winchesters, they appeared identical in every respect to my quick glancing eye. To me, not a very attractive gun to begin with, I just don't get the draw of them. I went in and bought a 29-2 and a K38 he had. They were in near mint condition, couldn't pass them up. He allowed layaway which allowed me to buy them. The 3 times I went in to pay on them those gallery guns were still there.

Dad has a black nylon he's had for decades. That thing is a hoot to shoot. Local prices at shows are going up slowly on them.
 
Bill deshivs maybe the later guns would feed all three 22 rounds but not this one. This was one of the very first ones available. It’s even marked 22LR on top of the barrel. Believe it or not I actually know what I am talking about.

I googled the Rossi pump and it does show some will feed all 3 rounds. The Taurus link to the rifles list it as 22LR.

My gun is marked Interarms if that helps to date it. I did the serial number search but the number was not found.
 
Last edited:
I have one of those Stevens Favorite single shot falling block .22s. Dated 1903 and is chambered for .22 shot. With a smooth bore. I bought it in a group of BB guns. I knew it was a.22 but I thought it said 22 short. The barrel was plugged with a broken off cleaning jag that my brother cleared for me...never shot it. It just claims a space in the safe....maybe i'll sell it one day but maybe I wont..
 
The above discussion is hitting upon quite a few of my own questions that were raised by the original post. So, I'll skip those subjects.

As for the Rossi 62s, in general:
The good ones are tons of fun, and quite decent little rifles.
I'd love to get my hands on another good 62SAC (the original "Gallery" model ... even though it's really just a youth carbine configuration). The one that I've got is wearing out.

...But many of the Rossi 62s are unreliable, prone to breakage, and difficult to work on. (Winchester parts don't fit well, or even at all for some parts, and you can't get replacements from Rossi.)

If there's one single rule that I've learned about the Rossi 62s, it would be: Stay away from the nickel and 'stainless' variants. They seem to have an even higher rate of malfunction than the blued variants.


But, of course... What you saw had to be some old Winchesters.
I just don't see a Rossi being priced like that - even with an octagon barrel and a seller from fantasy land.

The Winchester were good guns, but most are quite well worn now (or outright broken). ...And overpriced due to 'collectors'.
 
I've got a pair of the Rossi guns, acquired sometime in the 90s.
One is a backup parts gun, the frame's warped.
The other's a decent little shooter.

I'd be delighted to sell both for a grand. :)
Denis
 
I bought one of the Rossies I loved my Moms 62 that shot like a tack driver (I split a card in half with it edge on one day much to everyone's surprise no more than mine and never could it again!)

It was awful for accuracy though it functioned just fine. Gave it up. Really annoyed.

Finally I bought a CZ 452 MT and that gun will shoot like the old 62 with (granted a scope as iron sights are a thing of the past for me.
 
I've got a pair of the Rossi guns, acquired sometime in the 90s.
One is a backup parts gun, the frame's warped.
The other's a decent little shooter.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, it seem to be the only way to go when you find a good one.

I had a 62SAC and a 62SA. Or didn't have an SA. Or maybe I was only storing it. My memory of the situation is a bit foggy, and it was a moderately complicated situation.

The SA was a basket case, made worse by a garage 'gunsmith' that didn't take the time to understand how the action functioned, before he started "fixing" it.
So, the SA was declared an organ donor to keep the 62SAC alive.

And then I shot myself in the foot...
I figured out how to re-redneck the Bubba jobs without actually fixing the parts, and the previous owner and I got the SA running again with some modified Winchester 62A parts. (And a nail. It's not a proper redneck job without a nail in there somewhere...)

Since we had it running again and I hadn't actually paid for the rifle in the first place, I kindly obliged when the owner wanted to put the rifle back in service, rather that storing it as an organ donor. He does still say that it's "half" mine, though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top