Problems with Rossi Revolver have me looking at Glock now

T

Texas Tony

Inactive
First time poster cuz i am rather upset about what happened last weekend. I was shooting some 38 special shells through the Rossi 357 snubnose (model 46202) and the hammer entirely jammed. It wouldn't go forward or backward- acting almost like the safety was engaged (but it wasn't).

I removed the grips and started to loosen the screws on the side plate of the gun and the hammer popped free (sorta). It was still unreasonably stiff so I took the sideplate all the way off. Upon a very close inspection around the hammer, I noticed a wire about the size of a lightbulb filament wire that had lodged between the hammer and the side of the gun. The end of the wire was coiled like a spring.

At this point, I decided the gun needed to go back to Rossi under their limited lifetime warranty. I discovered that both UPS and Fedex will only ship handguns via overnight shipping and the USPS is an absolute no-go. The cost to ship the gun back was $80. I called Braztech/Rossi/Taurus to complain and they offered to sell me a pre-paid label using their discount so shipping was "only" $50.

Not happy with this and until i get the gun back, I reserve the right to complain more. :-) But other than venting, I want to flip this back around as a question to the community...

I purchased a revolver because: 1) I want a simple gun that my wife can use if she wants. She has no interest in going to the range to practice shooting. She wants something she can just pull the trigger for self defense; and 2) I want reliable! If I ever find myself in a situation that I must use the gun to protect myself or my family, failure to fire every shot in the gun is not acceptable.

It is #2 that has me concerned... this failure to fire makes me wonder if I should keep the Rossi or sell the Rossi and buy a Glock. However, if I go with Glock, that goes against reason #1 I wanted a wheelgun to begin with. What advice would you give me?
 
If you want a revolver, spend the money & don't cheap out on it.
I would never let the failure of a Rossi drive me to an auto if I wanted a revolver.
Denis
 
Honestly, if I wanted to stay with the revolver I would trade the Rossi for either a Smith and Wesson J frame or a Ruger LCR or LCRX. Rossi revolvers are made by Taurus and they have a less than spectacular reputation in either form. There's nothing wrong with a Glock semi auto but if a revolver is what I wanted then a revolver is what I'd get. Just go with the Smith or Ruger and you won't be disappointed.
 
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Truth be told any firearm can malfunction or experience a mechanical failure (I have in the past year witnessed two competing vendor revolvers experience failures to eject shells from cylinder chambers (requiring polishing to resolve)--BAD QC) . As someone else already stated, I wouldn't let one bad experience bias me against an entire segment of firearms (revolvers and this coming from a semi-auto guy). Personally I would not have tried disassembly absent the presence of a qualified gunsmith for fear of voiding the warranty...

So in essence, 1) hopefully your firearm will be repaired 2) in the meantime you find a similar revolver (plethora of similar models available) 3) the semi-auto (Glock) route you are considering would require a bit more training but doable if willing...

BTW, I would like to hear a follow-up on the Rossi repair process.

--Happy New Year
 
A good friend of mine has that exact gun, a rossi 462 .357 blued. He hasn't had a single problem with it after roughly 1000 rds. After about 600 the trigger actually smoothed out pretty well for the price paid. I personally would buy ruger or smith but I'll admit, my friend's rossi is just as accurate as my gp100 and my 686 so I may consider getting one in the future as a carry weapon I don't care about scratching. You may just have a lemon
 
failure to fire every shot in the gun is not acceptable.
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Hate to be harsh but nobody can promise total reliability. I have guns that I would trust my life to but I still would not claim they would fire every time. Again, such a promise is not possible. Plus even if you got the mythical 100% reliable gun where are you going to get the 100% reliable ammunition? Here’s a thread on ammo that shows there are problems in that area too.

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=538891

Wrong ammo in the box, ammo with the bullets backward, ammo with no bullets. Point is there are mistakes made in that area too.

Best you can do is do everything you can to make sure things work as they should and then have a backup plan for when they don’t.
 
Sometimes a good FFL will let you bring it to them, and they will arrange to have it sent back to the manufacturer free of charge, if it's a new gun...
Ive only had one gun go back to the manufacturer, and my FFL hooked it up for me.

Also, sometimes "new" guns are abused by gunshop newbie employees who love to dryfire repeatedly, spin the cylinder and snap it shut, etc.
Perhaps this may be the case as well.
 
back in the late 90s Rossi (and Taurus) were trying to chisel in on a market dominated by high dollar S&W, Colt, and Ruger revolvers; think of the pre-lock days. Rossi had to make guns of descent quality and sell them for less than the big boys in order to gain a foothold.

fast fwd to today. most revolvers have a built in lock, redesigned internals to facilitate the locks... and are competitively priced, plus, there are a lot of suckers still out there.

if you want an almost 100% guarantee of a good working revolver, look for ones without the locks, made when workmanship was sought before penny pinching.
 
I purchased a revolver because: 1) I want a simple gun that my wife can use if she wants. She has no interest in going to the range to practice shooting. She wants something she can just pull the trigger for self defense; and 2) I want reliable! If I ever find myself in a situation that I must use the gun to protect myself or my family, failure to fire every shot in the gun is not acceptable.
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I'm not being a jerk, and I've been in the same boat as you with a Taurus M85, but if you want a reliable gun, start by buying a better gun.

There is a reason that Rossi / Taurus are cheaper than the big boys and its not that they are offering the same quality at a discounted price.

Find a used nice Ruger or Smith. Keep the Rossi or dump it. If you dump it, know that you will lose money but consider it a lesson learned.
 
If you decide to leave revolvers the Glock would be your best choice for reliability, especially in 9mm. I'm sure that others will disagree.
 
Any of the currently made striker fired pistols will do what you ask.
Especially those without an external safety to mess with.
With a better trigger than the revolver, and easier to shoot, too.
Just go to your favorite store, with your wife, of course, and tell them what she wants to look at.
But, if she refuses to learn how to shoot, or practice, I sure wouldn't want to live next door to you guys.
 
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if you want a glock that,s great I have a G29 10mm, and three lonewolf barrels so I can shoot 357sig, 40S&W, 9x25dillon, and of course 10mm, same mag,s....
that being said if I was FORCED to have only one gun it would more than likely be my sp101 357mag 3inch barrel. CC it just disappears and hit,s where I aim every time unless I do something wrong.
Good Luck Either way you go.
 
I'm an old wheelgunner from way back; but if forced to keep only one handgun it would be my beat up old Glock 23. So I definitely understand your thinking.
 
Unread Yesterday, 11:16 PM #3
virg
Senior Member


Join Date: September 24, 2010
Location: SE KY
Posts: 123 Honestly, if I wanted to stay with the revolver I would trade the Rossi for either a Smith and Wesson J frame or a Ruger LCR or LCRX. Rossi revolvers are made by Taurus and they have a less than spectacular reputation in either form. There's nothing wrong with a Glock semi auto but if a revolver is what I wanted then a revolver is what I'd get. Just go with the Smith or Ruger and you won't be disappointed.
__________________
Virg...
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Very good revolver advice.
 
First time poster cuz i am rather upset about what happened last weekend. I was shooting some 38 special shells through the Rossi 357 snubnose (model 46202) and the hammer entirely jammed. It wouldn't go forward or backward- acting almost like the safety was engaged (but it wasn't).
Click to expand...

There is no manual safety to engage.

At this point, I decided the gun needed to go back to Rossi under their limited lifetime warranty. I discovered that both UPS and Fedex will only ship handguns via overnight shipping and the USPS is an absolute no-go. The cost to ship the gun back was $80. I called Braztech/Rossi/Taurus to complain and they offered to sell me a pre-paid label using their discount so shipping was "only" $50.
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Everyone has to do that. Welcome to the world of handgun warranty service. Most vendors will have a way of covering shipping.

I shipped a gun back to Charter Arms this past summer. They sent me a UPS pickup tag ("warranty -- machine parts" or some such ;) ). I had the gun back, fixed, inside of 2 weeks. The service experience was painless. Because of that, I contemplate getting another Charter, even though the gun itself is "functional but rough".

I removed the grips and started to loosen the screws on the side plate of the gun and the hammer popped free (sorta). It was still unreasonably stiff so I took the sideplate all the way off. Upon a very close inspection around the hammer, I noticed a wire about the size of a lightbulb filament wire that had lodged between the hammer and the side of the gun. The end of the wire was coiled like a spring.
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I'm wondering if popping the sideplate didn't help dislodge it.

The description has me wondering. Springs inside a revolver tend to be fairly stout, and coiled the whole way. I'm wondering if this wasn't some bit of random trash that fell in past the hammer. (I had that happen once -- my fault.)

I purchased a revolver because: 1) I want a simple gun that my wife can use if she wants. She has no interest in going to the range to practice shooting. She wants something she can just pull the trigger for self defense; and 2) I want reliable! If I ever find myself in a situation that I must use the gun to protect myself or my family, failure to fire every shot in the gun is not acceptable.
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Once it comes back, make sure the sideplate screws are snug, then run a bunch of rounds through it. Run through Jim March's revolver checkout procedure. If no problem, call it good.
 
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Upon a very close inspection around the hammer, I noticed a wire about the size of a lightbulb filament wire that had lodged between the hammer and the side of the gun. The end of the wire was coiled like a spring.
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Can you provide us with a photo of this?
 
Two things.

First, if you want a revolver, don't buy something cheap like a Rossi. Buy something decent like a Ruger or if you want to spend a little more then get a Smith & Wesson.

Second, you can't go wrong with a Glock, but I'd probably go 9mm (G19 or G17) for ease of recoil and all that. That's it.
 
Revolvers

Not all people think Revolvers are more reliable than Semi Pistols. I believe FERFAL over at " Surviving In Argentina" is one. I like revolvers (especially Model 19 S&W) and have had little trouble from them - I just hate the capacity. I think revolvers are much more subject to failure under harsh conditions than Semi- Pistols. As the mechanism is largely exposed such as cylinders etc. Also the timing mechanism can become "off" through wear, debris etc. Just my opinion and yours may vary.
 
She has no interest in going to the range to practice shooting. She wants something she can just pull the trigger for self defense;
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Really, buy her some pepper spray. Refusing to learn to operate a firearm is a great sign that you should never handle one, especially during an emergency.


Larry
 
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