Rossi 45 lc lever action rifle

P

Prof Young

New member
Shooters:
I see that Rossi makes a lever action rifle that shoots 45 colt. Anyone out there care to share their experience with this gun?
Live well, be safe
Prof Young
 
the rossi iin .357 us a very functional, decently accurate, and pretty well constructed rifle. You should be able to get 6" groups easily. I can hit 75 offhand yard clay pigeons on the berms with mine.

If this style of gun is good for you, you will do well.
 
They are great guns. Light, handy, slick, strong actions, quick to bring on target. all features brought over from the legendary Winchester 1892 (92), arguably John Browning's finest rifle design and one of Winchester's finest offerings ever. I've only got .357 and .44 Mag (and a little. of .44-40) over the course of 30 or so years with them, but have heard little but good about the .45s as well. (.45 was never an original Win 92 offering)

All of mine are "pre safety." In the mid 90's when Legacy Sports (LSI/Puma) took over from Interarms as the top importer, they added a fukakata little ambiguous safety atop the receiver. In 2006, another Rossi distributor, EMF, which had been a safety hold-out succumbed and added the "feature" as well. It's the only real "ding" IMO on the newer (post Interarms era) Rossis. Most live with it and--for the most part--learn to ignore it. Others have plugged it successfully (do a search), including one with innovative peep site (see link below) "replacement" to fill in.

But, really, they're all great guns. Some smoother out- of-the-box than others. 2000 or so meant new tooling and supposedly with it smoother actions, but I've not had any complaints regarding the older ones...and even those that might be a little stiff early on, nothing a lot of dry levering won't cure 95% of. Steve Young, aka Nate Kiowa Jones, is the 92 guru www.stevesgunz.com, famous for his Rossi tuning, and has a video for do-it-yerselfers to slick up your gun, and parts such as a steel mag follower to replace the plastic one that comes with most.
Get one and enjoy!

Later Edit: Btw, Rossi (Taurus/Braztech) itself is the only current distributor/importer of its 92s. LSI got out of the Rossi business (but kept its "Puma" name many have felt synonymous with any Rossi 92--it got from its Interarms "take over") in 2008 and has been selling its own pricier line of Italian (Chiappa) made 92s since, along with Cimarron and Taylor's.
 
Last edited:
Rossi 92 in 45 colt

Great rifle in 45 colt.
I have a 92 big loop trapper model that is slick and handy and the Ranch Hand model as well both of course in 45 colt.
All Rossi's have a sight issue that is easily corrected with Marbles sights making them accurate as well.
I am a reloader so ammo cost is a non issue.
I had nothing but feeding problems with this model in the 357/38 spl caliber so I traded it off. It seems to be a common issue when trying to use 38 cal.
It is true The original model 92 Winchester was never chambered in 45 colt but then again neither was it chambered in 357/38 spl or 44 mag.
I think you will enjoy this rifle in this fine old historical caliber.

Doc
 
I have one of the Braztech 24" Octagon models that I purchased toward the end of 2010. It's chambered for 38/357 and I haven't had any issues using 38 in mine at all. It'll eat the stuff like candy and puts it right where you aim. I had considered the 45 caliber, but not being a reloader would have made that a rather expensive choice. Like most, my action was a little rough out of the box and then smoothed up very nicely after some use without making any modifications.
 
I've got an older one in 45 Colt and really like it. With my hot handloads it will hold good groups at 100 yds. I've even taken a young buck with it. The fit & finish are outstanding and the wood is so good looking I don't take it hunting much for fear of marring the finish.

All in all a sweet little rifle.
 
My shooting partner has the stainless 16" Puma in .45 Colt, I get to shoot it often. I really like that gun, it even feeds my SWC loads.
My .45 Colt carbine is the H&R single shot, like that one too.
 
I have a Rossi/LSI Model 92 Big Loop 16" carbine in .45 Colt - that I bought 4 years ago NIB, and have been shooting w/o issue.

I "upgraded" (?) mine via replacing the plastic magazine follower with one I handmade of brass, and also replaced the bolt-top lawyer safety with a Skinner Lo-Pro Peep Sight - which zeroed using the issue front sight within 5 shots.
The LoPro Peep install was a drop-in, via simply opening the bolt & tapping out the safety retaining pin, which is re-used to retain the Skinner peep.

For plinking, I use Cowboy loads or whatever, but for hunting I use the loads the rifle is zeroed for - CorBon JSP's.

Using the CorBon loads, I've been successful on big Maine Whitetails out to a little over 100 yds

.
 
I can tell you that its a tough rifle. A friend has one in 45 Colt and I stood there and watched him shoot about a dozen rounds of 44 Mag through it. I eventually wandered over and started picking up the brass and noticed it was seriously bulged. It never did split a case and the rifle was fine. (morons).
 
Bought a 19" 45 colt. Was so impressed with it I bought another one- 16" saddle ring large loop. I am so impressed with it it's a matter of time before I get the Ranch Hand too.
 
I have a 16" trapper model from Rossi in Colt 45 that works great. I actually don't mind the safety they installed on it because you can easily replace it with a peep sight to give yourself a much longer sight radius than you would ever get with the barrel sights.
The only negative thing I have to say about it is that if you shoot really hot loads (like stuff rated at 1000ft/lbs and higher muzzle energy from 5" barrels) it can be kind of tough on your shoulder because of the metal buttplate and overall light weight. This is a complete non-issue with normal rounds though, which you could shoot all day without issue.

I also have a Ranch Hand in .44mag. It actually had some feed issues and I ended up having to grind one piece down just a teeny bit to get it to feed at all. Aside from that it has been great.

I also swapped the levers between the two guns, as I find the Ranch Hand is much easier to work with a normal lever. I am probably going to order another lever from Rossi for the trapper as I really don't like the big loop at all. I have no intention of spinning my rifle to load it, and that is all the big loop offers while the smaller loop makes for a shorter total distance I have to move my hand to work the action, which is a very good thing.

I have used the DVD from stevezguns to do some work on these gun. The action is now pretty smooth and easy, and I was able to use a dremel with a grinding stone tip to lighten the trigger pull on both to about 4 lbs.

Definitely some fun guns.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top