Rossi Ranch Hand

Finally got a Ranch Hand

I started looking for a Rossi Ranch Hand over a year ago. A local gun shop had me on the top of the list when they could get one in. About three weeks ago they called me, and said they had one for me in .45 Colt, the cal. I wanted. I bought it. Came home and tried to load it. It was near impossible to do, due to the roughness of the inside finish. Called a gunsmith I know who is active in cowboy action shooting, delivered it to him, and received it back today. It works great and is fun to shoot. In addition to working on the action, I had him remove the sights and install dovetail blanks. Without sights it really looks nice and I don't have to worry about snags. I am going to enjoy this Ranch Hand. The down side is I had to have a gunsmith prep it for action. The gunsmith said this is the first Ranch Hand he has worked on, but has worked on a number of the full sized '92 rifles from Rossi, which required the same work as my Ranch Hand to put them in action.
 
I have been viewing some Wanted Dead or Alive TV shows from season one. Steve McQueen really plays his role well, and of course there is the excitement of the Mare's Leg. I have noticed at least two versions of the Mare's Leg in these season one episodes. One version has a triangular shaped cocking lever, whereas another version has a more circular shaped cocking lever. The Mare's Leg itself, I have noticed in these episodes, with either of the cocking lever variations has a round barrel. However, the picture of the Mare's Leg in the end credits has an octagon barrel. Has anyone else noticed this? And, can anyone shed any light on the reason for the variations of the Mare's Leg in the Wanted Dead or Alive TV episodes?
 
The barrel variations I don't know the reason for, but the Type II "wedge" lever evolved because it was easier to manipulate quicker than the larger Type I lever.
The story goes that McQueen wanted it.
Denis
 
Took Ranch Hand to the range for the second time.

I took the Ranch Hand, cal. .45 Colt, to the range for the second time. It now has over 250 rounds through it. I had two boxes of factory rounds (50/box), and a hundred rounds of reloads with me. The factory loads were Ultramax, and Precision. I was lucky to have the range to myself for over an hour, so I was able to stand twenty feet from the target. The recoil is mild (no noticeable muzzle rise). There is some rearward recoil, which I felt when holding the butt near the lower rib cage, so I held the gun out a few inches from the body, which made the lever cocking more challenging. I thought the point shooting would be easier than it was. I consider myself to be a pretty good shot in general, but normally use sights. With the Ranch Hand it is fun to shoot, no doubt about it! However, the point shooting is a new experience for me, and it is going to take considerable practice for me to become proficient with the Ranch Hand even at 20 feet. The Ultramax factory ammo gave me 3 misfires. The foregoing being said, I will have fun on my goal to become proficient in point shooting the Ranch Hand. While cleaning this handgun, I noticed about 20 tiny cresant shaped dings in the top of the wood stock where ejected cases bounced off. They add character to the looks of the gun. Empty cases were easy to find, as most landed not more that two feet away. I could not find one case, and later located it in my jacket pocket. Watching some of the old Steve McQueen TV episoces, I noticed he hits his adversaries with the Mare's Leg more often than he shoots them. I can see why, since it is suitable for as a good club. The Ranch Hand is fun, and I love it. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had to have a gunsmith work mine over to put the finishing touches to it that Rossi neglected to do to get it to function. At the price of the gun, it was worth it to me to pay a little extra for the gunsmith. Besides, I had this on order for 15 months.
 
Tactical Rossi

I have had the same question about aiming accurately and decided to add a quad rail to my Ranch Hand. If anything it looks cool. I am going to shot it as soon as some accessories come in.

Does anyone think there is a market for something like this? It started out as a weekend project, but I could have fun building more.
 

Attachments

  • Tactical Rossi.jpg
    Tactical Rossi.jpg
    244.4 KB · Views: 153
Replace the lever loop with a set of studded brass knuckles. Someone used to make a laser sight for lever actions that went in the end of the mag tube.
 
Well almost 2 years ago in this thread I said I wanted one. Last night I was browsing Buds website and they had the .44 mag listed for $374.00. That was all it took. Into the cart it went. By this AM the price had gone up to $424.
I had wanted the .357 originally, but since I reload both, I settled for the 44.
Can't wait until it gets here.
 
Back
Top