My Single Shot Rossi

[Ahnkochee]

Aloha Gentlemen, Just wanted to share a project I did a while back. One of my favorite rounds of all time is the 357 magnum both from handguns and long guns. I had a 94 Winchester Trapper in 357 mag but it was tad too nice to throw behind the seat of my truck as a truck gun. At the time Guns South had the Rossi R357S stainless single shots for $160 so I ordered mine and had it in hand in less than a week. First thing I noticed was the crappy plastic rear sight which could not be adjusted for elevation. I chucked that thing ASAP, and noticed that the barrel was already drilled and tapped for a scope mount. This gun was strictly a open sight bush gun so no scope for me but I discovered that the rear sight from a TC Contender fit perfectly like a glove. I used it like this for a couple years, and many remote areas of Maui I fished also had large herds of wild goats roaming so this little rifle accounted for quite a few goats for my freezer. One thing I didn't like as a truck gun was it's 23" barrel which made it a tad unwieldy. From research I found that the ideal length of barrel for efficiently burning all the powder in a 357 case was 16 inches. I had a gunsmith friend cut & crown the barrel at 16.25" I also had him cut a dovetail for a new front site to accept the front sight from my Winchester Trapper. The rear sight I replaced with a Williams peep made for the TC Contender, perfect fit. I also removed the paint from the stock, and stained and oiled it with surprising grain especially on the fore-end. Now this gun was compact and handier than ever, the perfect truck gun for my needs.

Before picture with 23" barrel and TC Contender rear sight pictured with my Rossi 971 revolver.


Wild goats galore!


Typical Maui wild billy


Barrel cut down to 16.25" with new front sight


New rear Williams peep sight


Refinished stock


The finished product with ammo butt cuff and sling added.


Success on Blackbuck Doe in Hondo, Texas!

[panther]

Sounds like a handy little rifle! Congrats to you.

[texastaurusguy]

That's a nice single-shot there ! And a great two gun combo, for sure.

[fenderpbass]

Nice rifle. Love that wood grain.

[STONEY]

Great job! I like single shots too.Used to have a New England Arms S.S., .30-06 & .223 barrels (pain in the butt,sighting in a scope).Now I prefer a falling block.-One Shot,One Kill.

[ncfarmer]

You did a nice job with that single shot Rossi. I like the new rear sight you installed and
with the modifications you have a nice truck gun. How big do the wild goat herds get
in the islands? A wild goat would make for a nice barbeque.

[Ahnkochee]

Thanks for the complements guys. Between Ulupalakua and Kaupo is a vast empty mountainous grassland with miles of rolling hills which are the foothills to 10,000 high Mt. Haleakala. These slopes are home to thousands of Axis Deer and tens of thousands of wild goat. You'll see wild pigs too though not as plentiful as the goats. That goat herd pictures above I'm guessing numbered over a thousand and stretched out for over a mile. Usually you see them in groups of 25 to 50. They are very tasty especially the young nannies. Big trophy billies stink and are only worth their horns. A scoped 270 would probably be a better choice in this open country but I don't mind working a tad harder for my food especially when no pressure of a short hunting season, no seasons here open all year. With this little open sight rifle you hunt like and archer, very fun.

[Robby]

I remember taking a Jeep, around that side of Maui!! The wife and I really enjoyed the trip! Never thought about hunting being going on there.

[45 Forever]

Nive job, great little gun!

[for2nato]

i like that alot. and i like that you took something that just wasnt quite right and made it what you needed. thats true american spirit. again thats a great looking gun.