RD's Rossi RG4570B

[Ranch Dog]

Thought I would start a new topic so I can add range reports, etc. down the line. Picked up my Rossi RG4570B, blue finish, one of Rossi's latest offerings. Sitting here getting ready to type, all I can say is that I am impressed! It is almost an hour over to my gunsmith, I was taking him eight Marlins to have the LimbSaver pads removed (leaking gel) and replace them with Pachmayer Decelerators so I was in a bit of a funk about rifles. I even thought I might pay him for the Rossi if needed, kind of changed my mind, let him put it on the rack and sell it. I think I have too many guns, I just can no longer seem to keep up with them. Anyway, all these thought disappeared when I opened the box! It was extremely refreshing to see just a rifle and a small owner's manual in a box. No cables, locks, safety warnings, safety helmets, safety goggles, safety boots, or parachutes... you now what I mean. My goodness, the owner's manual isn't roll stamped on the barrel either! It just says "Rossi" "45/70 Govt". My oh my, reminds you right away of simple times!

The rifles fit and finish is flawless, period. The bluing is deep and the stocks are well finish. Just looking at them they look like they have a TruOil finish. The rifle is a light carbine, weighing in at 6# 3 oz. Once the sights were removed and my Bushnell Banner 1.5-4.5X32 mounted, 6# 14 oz. Perfect, exactly why I was interested in the rifle. Less sights and the same scope, my "G" (Guide Gun) weighs 7# 14 oz. and my "MR" (1895 450 Marlin with 22" barrel) 8# 5 oz.






This is not an 1895, it is a copy of a 336 down to just about every detail I could see. The obvious differences, which explains the weight are that some of components are very light compared to the run of the mill 336. Right away you notice the loading gate seems thin as well as the lever. It doesn't spook me in the least, I think Braztech sat down with all the technology that they have and said how can we do this better. I'm ready for a change. I mean come on, the last 336 I bought (336BL) weighed in at 8# 3 oz. with the same scope setup! Almost as much as the 1895MR. One of the complaints I read about the rifle was that the fellow could not find a hammer spur to fit. I'm not sure which Rossi he has but it looks like they solved it the way I would. They made the hammer pad larger. The pad on the hammer of this rifle it is about twice the area of a Marlin hammer pad so you do not need an extension.

I slugged the barrel and it measures .445" bore and .457" groove. The throat and step fits my TLC460 nose profile like a glove so I will probably size the bullets at .459" and see how it shoots. I have about a thousands shots out of my 1895s with the pressure trace equipment hooked up and based on the barrel and chamber measurements I've taken this evening already have a pretty good idea what this rifle can handle but will hook it up as well.

Just on curb appeal, Remington is going to need to watch their product a little closer. The rifle was $463.

[Ranch Dog]

I was digging around in my reloading room bright and early this morning and found two WW 300-grain JHP rounds on a shelf along with five rounds that I had loaded on for my "G"; my TLC460-350-RF bullet on top of 52.5-grains of Benchmark. I looked at the pressure data of the reloaded ammo and it was semi-conservative so I walked up the hill to the range with the Rossi pumpkin chunker.

I shot the two Winchester rounds at 50-yards, centered but low so made an adjustment but moved the target out to 100-yards before I shot the "Ranch Dog" ammo.



There you go. Pretty good shooting for the first seven shots out the barrel. There is some pre-frontal winds here gusting across the range, that might account for the horizontal deviation but even that is not bad. I do think the bullet needs to be a .459" so I special ordered a kit from Lee while I was sitting at the range. In the meantime, I will adjust the elevation a bit and kill a deer in the next couple of days with it. QuickLoad estimates the velocity/pressure to be 1849 FPS at 31.0K PSI. I suspect that is very close as it ran 1780 at 31.0K PSI in my Guide Gun measure with the pressure trace gear. I might bump the pressure up in the coming weeks as after taking some measurements, I think I will let this rifle idle along at 35.0K PSI. I operate my 1895s at 40.0K PSI. As an example, that would be 54.6-grain of Benchmark at 1895 FPS. H335 and H4895 would give me about another 60 FPS but I will work with all the Hodgdon rifle powders and see what it likes best.

When pressure testing the Guide Gun, about 60 rounds of ammo and I was ready to call it quits. I think this rifle will settle in around 30 or 35 and it will be time to stop. Of course, hunting it is just one recoil cycle. What else... Oh, the trigger is perfect. The rate of twist is 1:20.

[Armd2DaTeeth]

Nice rifle Bro, all though .45-70 seems a little big fer my needs I reckon.

[chicharrones]

Great info. Thanks for the details and the photos!

[chicharrones]

It was extremely refreshing to see just a rifle and a small owner's manual in a box. No cables, locks, safety warnings, safety helmets, safety goggles, safety boots, or parachutes...

[wiredgeorge]

45-70 is a caliber I have never shot... it would seem to have a pretty good recoil in a light carbine... how does it feel? Any bruises? How much eye relief do you have with that scope? Looks like it sits back there pretty far.

[Ranch Dog]

45-70 is a caliber I have never shot... it would seem to have a pretty good recoil in a light carbine... how does it feel? Any bruises? How much eye relief do you have with that scope? Looks like it sits back there pretty far.

You do feel the recoil more than with a Marlin Guide Gun or the Marlin 1895 rifles.This isn't a range gun, it is made for anchoring a big game animal. The recoil is not bad enough to worry about eye/scope contact. I looked at this rifle because of the weight compared to my Marlin big bore rifles. Last year I hunted nilgai on the Laguna Atacosa NWR in Cameron county last year. You have to walk in everyday and you have to get to the backside of the refuge. I took my Marlin 1895MR which is chambered in 450 Marlin as these critters need a pretty good thump to anchor. Anyway, that rifle is 8.5#, pretty heavy for the 4 to 5 mile walk in and back out each day.

I hunt with a number of large caliber Marlins, mainly to stop whitetails as soon as possible. I'm in southwestern DeWitt county and my ranch is typically brush country. If a deer gets to a prickly pear flat or the whitebrush, they can be very tough to find. In the evening, we never leave a deer to be found in the morning as the coyotes will be on them within 30 minutes to an hour. So if they stay on their feet, they tend to leave a very good blood trail from the large caliber entry and exit wound.

[Ranch Dog]

First kill with the Rossi, 2 1/2 year old "spike".



Not much to report. 80-yards, boom! The deer walked about 10 feet and laid down dead. Hit it through the top of the heart but everything forward of the diaphragm vaporized. The meplat on my TLC460-350-RF (and TLC460-425-RF) sure delivers a measure of destruction.

A couple of notes concerning the Rio Grande:

• The lighter weight has been a pleasure to carry out in the brush.
• At the shot, didn't notice the lack of weight.
• The RG has one of the nicest triggers on any levergun I have.
• Loading and unloading the rifle is scratching up my cartridges, I'm going to pull it apart and figure out why. I suspect just a "fluff and buff" on the various parts should do it.

[insector]

It seems you are the only one on the planet with this rossi 45-70!.................I may change that in the next week or 2. At least someone now has an opinion on the model in this caliber............

[RevolverFan]

Very nice! Every Taurus owner should have one!