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Rossi R92 357mag 16" blued lever rifle review

12K views 9 replies 10 participants last post by  ricky_bobby  
#1 ·
Lever guns seem to be made of gold these days, with Winchester,Henry's and Uberti's going for $1000 up to infinity. Rossi's running $700 up to $1300. But I still had an itch to scratch, and I am not sure Lever rifles will come down much more during the usual summer slump. I paid $719 for this one:
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I've owned two other Rossi's both 20", one in 357 stainless and one in 44mag blued. The wood on those previous models was not very impressive. My oh my Rossi upped their game on wood selection and stained finish. This is a deep red and brown walnut looking finish and looks amazing.
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This Rossi weighs 5lb 12 oz's unloaded. It is 33 1/2" long and has a 4lb trigger. The R92 comes with a buckhorn rear sight and a brass bead front post style sight. The brass bead is a bit small for me, but kinda sights in like an HD style.
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The fit and finish of the wood is perfect. Everything lines up and mates smoothly with the tang and receiver.
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The barrel band reduction and fit are perfect as well. Overall the wood is a solid 10, However the finish on the receiver and bolt top came with some light scratches and mars. I guess it already has character.
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So how does it shoot? I used two of my 357 mag reloads to test the R92 out today. The round specs are on the target. My 2400 load shot high and left, but my 296 reloads performed very well. Both of these loads run in the low 1600FPS out of the 16" barrel of the R92. The action is smooth, not buttery smooth, but works well for me. The loading gate isn't as sharp as previous Rossi's, but still needs to be dehorned. After a few runs, I was thinking I might need to drift the rear sight a bit to the right. But I slowed down and focused on trigger control. My last four shots were at the 1" red circles, by the time I got to the 4th bull I was putting rounds in the center. So bullseye accurate at 25 yards. I will stretch it out to 50 later in May. In this day of out of this world pricing for lever rifles, this $700 Rossi is a winner.
Thanks for reading, get out there and enjoy this nice weather.
 
#3 ·
Great write up! I used to sell Rossi 92's back in the late 80's early 90's and they were not nearly as fit as what your describing. Especially the receiver polishing had a plethora of buff rounded flat edges. They seemed to function OK but yours looks way better overall. Cant beat an open sight gun in a 357/92! I built this mongral last year. It was a 25-20 with a rotten barrel. Now it wears a Jap Winchester 357 barrel in front of Rossi 357 bolt and locks. No slicker a pistol cal lever on Earth!
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#4 ·
#5 ·
Sweet! 🆒 Congratulations on your new Rossi R92 and may it serve you well! :)

I've always had an interest in getting a .357 Magnum Lever Actioned Rifle, particularly a Rossi or Marlin, but have never quite gotten around to it.
Glad the fit and finish on yours is better than previous examples. Good Shooting there and I hope the accuracy continues out to longer ranges. :)
 
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#6 ·
Very nice, I would love to have one but can't swing the price right now.
 
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#7 ·
Looks like we both hit pay-dirt with our choice of Rossi's.. Mine is a 20" octagonal barrel with the unusual addition (as it came to me) of an endcap on the forend..!! Like you I too have a .357 version and it's a very sweet shooter. Can't remember what I paid for it but I think it was around $500.00. Whomever owned it before I got it sure looked after it.. and didn't shoot it much..!!


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Hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine.. :) (y)
 
#8 · (Edited)
I shoot nothing but lead out of my 20 inch 357. Prices have gone up. This one cost a little over $500 before Covid. I get mixed up on the dates, but the original rifle got sent back to Rossi for feeding issues. After about 13 months they sent me a much nicer one that actually works. It was worth the wait. With this particular load, the wadcutters have to be seated long or they will eject rather than feed into the chamber.
When they were sending the replacement I tried to get a 16 inch instead of a 20 but they said it had to be replaced with the same model. I like that short barrel.
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