I bought my Rossi when Interarms was importing them. I can't remember the date, but it was more than 20 years ago. It is a .357, but I bought a 44 Mag too .Then bought a Marlin 94 in 44 mag to. Sold the POS Marlin and gave the Rossi 44 mag to my niece. Anyone with a little bit of manual dexterity can take the Rossi apart and smooth up the actions.
My .357 is my favorite saddle gun. It rides in an old scabbard I think was made for the original 92's. As for the soft stocks I'll run up the BS flag on that. Mine has spent a good bit of time riding in a scabbard and knocking around, plus a couple of years in Cowboy matches and still looks good.Certainly no worse for wear than any of the other hunting rifles I have.I did strip the dark finish to lighten up the color of the stock though.
