Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Rossi 92 in .454 Casull

Anybody here have one? And if so, how do they shoot and function / accuracy & reliability.

Also, seems to me that you should be able to shoot .45 Colt ammo in them, since that round is only slightly shorter.

I would appreciate any advice from those of you who have one now, or have had one.

Had one. Shot damned nicely, and ran either .45LC or .454s equally well. The .454 300s clocked nigh 1900 (yes, that's .45-70 ballistics), and kicked like a rented mule. The .45LCs were cupcakes to shoot.

Get one.

I've owned two Rossi 92s. One in .357 Magnum and one in .44 Magnum. Their quality is spotty, so it's a coin toss. You could get a really nice one that works perfectly, or a lemon.

Thanks! That's what I wanted to hear. My LGS has one I've been looking at. Figured it would kick like a mule with the .454 ammo.
I'll be shooting mostly 45 colt ammo, but it will be nice to have the option to shoot the Casull ammo too.

The quality is fine on them. They are really stout and easy to slick up in a jiffy. Most of the feeding problems and the feel of being a little stiff is caused by the mongo stout ejector/extractor spring. I replaced mine with a spring from a $4 Harbor Freight spring kit and that gun is now slicker than snot and the empties land right at my feet instead of somewhere on the back forty.

There was also a .480 Ruger version...

I saw one in .480 Ruger for sale somewhere today!

have been carrying one in a my utv for years now and it would be one of the last guns i'd let go.
i have Ms and have turned into a wimp recoil wise but even with 300g full 454 loads i find this little carbine sweet on the shoulder.only problems i have ever had is it likes to shuck both front and rear sights.took a punch and staked them and fixed that. grab the one you found.

Thanks for the heads up on the sights! Sounds like a easy fix.
My main plan for it is for a dedicated hog carbine to mount on the dash of my Polaris Ranger at the Ranch.
I also like the fact that the 454 version can be loaded through the tube instead of on the side of the frame, like a traditional lever action. It also comes with the factory recoil pad.
I'll grab it from my dealer on Monday!

I have two in .454C and one in .44RM.

One of the .454Cs has a sloppy chamber and creases hot .454s pretty badly (i.e. almost case separation). Plan to send it back... haven't yet, but hoping for a new barrel from Rossi.

I find them wonderful shooters... obviously, in that I have three.

Finish on one is amazing, the next is so/so and one was a $375 blem model from Kentucky Gun Works and it is less than so/so on finish (but was cheap)... ALL runs great.

I find the .454C recoil to be very modest... kinda a 100-150 rounds per day kinda gun for me. .45 Colt is like shooting a .22 Henry. Same with .44RM.

I have a Win M94 45 Colt that I can load stout and it shoots well. If I need more my Browning M71 carbine will do.

Around 2005-ish I did a review on one for Guns Magazine, chambered and .480 Ruger. It was a stainless carbine and it was a fantastic rifle. Knowing the spotty QC of Rossi prior to the Taurus buyout, I went to extensive lengths to make the rifle not work/malfunction and I couldn't. I cycled it slow, fast, sideways, upside down, pointing straight up, pointing straight down, etc. It cycled perfectly every time!!

The action was actually smoother than an original Winchester. One VERY smart thing they did was to thread the magazine tube into the receiver rather than pin it, because the heavy loads and stout recoil would undoubtedly pull past the pins and that's a cast iron beotch to fix. The tubular magazine actually has a spring-loaded insert just like a tube magazine .22 LR. This is another really good idea because cartridges the size of .480 Ruger and .454 Cassull are a very tight fit in the side loading gate.

Accuracy was as good or better than any other handgun cartridge lever action. The action is smoother than any other of its competitor (although the Marlin is very close). Reliability is just unsurpassed. Marlins are asthetically very pleasing to the eye, and they shoot straight, but their pistol caliber carbine's are rather famous for cycling issues/jamming.

The Rossi has it all over the competition for function accuracy and reliability, but they take a half step back in asthetics. Don't get me wrong they're very nice rifles and they're nice to look at. But the quality of the wood is not nearly as nice as a Winchester or Marlin. And the one thing Rossi can't seem to get quite perfect is there polishing of the receiver . It's not bad, but it's not perfect like an old Winchester is.

If I were buying a pistol caliber lever action carbine in any caliber, my first choice would be the Rossi. Otherwise I would by the 1894 Marlin, and do the fix to ensure perfect cycling.

Quality was spotty before the Taurus buyout which happened around 2002-ish. Taurus actually manufactures high end CNC machines, which Rossi had precisely NONE of. Once CNC machining got started the QC issues just went away. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a post Taurus Rossi 92 at all. But the ones made before that are exactly like you say, it's a complete roll of the dice. I had a .357 magnum Rossi with a 20 inch barrel that was just awesome in every way, but I just couldn't make it cycle no matter how much work I put into it ... Incredibly frustrating to have something that cool that doesn't work.

I'm always asked how someone can identify a pre-Taurus versus post Taurus. I don't have a definitive answer for that but just my anecdotal observation is the presence of the goofy top mounted safety. I think that came with the Taurus Buyout but I don't know for sure. Not that I routinely Seabees by the truckload but I personally have never seen a Raasee 92 with a top mounted safety that didn't work

Thanks to every one for all the great advice! I'll pick mine up tomorrow!

I just picked one up a couple of months ago in 454C SS 16". Haven't shot it yet but the action is butter smooth after taking a trip to Stevz. As far as handling, it's one of my favorites. A few of the internals were replaced with SS. Tube spring and follower, main spring, rear sight plug, etc. Also has XS peep installed. I'd post a pic but haven't quite figured out this system yet...