I must make a a sad confession for a man who loves lever action rifles. I've never owned a lever action designed by John Moses Browning. I know its sad but it's the truth. But perhaps all is not yet lost because I've often thought of a Rossi '92. Particularly a 357Magnum. I think two things have held me back from already owning one. First is the fact that I love Marlin rifles! There is nothing like solid American made Marlin rifle with its deep bluing and American black walnut stocks. Secondly, I hate metallic sights! Plain and simple I just hate them. I can shoot them well enough in ample light, or I could until a few rears ago when I passed my 50th birthday. I can shoot receiver (peep) sights much better but still have issues when light begins to fail.

I buy rifles primarily to hunt with and to play with secondly. Or that's the way its always been. But if I would admit it (which I'm not) I already have more rifles than I can hunt with now. Maybe I'm going to have to change the reason I own firearms from self defense and hunting to self defense, hunting and fun!

So after all this... What are the pros and cons to the Winchester 92 clones? What should look for and what should I avoid like the plague? I have a fondness for the 357magnum, cast bullets and short barrels. I could live with a 20" as long as it is not an octagon barrel. Would the Rossi carbines be dependable and trouble free or should I save up for a Browning? And it must be capable of having a receiver sight as purchased or with only minor gunsmithing.
Let me hear your thoughts...

Goat

I have had a Rossi 92 for better than 20 years. I can't say how they are now but typically they were little rough out of the box. I took mine apart and smooth all the rough edges and it is totally functionable now.

I didn't like the dark finish on the stock. I strip it,then refinished. I can't say for sure, but I think the stock is birch

They are not drilled and tapped for a scope mount or receiver sights. If you are thinking about a scoping it, it would have to have some type of side mount since it is top ejecting. The Browning is not D&T'd. I think Henry's are, and are side ejecting. If you don't like iron sights, you are SOL though with the Rossi unless you have it drilled and tapped for a receiver sight.

It is handy slim rifle that is easy to carry and mine is very accurate. Very fun to shoot. I typically use 158 GR Hornady XTP for serious use, but 158 gr cast RNFP plinking The XTP get 13 gr of 2400 and the lead gets 4.5-5 gr of W231, Universal, or Unique

In my experience, they do not feed SWC's very well. Some will feed both 38 sp and .357 mag. Some won't.

Probably the Browning B-92 is much better quality. It think it was discontinued in1987 so used is the way you would have to go.

A google search shows Winchester 92's are still in production and are drilled and tapped for receiver sights.

Marlin does not make a Model 92,but the do have a Model 94 in .357, but I really dislike the fat fore arm on a Marlin.

So, I think the Rossi rifles are great. The Rossi has a rotating safety on top of the bolt. It is very easy to remove. Paco Kelly makes a receiver peep site that fits in that hole and replaces the safety. It’s a ten minute operation to replace. They are also very easy to d & t. I did it myself and put on a Williams site. Finally, Turnbull makes a mount that fits on the barrel using the rear sight notch for a Burris Fastfire or similar sight. It works quite well.

As for quality. It’s always been good. The inherent strength of the design makes it the strongest conventional lever action ever. Rossi chambered it for the .454 Casul and it handled it easily. I loaded some .357s in mine that it handles easily but that would lock up my brother’s Marlin.

I think that in recent years they have substantially upgraded their fit and finish as well. The new ones look really nice.

The one easily fixed flaw is that they use or used to use an ejector spring that was made for and by gorillas. It was way to strong for the rifle. Not only would it throw empties 25 feet over your head, it made that last fraction of an inch closing the lever much harder than necessary. It caused one other big problem too. It put the base of the shell under tension and depending upon the length of the shell or the ogive of the bullet could cause feeding problems when the nose of the bullet wasn’t perfectly aligned and was under so much tension.

It was an easy fix. You can replace that spring with just about anything. I replaced mine with the spring from a ball point pin for awhile and empties fell at my feet for easy pick up and feeding was as slick as a snot with just about everything. I eventually replaced it with the spring from an actual Winchester 92 and it still works great.

I bought one of the older Rossi’s years ago and it was ROUGH…… sharp edges everywhere. Decided to send it down the road……I think you will be happier in the long run if you save up for a Marlin or Winchester.

Currently have Marlins in 45-70, 45 LC, 44 Mag, and 357. They are a quality product.

i have a 20 inch bbl model in 45 Colt. I shoot the 265 Gr hardcast loaded by Grizzly in it with no issues. it mainly serves as an atv gun

I have one of the newer stainless Rossi 92s. The issue with them being rough is no longer an issue. They are smoother than the Marlins. The newer ones are D&T under the rear sight. You can mount a rail here for more of a scout setup. The spring on the 20" model is more relaxed than the 16" models (which use the same spring).

I just bought a Rossi chambered in 45 Colt.
I’m considering replacing the stock with a Boyd’s stock. I like ‘92 model rifles but the Rossi stock is quite poor in my opinion. I dislike the safety also. I see there’s a peep sight that’s available that fits in the place where the safety is. My Rossi seems to be well built. I just dislike what they did with the stock and the safety. But the stock - the best that can be said about the stock is very poor.

I love the ‘92’s.

I have a stainless Rossi in .357 Mag with a 16” barrel. So easy to carry and smooth to operate.





P

If you can find one of the mid to late 80's Rossi Pumas, especially the 357 carbine, they are great guns with actually good accuracy. I wouldn't call their machining quality 'spectacular' but if you're willing to do just a little bit of honing on some of the edges around the loading gate, they are great guns. And they tend to be a bit more slender than most other modern lever actions. Mine puts pretty solid groups in at 25ys of about a 2" or so with cheap 357 ammo, bit bigger groups with 38sp.

I have one exactly the same, picked it up new last year. It has great fit/finish (I will note that I do not like the stocks, I'd rather have nice walnut), as good as any Marlin I have, and the action is super smooth. Not sure if I got lucky or they are having a good run.

I've got one of the original imports from inner arms back in the early 80s. no safety no extra goofy [bleep] at all and in my opinion it's as good or better than the original

I dropped off a Rossi M92 in 45 Colt to Steve's Gunz South of Lampasas Texas for some barrel work, action work and sights upgrade. Basically spent what the guns worth, but he does excellent action work. He has it done and I'll be down to pick it up in two weeks.

I picked up a new 92 today. It is the 16” stainless 357. After doing a lot of reading on these, I decided to give it a try. We are do for another snow storm tomorrow so it will be a while before I can get out to shoot it. The exterior fit and finish are pretty good. The mill marks on the internal surfaces of the bolt are awful. With that said, the action is quite smooth so time will tell whether I will need to stone things up.
The one thing that I am not sure about are the sights. I have been studying many options to upgrade these if necessary.

https://stevesgunz.com/

Check this site out if ever in the market for an upgrade

I have the 92 series in SS 357 and 454 and love them both. A little rough as described above but solid built levers.

https://www.shoprossi.com/firearm-parts/rossi-r92-picatinny-rail-w-peep-sight-screws-10027529

I’m thinking that this may be a good compromise since it offers a peep sight and the ability to add a small holographic red dot if I want to try that. It is fairly inexpensive and factory made to fit.

Has anyone else tried this?

Mine is an Interarms Rossi and they don't provide customer support for anything stamped Interarms based on policy with the new company. Because of this I wouldn't consider doing any business with new Rossi. I'm on my own with an old gun..

On the other hand Steve's Gunz works on them..

They’re painfully easy to work on yourself. You don’t need anyone else.

Wrong. Not this time

My Rossi had a visibly bent barrel. You could look down the barrel and see it bend off to the right. In this case I'm not capable of fixing it and getting it exactly right. Do you always make assumptions like this?

You’re over thinking things. Bend it back as close as you can. Stick in a tree fork like the Indians did. If it shoots to the same place every time, a little bend ain’t no big deal.

No it's been correctly fixed. And I'm happy with the results. To suggest a stupid stunt as the above ranks you an assbackwards dumb ass. Oh sure..stick it in a tree. Be like the Indians....HAHA!

Sure, you spent a $1000 on a $500 rifle and I’m the dumb ass. Lol

I had an older Rossi with a bent barrel. The bend was a factory defect that canted off to the towards the end of the barrel. The bend was bad enough that the sights wouldn't regulate even with maximum adjustment. I had a Rossi that was basically worthless. I didn't spend $1000, but it was enough.

The gunsmith was also kind enough to carefully recrown the end of the muzzle. I didn't request that part of the job. Smith says it shoots good. When I get it I'll also put it on paper

I had a R-92 in stainless. In .357. Sold it last year, but it was worth owning. Mine had the longer barrel, would get the shorter barrel now, very lightweight and handy fast too.

The stainless 44mag Rossi model 92 I have is a 16.5" Bbl. Feeds super smooth. Ejects loaded rounds , or empties briskly. Very accurate with my home cast Lee 310gr cast bullet. Mine is a working gun, not a safe queen. Totally dependable. Put on a small "slip on recoil pad". Added 1" to the butt stock length. Perfect... Hundreds of $ less than the competition.

The Browning B92 is worth the money if you can find one at a reasonable price. I'm also very fond of a little Taylors 1873 Trapper clone.

That's a great gun. I sold my 20", bet the 16" is very handy.

If you are patient you will eventually find a B-92 in 357. They are worth the wait and worth the money. I finally managed to track one down a couple of years ago. Browning never made that many in 357, which is a real shame as it is a great package. It has none of the rebounding hammers or additional safeties of the later Winchester models.

The B-92 has a fast twist, conventional rifling with deep grooves. It didn’t come D&T-ed for an aperture sight, but that was easily rectified. Accuracy is brilliant. With some of the high performance powders, reloading really transforms the 357 in a rifle.

A buddy of mine bought the .357 stainless rifle version with a 24" octagon barrel. I was surprised how smooth it was! The trigger felt about 3# and was no problem to hit a 6" gong at 50 yards with both .38 Special and .357 loads. Iron sights and my old 76 y/o eyes.

Ignore the people telling you to get a Browning and just go out and get a Rossi. You can have a Rossi tomorrow and scratch that itch. Or you can look around for five years and maybe find a Browning.

Get the Rossi. You have one right now for around six bills. If you ever run across a Browning, you can buy it too. But don’t wait around on something you might not ever find when you can have something now.