Are Rossi .357 revolvers junk?

[Nosferatu]

The fit, finish, trigger and accuracy of my Kimber K6s is worlds above any new S&W I've bought in the last 10-15 years. You'll spend roughly $1k for one though, depending on the model you choose.

 

[DunRanull]

I can't speak to their .357s, as the Rossi .44mag I had (not to mention the .44 carbine, a different story) ruined me for a "Rossi" anything. Shot loose in short order. JME, YMMV.....

 

[ma96782]

IMHO......if you got a BAD one, it's probably a one off experience.

But then.....
Yes. I own three Rossi revolvers (2 in .38 Special and one in 357 Mag). AND of course, I own several S&W revolvers. They all work. So LUCKY me? Or, an example of.....if it's doesn't work/not working.....then, the company probably would have gone out of business a long time ago.

That all being said.....YEAH, I don't buy certain BRANDS. Mostly because of my own bias about certain brands and their designs, etc.....

To each his own.

Aloha, Mark

PS.....
BUT, But, but.....I also identify as a: "Glock Hater".
LOL.

 

[DunRanull]

IMHO......if you got a BAD one, it's probably a one off experience.

But then.....
Yes. I own three Rossi revolvers (2 in .38 Special and one in 357 Mag). AND of course, I own several S&W revolvers. They all work. So LUCKY me? Or, an example of.....if it's doesn't work/not working.....then, the company probably would have gone out of business a long time ago.

That all being said.....YEAH, I don't buy certain BRANDS. Mostly because of my own bias about certain brands and their designs, etc.....

To each his own.

Aloha, Mark

PS.....
BUT, But, but.....I also identify as a: "Glock Hater".
LOL.

A "Glock Hater?" HA! Well then, that about says it all, don't it? Heh... I mean hey! America's Gun and all! That said, I own several Glocks, and I've actually been considering a Springer in 10mm.. I got a bad TWO Rossi's.. a revolver and a 92 carbine.. The revolver is long gone, I'll fix the carbine but right now it just isnt a priority....

 

[ma96782]

"Glock Hater."

Comment was made.....
Just so that some people would have a better perspective. LOL.

Aloha, Mark

PS.... Once upon a time....I actually owned one (and sold it off). For ME, it was sort of.......
Blasphemy to own one. So then.....



The video below.....might just HELP some people to understand it all a little better..

What YOU do.....is up to you.

 

[DunRanull]

"Glock Hater."

Comment was made.....
Just so that some people would have a better perspective. LOL.

Aloha, Mark

PS.... Once upon a time....I actually owned one (and sold it off). For ME, it was sort of.......
Blasphemy to own one. So then.....

View attachment 1438790

The video below.....might just HELP some people to understand it all a little better..

What YOU do.....is up to you.

I love and own/have owned many Brownings.. Doesnt mean that I hafta hate Glocks. For reasons, the G19 has for now replaced the BHP as my "most likely to be carried"... and I do love the BHP, BTW, FWIW! I do like the new 15 rnd mags for the BHP...

 

[PORSCHE928S4]

I had one shot like a laser no issues when you used 38's but if you used 357 mag it would skip cylinders !

 

[po18guy]

Saw this for less than $500 new and knowing Rossi reputation I assume it's junk? Anyone have experience with Rossi revolvers?

Rossi Revolver RM66

The RM66 features Rossi’s prized double action trigger, and an unbelievably crisp single action trigger pull. The legendary Rossi revolvers return with a bang

rossiusa.com

Just got the Rossi review in the American Rifleman. They are being positioned above the standard Taurus revolvers. Since the roll-out is fairly high profile for Rossi, I woul imagine that they are giving their product heavy scrutiny. S&W style riveted, hammer mounted firing pins. All that is left is for Rossi to re-introduce the 988 Cyclops, which is an amazingly accurate revolver.

 

[echo1]

The earlier Rossi revolvers, the ones made before the company was bought out by Taurus, seem to be held in higher regard. My issue concerns what happens if you get a lemon? Ive heard more than one anecdote online about the frustration dealing with their customer service, ...

I picked up an early NIB 4" Rossi .357 at a show about 6 years ago for $125 bucks. It had a broken FP from someone dry firing it with the plastic cylinder protector in upside down. Sent it to Rossi (Tarus) they fixed it for free. Runs like a champ. I have a 6" Astra .357, C&R I think, that I got for dirt. It too is boss. My bud has a 4" Astra that's a good revolver and was inexpensive too (I'm trying to weasel it out of his hands). They're not a sweet as my 6" S&W model 10 .38 for sure but the Rossi & Astra are great shooters.

Earlier this year, a Calgunner had a broken ejector on a 92 lever and sent it to Rossi for the lifetime warranty. The service guys tore it down, then new management wouldn't honor the warranty, told the fella it was "out of spec" but didn't say how, wouldn't sell him an ejector, charged him for teardown and return shipping???!!! He posted a thread about the crappy service and happened to jokingly mention in the posts if anybody wanted to buy a broken Rossi 92, I raised my hand. When he got it back, a service guy slipped in an ejector and collar, no invoice or note. Someone in the shop helped him out. Any way I got the basket case rifle for a hunnerd bucks . Put it back together, runs like a top. 20" octagon barrel, case hardened receiver. I'm going to put a slightly bigger loop and a Marbles Tang on it to make it retro in appearance. PAX.

 

[gmerkt]

My only experience with Rossi: Convertible rifle / shotgun. .243 Win rifle bbl., 20 ga. shotgun bbl. So far, I haven't gotten the .243 bbl. to shoot accurately. It seems to have a different zero for a cold barrel and a hot bbl. and they aren't coincident. On this basis alone, I probably wouldn't buy another Rossi brand. For my money, an extra two hundred dollars would get me something that I liked better than a Rossi.

 

[echo1]

My only experience with Rossi: Convertible rifle / shotgun. .243 Win rifle bbl., 20 ga. shotgun bbl....

I missed the boat on New England's barrel program. I've got a .22-250 bull barrel Sportsman and could have ordered a .308 bull for $80 bucks that used the same forearm. I him-hawed around because you had to send them your receiver to fit the new barrel, then Remington picked up New England and discontinued the program....bumage. PAX

 

[MacReady]

I picked up an early NIB 4" Rossi .357 at a show about 6 years ago for $125 bucks. It had a broken FP from someone dry firing it with the plastic cylinder protector in upside down. Sent it to Rossi (Tarus) they fixed it for free. Runs like a champ. I have a 6" Astra .357, C&R I think, that I got for dirt. It too is boss. My bud has a 4" Astra that's a good revolver and was inexpensive too (I'm trying to weasel it out of his hands). They're not a sweet as my 6" S&W model 10 .38 for sure but the Rossi & Astra are great shooters.

Earlier this year, a Calgunner had a broken ejector on a 92 lever and sent it to Rossi for the lifetime warranty. The service guys tore it down, then new management wouldn't honor the warranty, told the fella it was "out of spec" but didn't say how, wouldn't sell him an ejector, charged him for teardown and return shipping???!!! He posted a thread about the crappy service and happened to jokingly mention in the posts if anybody wanted to buy a broken Rossi 92, I raised my hand. When he got it back, a service guy slipped in an ejector and collar, no invoice or note. Someone in the shop helped him out. Any way I got the basket case rifle for a hunnerd bucks . Put it back together, runs like a top. 20" octagon barrel, case hardened receiver. I'm going to put a slightly bigger loop and a Marbles Tang on it to make it retro in appearance. PAX.

Thanks for sharing your anecdote, it is pretty much spot on to my experiences and what ive gathered from others too.
Seems like they can make a solid firearm if they want to but what really differs is the chance of getting a lemon is higher. And even if as an example that chance is only 1% vs .5% of other manufacturers, its sullied their image enough their name carries a negative weight.

 

[gmerkt]

I missed the boat on New England's barrel program. I've got a .22-250 bull barrel Sportsman and could have ordered a .308 bull for $80 bucks that used the same forearm. I him-hawed around because you had to send them your receiver to fit the new barrel, then Remington picked up New England and discontinued the program....bumage. PAX

Yes, I took advantage of that program back in the early 2000's, accessory barrels were relatively cheap. These days, sometimes you can buy a complete rifle for less than a loose barrel. The .22-250 is a less common barrel for NEF / H&R. I have (in different chamberings) several and have owned several more that have gone away. Some shoot okay, others can be a trial like the Rossi. I still have two .223's, one with a heavy barrel that shoots okay, another with a slim barrel that is a project that I may finally have whipped. I've had two others in .223, both had slim barrels and wouldn't shoot well after the first few cold shots and they went away. I have an H&R SB2 Ultra in .35 Whelen, it shoots very well but the barrel is 26 in. and made like a naval cannon. My .44 Magnum has an older bbl., which has an oversized chamber, a common issue with this caliber in Handis. It's strictly a shorter range gun anyway.

I have a theory about the SB2 design. When the previous H&R firm was in business, they didn't make many Handi-Rifles (as against shotguns) and many that were made came as companion sets, e.g., 20 ga. bbl., and .30-30 bbl. They went under circa 1985, and the subsequent New England Firearms didn't make all that many rifle bbls. for a few years. The firm was reorganized in 1991 as H&R 1871, and rifle bbl. production and offerings increased. It was shown that rifle calibers were popular sellers, so naturally they made more of them. I've looked at the BATF production summaries by year; once Marlin and later Remington got ahold of the product line, the balance of production tipped in favor of rifles.

BUT: The bread and butter of the H&R Inc. / NEF / H&R 1871 line was for a long time the low cost, single shot shotgun. Which by its nature doesn't present (noticeable) accuracy issues like a rifle barrel will, if present. As made by the firms mentioned in the Gardner, Mass. factory. The issues as I've experienced them are: (1) Forend fit; I haven't had good luck with the "O-Ring trick" and (2) heavy vs. lightweight barrels.

Yes, if you want to learn more, visit the Greybeard Outdoors website, lots of Handi-Rifle stuff there.

 

[ma96782]

RE : Post #63
Pictures of the family.

Mind you that, various model numbers were assigned at different eras of production. They might look alike (with someone else's gun on the internet) but then the model number might have changed.

And, although the inners and exterior might look like a S&W.....I doubt that the parts will easily inter change. Warrantee work? Not on these OLD firearms (of mine).

All of them are Stainless Steel. Rrrrright......coming from Hawaii, I like SS for the rust resistance. LOL. Mind you that.......it's not that easy, finding good used firearms in Hawaii. Rrrrrright.....think, what IF.......it were blued steel?

BUT, But, but.....these were all purchased here on the mainland. OK, Ok, ok.....then.....


I believe that this one is a Rossi model M885. It's also marked with the Interarms name (Importer). It's a 5 shot, .38 special, not marked for P+. What if I wanted to shoot P+? Well, just like with the older S&W J frames, I'd just use them "sparingly".


I believe that this one is a Rossi model M877. It is also marked with the Interarms name. It's a 6 shot .357 mag. I've only shot .38 specials out of it. The grips were worn smooth and were not worth a "s@#^". They have been replaced. It's not easy to find grips. A S&W might look close but, "NO CIGAR". And speaking of "close"......it reminds me of a S&W M66.


This one is a Rossi Braztech model M88. Yup.....remember that comment I made about model numbers? It's a 5 shot, .38 special. Well anyway, this was my latest/last purchase of Rossi revolvers for now. Cough, cough..... Yeah, I probably don't want any more. LOL.

Don't worry.....I also have a variety of S & W double actions.

Aloha, Mark

PS..........

Are Rossi .357 revolvers junk?

IMHO. Nah....
They'll "do the job".....just a good as a S&W, Colt, Ruger, etc.....

BUT, how do you define : Junk.

 

[Barfly]

I'm not going to argue with any of the S&W guys out there. They make absolutely beautiful wheel guns that are extremely well built and seem to appreciate in value quite nicely.
That being said, I'm a Ruger guy at heart. They may not be quite as refined and pretty as the S&W, but they are damn near indestructible, and I think most of them look pretty darn good!

With regard to Taurus... I have had two. A .44 special and a .357. I can't remember the model of the .44, but it wasn't bad. Not great, but it did it's job. The .357 on the other hand, I'd have to throw it at somebody to defend myself with it.

 

[echo1]

I'm not going to argue with any of the S&W guys out there. They make absolutely beautiful wheel guns that are extremely well built and seem to appreciate in value quite nicely.....

My spousal unit got me my S&W M10 in the early "70s. We'd gone on a Sierra wilderness camp trip right after I off-ed my ,41 mag Blackhawk. The first evening, a puma began screeching out in the distance and our 5 Aussie dogs jumped up with the fur on their backs straight up. The second howl they ran off in that direction barking and we could hear commotion off in the dark. They came back unscathed but winded. The following Monday when I got home from work, this new/used Smith was on the kitchen table. The wife said: "Don't leave home without it!". She picked it up from my bud's Uncle James (I got a mess of guns from him) for $70 bucks. It and my 10/22 were the only guns that didn't go away during hard times in those early years of marriage. I still have the remnants of the original box of shells that came with it. I put factory over molded S&W grips on it. PAX

 

[Tlock]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty certain Rossi wheelguns are made by Taurus.

Pretty much a toss up. Expect the trigger to be anywhere from horrible to completely effing awful.


On a side note: Is "Livestock Agent" a real job? If so, how do I get into this line of work?

View attachment 1427219

Yes they are called tick riders. It's a usda vet services....they are a wild bunch! It's the sister agency that I work for

 

[fredball]

I bought this
I know I know friends don't let friends buy TAURUS
But I have had zero problems with it 6.5" stainless 7 rds 357 Ported under 450 delivered to my home
So I would have to say likely built on a Tuesday

 

[echo1]

Thanx for the HR scoop gmerkt. I'm running 5X20X40 glass on my .22-250. it shoots consistently at 100 yards with factory ammo. I haven't really dialed it in at longer distances yet. It actually was my son's rifle. I've given my boys guns for Christmas and birthdays forever. Everybody has a .22 pistol, 10/22, an SKS and some type of hunting rig, PAX

 

[HighlandLofts]

I have two 972 - 357 magnum revolvers and love them.
These are older when they had quality.

I wouldn't by any new rossi revolvers