Whatta 'ya think of...........?

[EZWriter]

Howdy:
I'm in the middle of putting together a pair of '58 Remington's in .38 cal ( Kirst conversion) and would like to get a lever-gun in that same caliber.
I normally shoot .45LC  in my Vaquero's and '66 Yellowboy but I'd kinda like to stay on the "affordable" side on buying another lever-gun. A friend of mine is suggesting a '92 Rossi Puma in .357.  I've looked at some on the internet and they look OK, especially the case-hardened ones, but I wanted to get some more experienced opinions about the quality of this choice, and anything else good or bad about them.
'preciate the feedback.
Lonesome Roads

[law dawg]

I don't have any expierience shooting that brand but I've read in print and on other sites that it can be problematic shooting .38's out of a .357 chambered rifle.  I'd save some potential headache and go with the yellow boy in .38.  It would go with your choice in conversions better anyway.

[Arcey]

From what I've seen they come in two grades - decent and bad.  Problem is they ain't marked as to which is which.

My Rossi '92 is old.  It was a gift and I used it as a plinker way before I knew what CAS was.  It would feed anything I cast, except wadcutters, loaded in .38 Special cases.  When I started this game, the RN stuff was makin' some folkes a l'il nervous so I switched over to a Keith style semi-wadcutter (Lyman 358477).  The old rifle worked well.  Busted one ejector was all.

After I picked up a better long gun, the old Rossi was loaned to a few new shooters and it didn't give them any trouble either.  I've seen some others that were a constant problem.

..

[Advertising]

[Tensleep]

What Arcey said...

I have had 3 different Rossi made rifles go through my hands.
My "boys" still have 2 of them. They sure needed a lot of work to slick them up and make them feed correctly.
But... that wasn't just the 38/357 models.
Have seen 44s and 45s with the same problems.

If I just had to have a 92 then I would contact Steve "Nate Kiowa Jones" Young
http://stevesgunz.com/MainSG.htm

or
Clint "Clink" Campbell at Smokey Mountian Outfitters in Morristown Tn.
Smoky Mtn Outfitters
128 East Morris Blvd.
Morristown TN 37813

These two guys have had success making these rifles work great.

[Camille Eonich]

Go with the Yellowboy.  It will cost you less in the long run and you will be happier with it.  I recomend finding a gunsmith that is fairly close to you too.  If there are any problems with your guns it's much less expensive to to get it to a local gunsmith than it is to ship it across country and it's much less risky.

[Forty Rod]

Cammie's right with one small caution: find a GOOD gunsmith who is familiar wth your type of gun.  I've seen too many so-called hack shade tree gunsmiths ruin perfectly good guns.  Get references....LOTS of references.

[EZWriter]

Thanks for all your good, experienced advice. I think I'll be kickin' a few more tires and lookin' under the hood some more before I put out any hard earned Yankee dollars on a Rossi '92.  Could be I'll go with another Yellowboy in .38 or maybe a '73.  In the meantime, thanks for the help.
Lonesome Roads

[Camille Eonich]

If you can afford the '73 then go that route.  You won't regret it.