92 range report.

[Slamfire]

  I found the gate open at the local range ( 15 mi. drive ) drug out my new to me Rossi 92 x 24",, open buckhorn sight. Someone had left a 1/2 man sized target @ the 125 yd. back stop ( .223 shooters ) took 6 rds. to get zero ,, 1 in the belly button,, 2 in the heart ( first 2 shots in the left shoulder )1 just to the left ear ,, moved the rear buck horn a 1/2 hair to the left ( I had been hitting to the right ),, then 6 rds. in the head ( face ). Loaded up came home,, starting to get the feel of this rifle.

  made my coffee taste better ,, Hootmix.

[cactus joe]

slamfire, what caliber is your '92? i have a original in .25-20 that i am hard pressed to get any grouping even at 50 yds with lead bullets. I do do better with Hornady 60 grain jacketed rounds.  Whoops just read one of your other posts and see that you have a .44-40.

[larryo1]

Cactus Joe
I have an original '92 in 32-20.  I cannot get it to shoot lead bullets for squat but when I went crying to a barrel-smith friend of mine (Les Bauska)he told me that there is alot of those old '92's that are like that and to try jacketed bullets.  So I did and lo and behold that thing does a right fine job.  I will admit that the barrel (inside) looks like a sewer  pipe and was thinking about relining it but after shooting those  jacketed bullets, I changed my mind.  The best I done was a group of 4 shots at 25 yards that went in less than 0.5".  That is nuthin to braqg about but am satisifed with that little rifle now.  Don''t know if this will help but figgured to just pass it on.

[Coal Creek Griff]

I had the exact same thing happen with an 1894 in .32-40.  I really wanted it to work well with cast bullets and kept trying, even when it was clearly hopeless. Jacketed bullets solved the problem. Like Larryo1's rifle the bore is badly pitted. The rifling is also very shallow, which no doubt is a factor.

CC Griff

[Slamfire]

 Hey Coal,, were you shoot'n hard cast or soft ? maybe a BHN of 18-22 cast ?


coffee's ready ,, Hootmix.

[cactus joe]

Cactus Joe
I have an original '92 in 32-20.  I cannot get it to shoot lead bullets for squat but when I went crying to a barrel-smith friend of mine (Les Bauska)he told me that there is alot of those old '92's that are like that and to try jacketed bullets.  So I did and lo and behold that thing does a right fine job.  I will admit that the barrel (inside) looks like a sewer  pipe and was thinking about relining it but after shooting those  jacketed bullets, I changed my mind.  The best I done was a group of 4 shots at 25 yards that went in less than 0.5".  That is nuthin to braqg about but am satisifed with that little rifle now.  Don''t know if this will help but figgured to just pass it on.

yep pretty much given up on cast bullets. Switching to 60 gr hornady jacketed bullets has really improved my shooting. My barrel has good rifling but does look like a sewer pipe too.

[Coal Creek Griff]

Hey Coal,, were you shoot'n hard cast or soft ? maybe a BHN of 18-22 cast ?


coffee's ready ,, Hootmix.

I started with some commercial hard cast, but had dismal accuracy. I then had a mold made by Accurate Molds and tried some slightly softer bullets. I don't have a hardness tester, but used some range lead and some wheelweight lead. Neither worked any better. It was a plain-base mold; gas checks might have helped, but I went straight to jacketed bullets.

CC Griff

[Slamfire]

 I know the journey to find what works best for each rifle sometimes is discourag'n ,, then I find the right combination , and stop and quietly give thanks to all the folks before me who took to task writing all their trial's & disappointments & instructions on how to find the right answer to my reloading problems,, the main reason I keep coming back here.

coffee's ready ,, Hootmix.

[Slamfire]

Honey ! i'm back ",, snicked-ed ( word ) off today 50yds. 1st. rd. center of red bull !!! the rest of the rds. didn't want  the virus ,, stayed away from the infected " BULL ",, so I tried at 2 , empty 12ga. hulls someone was nice enough to leave ( about 20-30 hulls for someone else to pk-up ) at 25yds." they never saw it com'in "Lyman 427098 cast @ 216-217gr. sized @ .428 ,, RL-7. This o'l 92 44-40 keeps impress'n me.


  coffee's ready ,, Hootmix.