New Rossi Lever Action Rifles, Rossi R95
BY Herschel Smith
2 months, 2 weeks ago
I have long thought that Rossi needed to step up its game. I don’t like the looks of their model R92, but it looks like they have done much better with the R95.
Now Rossi USA is introducing additional straight-wall, rimmed-cartridge options for the R95 family including .44 Mag, .357 Mag, .444 Marlin and .360 Buckhammer. Every lever-action Rossi R95 carbine or rifle that shoots any of these four additional cartridge choices is still built to the same high standards and specifications as the rest of the Rossi R95 family, including the .30-30 Win. and 45/70 originals. Certain features and details, such as rifling twist rate and tubular magazine capacity, will depend on the specific cartridge, but each of the four new models comes standard with the same classically styled hardwood furniture set and 20-inch barrels.
Nice. I like Rossi making this in .444 Marlin. Here is the model. It looks sporty and gentlemanly and much more like a Marlin 336.
Now, the next step is to make one in .454 Casull.
On October 6, 2024 at 9:59 pm, Georgiaboy said:
I have owned a number of Rossi M92 lever-actions, and they have been a mixed bag. One malfunctioned right out of the box, and had to be sent back for repairs – after prying an RMA (return materials authorization) out of the recalcitrant customer service dept. first. A second worked for a short time before having problems which required after-market parts to fix. And a third which worked reasonably well.
Rossi is most of the way to making a genuinely fine product, but it appears to this customer that they are cutting corners on quality to make their price point. Internal parts so sharp that they can cut your fingers or hand – ask me how I know! – to poorly finished and fitted parts which appear superficially sound, but do not function reliably, etc.
Their loading gates are tight, and the bend into the magazine tube is left sharp so that cartridges inserted more often than not hang up instead of going into the magazine. The lip on the gate itself is sharp instead of smooth as it ought to be.
Rossi offers several different barrel lengths, hence different magazine tube capacities – 16, 20 and 24″ barrels, for example. They are using the same spring in different magazine tubes, however, the longest one. This means that in the shorter magazine tubes, the springs are much too tight to work smoothly and properly, and if the user can load the rifle at all, it is much more difficult than it ought to be.
The fix is simple enough: Either buy a replacement spring kit on the internet or trim 1-2″ off the existing spring yourself.
The point however, is that when you pay $700 for a rifle, you ought not to have to perform such repairs and modifications in the first place. The company should have installed the proper spring(s) at the factory. It isn’t rocket science, but Rossi for some reason doesn’t seem to get it.
The Model 92s are also difficult to take down, clean and lubricate, in comparison to some other designs, and Rossi’s manuals are of absolutely no use in doing so. A few crucial steps in fact were entirely absent and I had to solve them on my own.
When they work, they can be accurate, handy and a lot of fun – but when only 33% of them do work for you brand-new, that’s just not good-enough.
Guess who is buying more Marlin or Henry lever-actions these days?
On October 6, 2024 at 10:49 pm, JC Graham said:
I just purchased the Rossi 95 30/30 Trapper carbine. I’m telling you this gun is a beauty. The rifle is balanced nicely and I can one hand carry it all day long.
This going to be the ultimate brush gun. The new improvements are a game changer. Hey Marlin I think you better check your rear view mirror. Rossi R 95 only cost me $619 dollars. Marlins are running $1000. I can buy a lot of ammo with my savings. Hurry and get one before price goes up.
Officer Graham