The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Handguns => Topic started by: Green Mountain Gringo on March 03, 2009, 03:55:10 PM
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A few months ago I purchased a Rossi model 642 .357. I fell in love with the look and feel of it and purchased it at a gun show without doing any research.
Of course the first thing you do when you're fall in love with a new gun is to google it six ways to Sunday. What I heard from a few sites was that it doesn't hold up. The firing pin or hammer goes out of whack and won't fire reliably.
I hope against hope this isn't true, it's like hearing your best girl might be cheating on you.
Does anyone have any first hand experience of this?
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A few months ago I purchased a Rossi model 642 .357. I fell in love with the look and feel of it and purchased it at a gun show without doing any research.
Of course the first thing you do when you're fall in love with a new gun is to google it six ways to Sunday. What I heard from a few sites was that it doesn't hold up. The firing pin or hammer goes out of whack and won't fire reliably.
I hope against hope this isn't true, it's like hearing your best girl might be cheating on you.
Does anyone have any first hand experience of this?
Shoot the crap out of it and let us know.
Seriously, you can't go by everything you read on the internet, Like the "taurus (who owns Rossi) is junk" BS. Most of it is hearsay with no facts to back it up. Same with gun stores, the clerk may have been working in the shoe department last week for all you know, and now he's "advising" you that Rossi is crap so you will buy an S&W instead.
Truth is, the only legitamate reason I have heard for not buying Rossi is that it's not made in America.
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I don't own one but have shot several. My b-i-l has one in .357 and it is a nice gun. Every Rossi that I have ever shot was accurate and they all shot well.
It's like anything else, if you don't take care of them and treat them badly things can go wrong (and there are the occasional lemons). I suspect a lot of internet complaints come from those boobs that continuously do the "Hollywood Slam" to the cylinder on revolvers and then wonder why the timing went bad.
But hell, I don't know....
Good Luck.
8)
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i bought that gun for my father for his birth day last year, hes put about 2k rounds through it since then, mix of .357, .38 special and .38s +p... also a handfull of reloads super hot... sure enough the gun goes bang every time, never had any troubles with it... i dont like it myself, not a revolver fan but he loves the gun, doesnt go into the woods without it
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Thanks for the replies...I really enjoy the gun and will make it one of my carry guns if it keeps performing at the range.
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No first hand knowledge, but since you have the gun in hand, I'll pass along some wisdom I got from a gun trading buddy of mine. To wit, "When you get a new used gun, take it to a good gunsmith and have it professionally cleaned (unless you feel competant to do it yourself). By profesionally, I mean completely dissassembled down to the last screw,then take it to the range and put 300 rds. through it without cleaning. If it keeps going bang, you have keeper." This makes sense to me.Just my .02 worth.
fightingquaker13
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I have one also,a Rossi 462 2 in. barrel and the only trouble that I had was the grip screw started backing out some what so,,,,,, I put some little lock-tite on it and so far its[grips] are tight and still holding on. rich642z
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I have a Rossi M671, bought used several years ago, and never had an issue. It is accurate and absolutely reliable.
After a cleaning and thorough inspection, I took 100rds. of .38 SWC, JHP's, and 100 rds. of Win 110gr .357 JHP's, and 158 gr. Federal Hydra-Shoks, to the range and let it rip.
SA/DA, didn't miss a beat. Smooth, crisp trigger, and accuracy.
If yours does the same, that's all that matters.
(http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm182/twyacht/rossi.jpg)
Good shooting.
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Shoot the crap out of it and let us know.
Tom, I'm taking your advise. Put 50 rounds through it this afternoon, no issues.
I just cleaned it and it's looking pretty.
I'll put another box through it in a few days.
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Outstanding ;D
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i have an older rossi snub,dunno what model it it is cause i cant find it on the frame,it's at least 25-30 years old,blued.it always goes bang and is probably more accurate than i am,the only thing is,it's not plus-p rated.
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As I said before I took Tom's advise to "Shoot the hell out of it and let us know" but it didnt' take long to prove that there is sumpin' wrong with the firing pin on this model. The pin is attached to the hammer but is not a fixed pin. It has motion to it by design (I suppose to help prevent it from breaking??) The misfires seem to occur when the pin does not strike the primer in the center but more towards the edge of the primer.
We went shooting today, took most of the guns, after sighting in a Savage bolt action .22 I tried the Rossi with .38 specials. It's a six shooter and fired the first five with no problem but the sixth did not fire and was dimpled at the edge of the primer. I immediately filled the gun with six new rounds and it went.... Boom Boom click click click Boom click click boom boom boom. That is, the first two fired the next three misfired all in a row, the sixth fired, the next two fell on fired brass and then the three misfires fired on the second time around.
I'm VERY SAD. This is such a pretty gun but now I have to put it out to pasture......AND change my avatar.
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I really hate to hear that it won't shoot properly....it is a really nice looking gun.
Is the firing pin too loose?
You might check with a gunsmith and see if it can be swagged or staked to tighten it up, if it is too loose.
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I have the 461 and have not had any problems. The issue is I took it apart to do an action job and was cutting a link off the hammer spring to try to improve the double action trigger pull and I lost spring somewhere in the garage. And I can't find any for sale online.
I had seen online somewhere that a guy put a wolf spring in for a different gun adn it helped out, but he never said what model that was, so right now it is sitting in my safe till I can find a new spring.
This is why you don't do gun smithing at 1am.
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Are you SURE it is SUPPOSED to be able to move ? I would contact Rossi Monday and make some inquiries. It seems to me (with out seeing the set up) that if it were meant to move there would be mechanical means of preventing what you discribe.
I suspect that the pin holding the firing pin in the hammer has loosened up.
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Glad to hear that it might not be a lost cause. I'll try Rossi / Taurus this week and see where that takes me. I've heard the Service after sale sucks but it's worth a try.
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Glad to hear that it might not be a lost cause. I'll try Rossi / Taurus this week and see where that takes me. I've heard the Service after sale sucks but it's worth a try.
There, now you can just look at my face instead of that shiny snubby.
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I really hate to hear that it won't shoot properly....it is a really nice looking gun.
Is the firing pin too loose?
You might check with a gunsmith and see if it can be swagged or staked to tighten it up, if it is too loose.
Second the motion....any 'smith that's worked on the older S&W's should be able to fix that for less $$ than it would take to ship it back to Taurus/Rossi....
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My 46202 makes the 5-6th Rossi I have owned, and like the rest, it's been a great gun. Very accurate with 158gr JHP's and LRN, and no trouble so far.
(http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m103/Bear_Claw_Chris_Lappe/Gun%20Collection/Rossi%20R46202/R46202-1.jpg)
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Love the closing quote in your profile Bear Claw,... and the 1911.
As I said before I took Tom's advise to "Shoot the hell out of it and let us know" but it didnt' take long to prove that there is sumpin' wrong with the firing pin on this model. The pin is attached to the hammer but is not a fixed pin. It has motion to it by design (I suppose to help prevent it from breaking??) The misfires seem to occur when the pin does not strike the primer in the center but more towards the edge of the primer.
Your right GM, it's sumpin' . Keeping it elementary, if its not the ammo it's the firing pin/hammer. Did you try different ammo?
just curious,...
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The pin is attached to the hammer but is not a fixed pin. It has motion to it by design (I suppose to help prevent it from breaking??)
Yes, I've worked on S&W and Rossie revolvers, the movement is there by design.
The misfires seem to occur when the pin does not strike the primer in the center but more towards the edge of the primer.
Definitely sounds "out of time", is there any obvious damage to the hand or timing teeth on the extractor?
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Bear Claw,
You're probably on to it. I'm used to my guns shooting and don't really know what to look for when they don't go boom. But the extractor on the Rossi looks chewed up compared to the extractor my Ruger Gp100.
If this is the case, is this something a gunsmith could replace or would it be cheaper to pay the shipping both ways to Rossi?
The first pic is the Ruger with the good extractor, the second would be the Rossi. The reflection from the flash makes it hard to see the detail on the Rossi.