Rossi 642 Reliability, anyone have first hand knowledge?

[DaverZ]

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.

[Green Mountain Gringo]

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.

[PegLeg45]

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.

[BML325]

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.

[tombogan03884]

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.

[Sponsor]

[Green Mountain Gringo]

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.

[Green Mountain Gringo]

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.

[seeker_two]

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....

[Bear Claw Chris Lappe]

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.

[twyacht]

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,...