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The Rossi R92 is a lever action rifle. It’s old school. It has a side loading gate and a tube magazine under the barrel. It’s available in a number of calibers: .357 magnum, .44 magnum, .454 Casull, .45 Colt, and .22 LR. A number of barrel lengths are also available, along with various stock, accessory, and lever loop configurations.
The particular model I’m reviewing is a traditional model in .357 magnum; it has a 20″ barrel, and holds 10 rounds in the magazine. I do not normally keep one in the chamber.
Table of Contents
Lever action guns are the original Pistol Caliber Carbines.
In the modern world, there are advantages to having the same caliber in both your handgun and long gun. The list of PCC’s is long and getting longer. A hundred years or so ago those advantages were amplified.
Today, I can carry all kinds of interesting things in my car. Lockboxes like this one allow the safe carrying and storage of guns. Ammunition and full magazines can also be stored in containers like that, or even hidden throughout the vehicle.
Horses didn’t have those things. Every pound of goods, be it food, bedding, or multiple ammo types, made life harder for your horse and you. So having your rifle and pistol in the same caliber was pretty useful.
That’s one of the reason I bought this. First, I bought a J-frame in .357, the 360PD to put in my pocket. My review is here. Then I bought a used Ruger Security Six. And I always wanted a lever action gun so I went with the same caliber. There are a few options for guns in this category and caliber but this was during pandemic shortages. I went with the first one I found at a local gun store.
It’s not a Scary Black Rifle.
This really shouldn’t matter. And it does anyway. The reality is that there’s a subset of people for whom this gun will be less frightening. And I get it. The AR has been demonized by people who are either ignorant or have an agenda.
Besides, look at the two side by side. Which one looks more dangerous?
Looks can be deceiving.
The AR is clearly a superior platform. Still, 10 .357 magnum rounds pushed through a 20″ barrel isn’t something I want to be on the receiving end of.
A .357 round is powerful out of a 4″ barrel; out of a 20″ it has around 25% more velocity. At least according to bbti. The table listed there only goes up to 18″ barrels but I figure that’s close enough.
If you look at that picture, you can see that the two guns are exactly the same length (the stock on the AR is fully extended.) The AR is a Ruger AR 556 with a 16″ barrel. Loaded, the Rossi is about 22 oz lighter. Of course, it doesn’t have that red dot or flashlight on it.
Speaking of optics (and other modern accessories…)
You’re looking at it. That’s your “optic.” Semi-buckhorn rear sight and a post front sight. The side towards you on the post is a lighter material which helps in sub-par lighting but it’s nothing like a red dot or night sight.
Picture above is your elevation adjustment. Just move that little stepped bar back and forth to change the height of the rear sight.
Windage, or left/right, that’s on you. Adjust your shot for that.
There’s no place to mount a rail or scope. No sling attachments. No place for a light or laser. My model is the traditional lever action with open sights and a wood stock.
Now, Rossi does make versions of this that are modernized, with a Picatinny rail and polymer stock. Like this one at guns.com. I’m not, personally, into the big loop; I prefer the traditional look. I didn’t buy mine to be a working gun but if I was planning on doing a lot of hunting or other working use with this gun I might reconsider how much tradition to keep.
What’s it good for?
For me, it’s mostly a plinker. I normally shoot standard .38 specials through it; that’s mostly a cost/availability thing. When I’ve fired .357’s, even ones that made my hand numb in the 360PD, the recoil was nominal. I can fire 50 or so .38’s with no shoulder soreness.
The above was shot at 25 yards, off hand, with Blazer Brass .38 special 125 gr FMJ. Maybe I should have gone less traditional and more optic. Still, I fire this two or three times a year. And I wasn’t doing slow fire to try to be as precise as I could. I was firing a round every second or two. Any flaws you see there are mine, not the gun’s.
I’m not a hunter. Seems to me that if it’s something you can hunt with a handgun round then that same round out of this longer barrel and more stable platform would be to your benefit.
How about defense? Sure. A .357 magnum with 25% more velocity than out of a pistol? Sign me up. As I said, I keep it loaded without a round in the chamber. I normally have a handgun on me. If I’m getting a long gun it’s because I have time. So I’ll have time to lever a round into the chamber and I’ve no idea if it’s drop safe or not.
Although, referring back to the target, I’m more likely to grab something with an optic.
What to watch out for.
One thing I had some trouble with when I first got it was the loading gate. You have to get the round at the correct angle for it to work. It’s not terrible but there’s some practice involved. I’d suggest starting with FMJ rounds so you’re not dealing with the resistance of lead as you learn.
Emptying the gun. There’s only one way to do that and that’s to cycle the action. I’m not all that excited about just willy-nilly jacking rounds into the chamber for no apparent reason, especially since that leaves me with a cocked hammer. What I have discovered is that if I open the chamber by running the lever all the way down I can just grab the round and pull it out. That way when I close the chamber it’s empty.
As you can see, there’s a safety of sorts. Just rotate the little lever and it blocks something inside the gun from striking the primer. I set that safety when emptying the gun in case I really screw up. Other than that I pretend it’s not there. It is not in an intuitive place to activate/deactivate in the middle of something. Nor is it in a place where it’s likely to be inadvertently activated.
As of January 2022, I’d say the biggest thing to watch out for is ammo price and availability. Lucky gunner’s .38 page is a little sparse. Not as bad as their .357 page. Still, both of those have more on there than they did a couple months ago. The revolver rounds seem slower to recover than 9mm or 5.56.
Conclusion
I got exactly what I wanted with this gun. A traditional, lever action, pistol caliber rifle. If you feel like being a complete traditionalist .45 Colt is one of your options; I went with .357 magnum because that matched two of my revolvers.
Not all of these are in stock right now but if you’re looking for a good lever gun you could do a lot worse than the Rossi. Click one of the links below to go get one.
This is my exact model at guns.com.
A search for all models of R92 at the same place is here.
This is a R92 search at Palmetto State Armory.
Specs
Type: lever action
Material: Brazilian hardwood stock, blued steel barrel, magazine, and action
Sights: open
Capacity: 10+1
Empty weight: 6 lbs
Loaded weight (10 158 gr .357): 6.5 lbs
Length 37.5″
Great review, thanks much.
You’re welcome. Glad you liked it.
I have Marlins, Japanese Winchesters, but also have 4 Rossi 92s and love all of them
I keep looking at getting the .44 magnum version, but then I’d have to buy another revolver, too, to complete the set. And, of course, it’s another caliber.