Rossi in the rain

[stagpanther]

Miserable rainy day today--so why not go out and shoot my little 44 mag rossi? I've been shooting 240 xtp's driven by H110 for so long I decided it was time to try something different: 220 Extreme Penetrators driven by AL 2400.

This much abused lever gun is probably the most heavily bubbatized firearm of mine that I have subjected to all kinds of blasphemies--and yet it still shoots pretty well. One lesson I learned from today, don't shoot in a head or tailwind if you don't want the lenses to get soaked.

I think the combo shows promise and may warrant further investigation.

 

[44caliberkid]

Really nice group from that rifle. I have one in 44-40. I used to use 2400 a lot in 44 and 357 magnum and found it produced very accurate loads. I’ve used H110 or 296 in the last 10 years just because it was easier to find. I don’t know if they’re still available, but Speer used to make a 225 grain, half jacketed, SWC-HP, and it was very accurate with 2400 in all my 44 Magnum handguns. Most 44’s have a real slow twist so you can get good results with a slightly lighter bullet. Although once you get down to 180’s, the shorter surface bearing on the rifling makes accuracy suffer.

 

[stagpanther]

Really nice group from that rifle. I have one in 44-40. I used to use 2400 a lot in 44 and 357 magnum and found it produced very accurate loads. I’ve used H110 or 296 in the last 10 years just because it was easier to find. I don’t know if they’re still available, but Speer used to make a 225 grain, half jacketed, SWC-HP, and it was very accurate with 2400 in all my 44 Magnum handguns. Most 44’s have a real slow twist so you can get good results with a slightly lighter bullet. Although once you get down to 180’s, the shorter surface bearing on the rifling makes accuracy suffer.

I have quite a few heavier than 240 gr bullets but the 1:30 twist kinda puts a kibosh on that. The 225 gr pentrator driven by AL 2400 I've found to be an accurate bullet and is noticeable softer in felt recoil and muzzle lift than my H110 240 gr xtp loads. Although I didn't chrono it--it should be traveling over 1700 fps out of the little rossi carbine. I can't figure out how the bullets make it through the bore in good style--there are some really bad gouges and the throat looks like a motorboat propeller went through it.

The little leupold scout scope has hung in there through all the years and still works very well despite a fixed 2.5 x magnification, a shame they discontinued it. I've bought other scout scopes but they eventually failed or simply were not practical for quick use.

 

[bamaranger]

yup....and some grins too

Your carbine with the scout scope made me grin, may Dad, always ahead of the pack, set a M94 in .44 mag up with a Leupold 2X pistol scope up in that fashion in 1972, way before interest in scout scopes flared. Dad traded that rifle w/o my knowledge, I would have liked to have had it.

My experience with twist rates and bullet weights mirrors your own as well as comments by others, heavy slugs just don't do well for me in my slow twist .44 carbines. The 200 gr XTP is my favorite. The 180 XTP shoots well also, but is frangible at carbine velocities and I stopped shooting them at deer.

I also fondly recalled the 225 gr Speer half jacket HP, and its brother, the 240 gr SP version. The 240 half jacket SP was my favorite .44 handgun slug. The jacket solved the leading problems I experienced with swaged or locally cast bullets, and the SWC profile suited me just fine. The .38/357 cousins of the .44 half jackets by Speer weighed 146 gr for the HP and 160gr for the SP.
The 160 was my favorite .357 bullet. All the Speer half jackets shot very very well in any revolver I ran them through, and I wish they were still available.

I was not aware that Leupold discontinued the 2.75x scout scope. I bought one shortly after they became available, returned it to Leupold for a big bold
German #1 to be installed, and have run it on a Savage Scout in .308 now for some 700 rds, and hunted it in all types of weather, and the rig has endured many miles in a soft case on ATV or my old Bronco with nary a problem.

 

[stagpanther]

Nice bama, it's really too bad you couldn't get your hands on dad's rifle, that must hurt. On a brighter note you could probably reconstruct one if you wanted to I would think. BTW, I couldn't get this kind of accuracy without the duplex retical at this magnification--but it is perfect for heavy woods hunting--in Maine even 50 yard shots are exceedingly rare in the woods.

I bought my rossi during the conversion from calling them Pumas and they became branded Braztec/Taurus. My rifle was such a colossal piece of junk out of the box--I mean 5" at 25 yds was a good day--that I decided to go full-on bubba trauma unit once the dealer told me the moment I left their establishment their involvement ended. This rifle was so f'd up that occasionally the magazine would fly off the receiver when fired. I ended up doing a lot of grinding and re-drilling to get the bands to hold the magazine tube to the barrel without putting distorting pressure on it. When that didn't work, I ended up epoxying the magazine in the fore grip and barrel--so it's truly a "one and done" deal now. Mysteriously it has always shot well after that, even though the bore is a horror show. My intuition is that barrel bands inherently introduce pressure to the barrel distorting the harmonics if (when) they move, and the epoxying I did relieved that pressure by more or less free floating the barrel forward of the grip. The aftermarket rail on top similarly would not stay in place with just the screws, so I ended up epoxying it in place as well. This truly would be a contender for induction into the bubbagun hall of fame. BUT--it's got me thinking that someone could really make an ultralight, ultraprecise lever gun if they put some inventive ingenuity to it--and I bet they would become a hit. The handiness of negotiating your way through heavy brush can't be beat with a set-up like this.

 

[bamaranger]

scopes, accuracy, tubes and levers

Seems like I read a piece years ago where some gun scribe discussed modifying the mag tube band on lever carbines, as well as the barrel/forearm band as a path to better accuracy from a problem carbine.

Unfortunately, I need a scope these days to shoot well, or a trip to the eye doc for glasses! But an optic allows me to shoot about as well as I can w/o the inconvenience of specs or contacts.....still using reading glasses up close.

The M92 and a stubby tube are truly light portable carbines. I had access to a M92 in 44-40 used as a truck gun when helping friends on their farm. Octagon barrel, about 18", we kept it half loaded across the dashboard and used it on 'chucks and targets of opportunity. It had bead and blade sights. A peep is a good arrangement for a short lever carbine, my 16" Marlin wears one, I can barely manage it these days....a pity.

 

[stagpanther]

I can barely manage it these days....a pity.

My parents never told me getting old sucks--I want my money back!

I did grind the magbands down to take pressure off the barrel--that's probably why the mag tube went downrange chasing the bullet.

 

[stagpanther]

Dragged my other rossi 44 mag out today and shot it--I forgot that it never grouped worth a darn and it resumed it's erratic shooting with random 7" patterns at 100 yds. I couldn't get the Hi-lux scope to focus well and then noticed the magnification ring wouldn't move. Then I noticed the focus ocular had a fixed downward droop--essentially introducing an eccentric orbit when turning it. Got home and removed the magnification ring--and that's when I noticed that key component had a bend to it. The rifle and scope have never been dropped and the scope otherwise has no damage.

I've had many made-in-China pieces of poop optics--but this may very well be the champion of all time.

 

[Scorch]

Aaaa! It'll be fine! Just put some duct tape on it and it'll be as good as new!

 

[stagpanther]

LOL--one thing is for sure, when a distributor has a blockbuster clearance sale with massive discounts--chances are pretty good the manufacturer is off-loading their garbage, they know that a low percentage of people will go through all the hassles of returning them.

I was thinking maybe a blue pill might cure opticaltile dysfunction sooner than duct tape.