Rossi R92 TB 44 Mag has 1:30" twist!

[Whisky Tahoe Foxtrot]

Edited 9-12-23
For casual Silhouette shooting I picked up a Rossi R92 Triple Black lever gun in 44 mag.
It has a pic rail as well as a threaded barrel making it perfect with my SilencerCo Hybrid 46 suppressor or the Octane 45 in ATF jail. FYI the octane works because the Rossi has a 16" barrel.

Ordered some Starline Brass and the 250gr 240gr Blue Bullet poly coated lead SWC cast lead. I started with a load of 7gr of HP38 which is between the minimum of 5.5gr and max of 11gr for a 240gr bullet. Trying to find the maximum velocity for the polymer coating has been a challenge. All Blue Bullet will say is "refer to reloading manuals" which is not helpful.
250gr load data isn't readily available so I'm starting with 240gr SWC Cast Lead data as a reference and working up.

Unfortunately the twist is too slow for that load. Keyhole-ing at 50yds.
Dismal accuracy for groups though it knocked over pigs at 100 yds. Estimating ~ 1000fps.

Next steps include working up small samples of faster loads with that bullet/powder combination and test for velocity and accuracy. In addition, I'll get an assortment of semi jacketed bullets that I can push faster to find the best load for that twist rate.
Finally, I'll test more powders like H110. I didn't start there because I was trying to avoid "cooking" the poly coating off as H110 pushes 240s pretty fast.

I remember seeing the twist rate in the specs and noting it was slow. My "wants" outweighed my "concerns" in the end though.
My TC contender carbine 44mag barrel is 1:18 and it was very accurate at 100yds with 23.5 gr H110 pushing 240gr Nosler JHPs
Almost qualified as a flame thrower though even out of the longer barrel which was a little surprising.

Anyone walk this path and have an experience to share?

note: the bullets are .4305 and are 240gr. I incorrectly used the weight from their website.
note 2: I will expand the case mouths more before reloading. I could have caused this with the mouths a touch too tight.

 

[vonb]

The problem is not the twist rate with the Blue bullets. The problem is most likely your bore size. I have the same issue with my 92 when shooting Missouri Bullets. You need to slug your barrel to find your bore size. From there, you'll need to order most likely .431 or .432 sized bullets. If you use regular copper cup/lead core bullets, you will not see this issue.

 

[Whisky Tahoe Foxtrot]

The problem is not the twist rate with the Blue bullets. The problem is most likely your bore size. I have the same issue with my 92 when shooting Missouri Bullets. You need to slug your barrel to find your bore size. From there, you'll need to order most likely .431 or .432 sized bullets. If you use regular copper cup/lead core bullets, you will not see this issue.

Great advice. I will get around to slugging the bore.
The blue bullets measure .4305 and are likely considered to be .431

 

[Ironworker]

I bought a Henry Big Boy. The trigger needed some work, but it's a shooter.

 

[Whisky Tahoe Foxtrot]

The Rossi came with a 3lb trigger and a very smooth action. The stock looks composite but it is wood painted with black texture.

 

[dhagerty40]

I went through this with My 'Remington Marlin' in 44mag but it is worse as it has a 1:38 twist.

The only way to get it to stabilize a 240gr bullet, was push near max loads. this was 23.5Grs of H110 with a SRA 240gr JHC. it chrono'd around 1790 fps in a 20" barrel.

180gr and 200gr bullets did better. I was able to get them to shoot around 1100-1200 fps which was much easier on my shoulder!

This is a trick that was shown me. To size the bullets around .431-.432" to get them to shoot in a micro-groove barrel.

 

[Emmett Dibble]

Rossi's have a very slow twist rate, the 357 is 1:30 also. You can shoot light bullets or shoot heavier but shoot them fast. Have several 357 92's over the years. 125 slow or 158 fast but sloppy chambers wreck the brass pretty quickly.

 

[farmerjohn]

Rossi's have a very slow twist rate, the 357 is 1:30 also. You can shoot light bullets or shoot heavier but shoot them fast. Have several 357 92's over the years. 125 slow or 158 fast but sloppy chambers wreck the brass pretty quickly.

I also have a Rossi with the "sloppy" chamber. Knock around to carry fixing fence or beating around in the UTV or tractor cabs. I just load a run of Elmer's old recipe of 13.5gr of 2400 and a coated 158gr SWC in old 38spc brass and leave it on the ground. Shoots very good groups for iron sights and gives 1750fps in the 20" barrels. Save my good.357 brass for the revolvers.... John