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Posted: 9/11/2009 5:07:56 PM EDT
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My shooting club (also our FFL) called to tell me that the newest member of my collection had arrived and was ready for pickup! I dropped all the important stuff I was doing (not much because remember I'm retired) and drove over to sign the papers and pick up my new Rossi 357 carbine!! I now have a carbine to pair with my 357 rifle. The picture is of it right out of the box, without any touch ups at all. I went with the std blued receiver, round barrel version because, well just because I wanted one. Surprisingly, the action is fairly smooth, however, not surprisingly, the trigger weight is likely measured in pounds rather than ounces and that damn safety is staring at me. No worries because as we speak, I have a safety plug, steel mag follower, ejector spring, and Marbles front bead and rear semi buckhorn sights on their way from our own Nate Kiowa Jones so that I can install them while I do my action job on it like I did with my rifle. My rifle started with a rougher action and heavier trigger but with Steve's help I slicked it up right smartly and lowered the trigger pull to a sweet 2½ to 3 lbs. I expect to accomplish the same with this light and fast baby. I'm one happy camper.  HAPPINESS IS A BRAND NEW RIFLE!  Range report later this weekend including a comparison of velocities between my carbine and rifle with my chrono to see if 4" more barrel length really makes a difference with my loads. |
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Very nice, I'm looking forward to the range report. I'm considering picking up a .357 lever action carbine and would love to hear how yours shoots and see some more pics of it.
JLane, I'd reccomend getting one, I got a 336 several months ago and it quickly became my favorite rifle in my stable. I have a lot more fun shooting it than anything else. |
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Now the Chrono Data Well I made it out to the range today and things went well. First I ran 60 rds through it to break in the action. It's starting to loosen up a bit and the trigger pull is down some but the action job will still make this a slick running levergun. Today was much cooler than the last time I chrono'd my rifle so I brought it too so that I could re-run it's numbers to the lower temps. The 38spl+p numbers were slower by about 30-35 fps and the 357mag numbers were slower by 40-45fps. I attribute that to the cooler and damper air (it rained last night). Anyway, now to the numbers. Old Data: Weather: Sunny and 80°, light breeze, Range El: 6,100ft ASL. Rossi 38/357 24" hex barrel rifle 38spl+p (158g Zero JSP bullet, 11.5grn H110, Win SPM primers, assorted cases, 1.460" OAL) = 1,356fps 357mag (158g Zero JSP bullet, 16.5grn H110, Win SPM primers, assorted cases, 1.590" OAL) = 1,822fps New Data: Weather: Cloudy and 59°, light breeze, Range El: 6,100ft ASL. Rossi 38/357 24" hex barrel rifle 38spl+p (158g Zero JSP bullet, 11.5grn H110, Win SPM primers, assorted cases, 1.460" OAL = 1,322fps 357mag (158g Zero JSP bullet, 16.5grn H110, Win SPM primers, assorted cases, 1.590" OAL) = 1,799fps Rossi 38/357 20" round barrel carbine 38spl+p (158g Zero JSP bullet, 11.5grn H110, Win SPM primers, assorted cases, 1.460" OAL = 1,416fps 357mag (158g Zero JSP bullet, 16.5grn H110, Win SPM primers, assorted cases, 1.590" OAL) = 1,789fps Note that the 38spl+P rounds are 60fps faster in the carbine. This means that the rounds are running out of gas before they leave the barrel of the 4" longer rifle. Also note that the 357mag rounds are 10fps slower in the carbine. This means that the rounds are still accelerating in the last 4" of the rifle's longer barrel. These results are interesting but not unexpected as the lower powered 38spl rounds should start to fall off sooner than the 357mag rounds in the longer barrel. In addition, I'm speculating that my future hotter 357mag loads will likely benefit from the longer 24" barrel even more because of the larger powder charge I'm planning. I expect to see a larger difference between the 20" and 24" barrels. Bottom line: It was a great day at the range!! Happiness really is a warm firearm. And I love my new carbine!! Using the 38spl+P loads, I'm able to shoot out to 175yds with ease and hitting our 14" steel plate with the stock sights and brand new rifle was doable. I can't wait to finish the action / trigger jobs and install my new Marbles bead front sight and semi-buckhorn rear one. I'm really pleased with both my Rossis. Out of the box they were both dead on, and while tight initially, their actions and trigger weights got better with rounds down range. Steve's (Nate) action and trigger job coupled with his great parts will transform my carbine to the same excellent levergun that my 24" rifle is. |
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