Another one for Charlie

[Steve Wood]

 

[Charlief1]

Very nice Steve. 30-30 Henry?

[Steve Wood]

30-30 Rossi

[Charlief1]

Basically a Marlin made in south America. They're pretty good guns as a rule. I've got a 357 carbine from Rossi that is one of my favorites.

[Steve Wood]

It's a take off of the Marlin 336 whereas the .357 is a take off of the 1892.  It's a little harder to slick up but will really respond to some polishing and spring changes.

the 30-30 is called a Rio Grande and it, being made like the 336, is much simpler to work on but they normally are pretty good right out of the box unless they left a lot of debris inside.  A little slicking up will work wonders but it shoots very well as it is

I have been trying to find a M92 .357 but they are in short supply at the moment other than a few on gunbroker and such.  I want a trapper model with the 16" barrel.

That will match up with the New Vaquero which my son has as well as the Long Hunter version of the Taylor SmokeWagon which I have on order.  .38/.357 is a lot cheaper for ammo as compared to the 30-30   And anyone, big or small, can shoot it.

Putting a tang sight on my Marlin 1894-44mag that I bought many years ago when Marlins were still good guns as compared to the Remlins of today.

[stevemon]

I think I sold a carload of those 336C's when I worked at Otasco in the 70s. Nice quality but on the heavy side.

[Charlief1]

I'm sure this is what you're looking for Steve but I was looking for a 4.625" stainless vaquero in 357 for a match. That would give me all I need to do cowboy action shooting. If you find a trapper send me a note and I can tell you what needs to be done to tweak it. The feed ramps are the biggest thing you've got to change for more reliability. They're angled off just enough to cause jamming. Mine's been tweaked so that you can load it one handed and if I could find a large loop lever for it that would help quite a bit. The loop is a little tight so I usually leave my pinky out for more room.

[Steve Wood]

yep...that's it.  Rumor has it that they will start showing up soon.

I have been studying the guy in Lampasas's http://www.stevesgunz.com/ mods and it looks easy.  Bit harder to put back together than the Rio Grande, but not that bad.  Got what I need..except for the rifle 

Cowboy shooters seems to be going to .357 in droves.  Saw a .45 LC locally, but .357 is a different matter right now...except for GB or GA.

Waiting on my SmokeWagon...s upposedly another two weeks  http://www.longhunt.com/taylor/smokewagon.htm

and trying to convince myself that I don't need this one too...http://www.longhunt.com/ruger/vaquero-bisley.htm

I just like shooting gongs and tin cans, etc out in the pasture

[Charlief1]

Mine's one of the early ones so I don't have the safety on the bolt. This is my 3rd Rossi so far and I wish I'd kept the first one. I've had a saddle ring rifle, regular rifle, and this carbine. Put 38's in it and you'd swear it's a 22. You don't need to buy the kit unless you really want to. I did mine before the kit was available and the feed ramps along with the loading port needed work. Even after I smoothed out the load port you can still have issues putting shells in sometimes. If I'd had the barrel off I would've done more to clean it up but the barrel gets in the way.


I like that smokewagon but I want the vaquero for the strength more than the looks. I load my 357 rounds a bit hot so I can't use one of the less expensive versions since they're not as strong.

[Steve Wood]

Yep, the NV I found for my son is a sweet shooter.  Not as heavy as the original, but, still very rugged compared to anything else other than the USFA guns.

I'm not interested in heavy loads as I have other guns for that. (and the SW is purty!)

The only aftermarket part for the 92 or Rio that I see required is the stainless steel follower for the mag tube.  Long term that could be beneficial over the plastic.  Just grinding of the loading door spring will take care of the stiffness there....other wise, just cleaning and slicking everything else and maybe a little contouring work miracles.  I have been impressed with all the ones I have seen.

I have seen a couple of Pumas on GB but I get a little nervous of buying a used one sight unseen.  Taurus is getting really contrary about selling parts.  Big uproar going on over their current policy of wanting the gun sent in for every little thing....

[Charlief1]

If you can find one of the early rifles like I have it's got a steel follower in the tube. The ramp didn't need any polishing but when you take the rails out put about a 5 degree angle on them so the fronts move in some. Then polish the where the rim of the cartridge goes through. The loading door really wasn't the issue in my case. Where the nose of the bullet went into the tube there's a ridge that the nose would catch on. I ended up beveling it so the nose would slide in better.


There's also a very thin headed screw on the side of the lever that's hard as hell (over hardened). It actually broke part of the head when I was tuning the action. Taurus had them but they had to be ordered from Brazil and I got 2 just in case.


If you'd like I can take a pic of the insides so you can see what's been polished and it might help some.