Rossi Revolver maulfunction

[mikehtiger]

Hello,

I have a Rossi .38/.357 that been giving me some problems. Shot about 400 rounds through it no problem, then one day I went to pull the trigger and it felt kinda like it blinded up during the trigger pull, but it still went bang. Then normal trigger pull for the next few wheels. Then I pulled the trigger and the hammer only went back about a centimeter and stopped dead in its tracks. (These are all double action shots)

Neither pulling the trigger or the hammer helped. I took it home and couldn't find anything jamming on the gun. I pulled the side plate off and cleaned all the little parts, meticulously cleaning and putting them back together. Threw a drop of lube in and it worked great! (but only for like 40 rounds) Now it's doing the same thing again.

Any ideas? I'm fairly confident pulling the thing apart myself (I even have my ffl06 type G for garage gunsmithing)!

[Davinho]

I've had similar problems with both Rossi and Taurus .357 magnum revolvers. With .38 special ammunition, they worked fine, but with .357 magnum loads, they would lock up after a few shots. Never did figure out what the problem was, but no more Rossi or Taurus guns for me. Let me know if you solve it.

[darmog]

I'll go out on a limb here and suggest that maybe some rounds might have been walking out of their casing thus preventing the cylinder from rotating freely. Did you switch to a different type of ammo recently than what you hade previously been using? They might not have been crimped enough to hold the bullets inside the brass.

[Davinho]

Nope, no obstruction by the rounds. Internal mechanism somehow.

[huckberry668]

next time it happens swing the cylinder open, unload, and keep the ejector rod pushed back and brush/clean underneath the star and where it meets the cylinder.

From your description, it sounds like the gas is blowing powder and carbon thru the yoke and pushes the star up against the breech face of the revolver locking it up.

[Capt.Dunsel]

Check the ejector rod , they have a habit of working loose causing that problem. Just clean it , add a little Loctite 222 and put it back. That should help. Make sure you don't lose the small shim washer , it will really jam up then.

[mikehtiger]

I can rotate the cylinder no problem. If I pull the hammer back as far as I can (about 1 cm) the cylinder will spin no problem. This has occurred with both armscor .38 and handled .38

[mikehtiger]

Well, I checked the ejector rod and sure enough it had unscrewed itself about half a turn. Put it back and its working fine now. I will give the loctite a shot. Thanks guys!

[RR.44]

My friend bought a new Rossi back in 87, I remember the first time we took it out to shoot it the rear sight fell off after the 5th round, he replaced it and threw it in the safe as a reminder of what not to buy in the future, his next gun was a Colt 1911 in 9mm.

[JTROKS]

I have a Rossi M851 that I bought back in the late 80s and it has never given me any problems. I've only shot regular 38 Spl and light target wad cutter loads through it. I have a friend who bought a 951 or 971 in 357 and he had many problems with it due to frequent shooting of magnum loads.

[Maddawg46]

I had one with only a couple of hundred rou ds thru it....did similar
At. Took to a gunsmith, and the sear was worn down on one side. He filed it so it would work, but did not know how long. Can't get parts for Rossi. Taurus won't warranty if they of vintage of the early 90s, imported by Interarms.Your probably screwed. So much for life time warranty. I sold it. The backup plan was to weld as a gate handle. I asked $200 for it. Sold quick. Even told the guy you can't get parts.