Bolt flaw in Rossi 92

[smle-man]

I bought a used Rossi 92 .357 carbine from a chap on Gunboards recently. He was not the original owner. After receiving it, I noticed the pictured rough area in one side of the bolt in the lock recess. It appears to be an unfinished casting flaw, assuming the bolt is in fact cast or perhaps rust pitting. There is no other sign of rust or rust pitting elsewhere on the carbine.

Your thoughts on the cause of this roughness? The carbine is in excellent shape otherwise, functions fine and is supremely accurate with factory .38 special. .357 doesn't shoot quite as tightly but more than acceptable.

[splithoof]

From some education in manufacturing processes, and also owning basically the same rifle, that looks to be an inferior machining job, done on a cast part. That does not mean that it won't work as designed, it just reflects the lower price point of Rossi and some other makers. With all the new interest in lever action rifles and carbines, the old rule of "you generally get what you pay for" certainly holds true. If the rifle functions as advertised, and is reasonable accurate, I wouldn't be concerned.

[rcslotcar]

I does look like the casting was poor, thus the machining not fully cut.

[pacrat]

Yep, undersize casting. A little bondo will fix it right up.

[200Apples]

What's in the picture is par for the course with these inexpensive-but-wonderful carbines. You can see the necessary machine cut to fit the locking lugs. These guns are not made as nicely as were any of the milsurp Mausers.

As for .357 not "shooting as tight", that is a straightforward issue to fix. Slug the bore, and take it from there.

[Newport]

I purchased new a Rossi 92 44 magnum manufactured 2016 and internals, to put it politely, were rather rough. But remember these are half the cost of a Winchester (Miroku), Taylor (Chiappa) or Uberti.

I'm a perfectionist, so I polished and refined everything, replaced springs with set from www.stevesgunz.com, refinished the furniture with boiled linseed oil. Runs silky smooth and a joy to shoot, but strictly speaking, not necessary.

[smle-man]

Thanks for the replies - my question was more of curiosity than concern.

This will be the 3rd Rossi 92 that I've owned. They are serviceable firearms with a great price. Tough to beat them if a user needs an affordable compact lever gun.

['ol shooter]

First rule of Mechanics, "If it ain't broke don't fix it".