Never will buy or recommend Rossi again--here's why

[Cowboy T]

I thought Rossi had a lifetime warranty on their firearms, like other reputable gun makers. Turns out their warranty is now only a year. Well, I bought one of their M92 leverguns and finally got around to shooting it. The brass was bulging close to the case head, I would say a bit dangerously. Called Rossi. That's when I found out about the 1-year warranty. They said that the rifle left their facility in April of 2003, so without proof of date of purchase, it's now out of warranty. Apparently only the Taurus brand has the lifetime warranty, even though the guns are from the same company and use the same tech support phone line. Rossi's quality appears to be rather hit-or-miss, and frequently enough to be concerning.

I checked Rossi's Web site. Yep, 1-year warranty only. Then searched the Internet for warranty issues. Turns out my experience is not uncommon with bulging brass in their leverguns. People have sent guns to Rossi for repair, Rossi will sit on it for 8-9 months and then send it back, unfixed, claiming "nothing's wrong!". Often this puts the gun out of the 1-year warranty...which appears to be Rossi's strategy here. Hold on to the gun for months and months, until the warranty period is likely to be run out. Then send the gun back and it's not their problem anymore.

OK, a gun manufacturer has the right to have whatever warranty period that it likes. Likewise, I have the right to vote with my wallet. Any gun manufacturer that has such little confidence in the quality of their guns to have such a short warranty period, and that holds onto people's guns like that trying to run out said warranty period, does not inspire confidence.

I will see if a local gunsmith can fix this chamber. But....

I also will be sticking with more reputable brands in the future, like Henry, Ruger/Marlin, S&W, and so on. Lesson learned. No more Rossi for me.

[MyOdessa]

It has been an open secret for many years, that neither Rossi nor Taurus are known as quality gun makers. You will hear from people that dearly love the ones they own, but there are too many horror stories on internet to ignore. Even on this forum people will recommend Rossi with caveat that a bit work needs to be done to get it functioning right. For my money, Miroku/Winchester, Marlin, Uberti and Henry where its at, never Rossi or Taurus. Pay once, cry once.

[splithoof]

Marlin/Ruger is where I'd go, if I were looking for a lever gun.

I agree, and add Miroku to that.
To be more specific, only Ruger/Marlin, and not anything produced prior. I have a bunch of lever guns, and about the only New Haven model that was a better shooter was a Model 39 in .22LR. Seen way to many issues with others.
Sadly, the general state of affairs with American produced products of all kinds isn’t what it used to be.

[Supersapper]

I had a similar issue. I had a Rossi .38 M88 revolver and wanted to get some parts. Same thing, but because my Rossi was an import from Brazil, through Interarms, it didn't get a warranty. I had asked about Rossi's lifetime warranties, but nope.
Totally agree on American quality. It's going down hill precipitously fast.

[socal m1 shooter]

I had a similar issue. I had a Rossi .38 M88 revolver and wanted to get some parts. Same thing, but because my Rossi was an import from Brazil, through Interarms, it didn't get a warranty. I had asked about Rossi's lifetime warranties, but nope.
Totally agree on American quality. It's going down hill precipitously fast.

Gunparts Co., mang!

Yeah, those old Rossi .38 revolvers were not real well-made.

[kendog4570]

It has been an open secret for many years, that neither Rossi nor Taurus are known as quality gun makers. You will hear from people that dearly love the ones they own, but there are too many horror stories on internet to ignore. Even on this forum people will recommend Rossi with caveat that a bit work needs to be done to get it functioning right. For my money, Miroku/Winchester, Marlin, Uberti and Henry where its at, never Rossi or Taurus. Pay once, cry once.

I once worked a an indoor range that had several Taurus rentals. Part of my duties were to keep all the rentals up and running.

You couldn't run fast enough to GIVE me a Taurus.

[The Gleam]

I would rather spend double on any pre-64 Winchester lever actions in 90% or better condition than money wasted on anything made now days.

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[Supersapper]

I would rather spend double on any pre-64 Winchester lever actions in 90% or better condition than money wasted on anything made now days.

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Totally agree. I've gone into collecting older guns. I'd rather take a 100 year old Luger to the range over anything made in the last, say 10-15 years, though some brands have still retained some level of quality even if some of their models were in the category of "what were you thinking?"

[kendog4570]

I would rather spend double on any pre-64 Winchester lever actions in 90% or better condition than money wasted on anything made now days.

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Don't let a Browning B92 pass you by, especially in .357. For one reason or another, sometimes several, avoid all the repo's.

[Sir Toast]

I have a rossi .357 wheel gun and the firing pin broke off. Simple fix, right? I got zero customer support and my local smith couldn't even find one to install and gave it back to me. It took months to locate one and then get it installed.

[splithoof]

Don't let a Browning B92 pass you by, especially in .357. For one reason or another, sometimes several, avoid all the repo's.

I have one in.44 Magnum; it works nicely.

[elk hunter]

I have 5 Rossi's, the last one is a Model 95 in 30-30. New out of the box it wouldn't eject empty or loaded cases so I sent it to Rossi. Several weeks later it comes back and they say nothing wrong with this rifle it has to be operator. I tried it again and still no eject, I gave it to a friend and he fixed it enough that it works. After over a year I finally got to shoot it. No more Rossi will be bought by me, it isn't just Rossi that has crap customer service or chity QC lots of other companies just like Rossi, Ford transmission anyone yep they sux to.

[bigbossman]

I would rather spend double on any pre-64 Winchester lever actions in 90% or better condition than money wasted on anything made now days.

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Yup. The thing is, I can buy a solid, well-functioning shooter grade vintage Winchester for about the same price as a new lever gun. Pre-64 94 carbines are in the $800 - $1000 range all day long around here, and you have several to choose from.

[Grendel Guy]

I've a Mossberg in 30-30. It's not a purist's looking gun. Picatinny rails on the fore arm, Tru glo sights, and a collapsible buttstock. Shoots good, better than I can I guess. On another matter, I went to purchase a lever gun in .454 Casull. The picture on the website of the manufacturer (Rossi I believe) showed the gun to have a loading gate on the side of the gun and one on the magazine tube. When I went to start the DROS, it didn't have the tube option. I called the customer service of the manufacturer, who greeted me with the opening statement of being the representative of several manufacturers, she said the picture was taken of an earlier model. So I passed on the gun.

[Garbcollector]

I'm in the market for a henry or marlin lever action in 357 just can't decide