Rossi 92, trigger upgrade

[Scribe]

Hi all,
I have a 16” Rossi 92 in .44 and though very pleased with it, I want to upgrade the trigger.
I have tried the trigger from Ranger Point Precision, which wasn’t fit for purpose and am now looking at spring kits and have narrowed it down to two that I can get hold of in the UK.

1) Lee Gunsmiths. This has a couple of different springs for smoother cycling and a dedicated trigger spring. However, the blurb on the Brownell’s website says it is for Rossi 92 in .357 or .45. Will it work in a .44?

2) Palo Verde Gunworks. This good write ups and numerous springs and adjustment features but, as far as I make out, no dedicated trigger spring.

Can any share any advice or expereince on either of these two kits?

All replies gratefully received.

[Scorch]

Regardless of what spring kit you buy, you are dealing with parts that are roughly machined and/or poorly finished. The mating surfaces as they come from the factory do not mate well and do not slide across each other well. The hammer and sear need to be smoothed and honed to reduce friction and correct the mating angles. It is not a job for an amateur unless you are very meticulous and skilled.

[AlaskaMike]

The only springs I ever bought for my three Rossi 92s were the lighter ejector springs from stevesgunz.com. Changing out that one spring for a lighter one really does a tremendous amount to smooth the feel of the action. It also keeps your brass from being flung into the next county.

You can take a few coils off the hammer spring, but that should probably be done one coil at a time to make sure you still have reliable primer strikes. I probably wouldn't take too much off the hammer spring though, because it's much tougher to put coils back once they've been removed.

You can also put a small shim under the trigger spring, like a small strip from an aluminum can.

The contact surfaces shouldn't be that badly machined unless your rifle was made on a particularly bad day. It wouldn't hurt to do some judicious smoothing with a stone or fine sandpaper, but I probably wouldn't try to change any angles.

You might do a Google search for Paco Kelly's article on the Rossi 92. It really helped me when I first started working on my 92s.

[Scribe]

Many thanks for these replies.

Alaskamike,

could you elaborate on shimming the flat trigger spring with a slice of alloy from a coke can? Does this make the trigger smoother or lighter?

[AlaskaMike]

I actually haven't done it to any of my own 92s, but it's described in an article by Jim Taylor here:

https://www.leverguns.com/articles/taylor/rossi.htm

In that article, Jim uses a piece of plastic, and later added a second shim to get the trigger pull where he wanted it.

I expect it would lighten the pull, but since I haven't tried it myself I can't say exactly how it changes the trigger feel.

[Scribe]

AlaskaMike.
That’s great. Many thanks.

[Sarge]

Originally Posted by Scorch

Regardless of what spring kit you buy, you are dealing with parts that are roughly machined and/or poorly finished. The mating surfaces as they come from the factory do not mate well and do not slide across each other well. The hammer and sear need to be smoothed and honed to reduce friction and correct the mating angles. It is not a job for an amateur unless you are very meticulous and skilled.

I'll second all of that. I've owned three and they all required TLC, from a lot to a little, to make them remotely comparable to the Winchesters I grew up with. I've done my own lever action (and other) triggers for years but will freely admit errors along the trial and error learning process. Rossi/Taurus are not generous with parts, so keep that in mind. Hiring it out to someone, who fully understands lever actions, is the best money you can spend on it.