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M92 - which factory 357 ammo should I get?

3K views 19 replies 7 participants last post by  Only1harry 
#1 ·
Hello everyone. First post here.
I got tired of looking/waiting for a Marlin and Win. 357 lever gun, so I have a Rossi 92 SS 20" coming in a few days. I need to purchase .357 ammo for the 92 while some is still on the shelves at Gander Mountain. I do not reload. I currently have a few boxes of Blazer 158gr JHP, Fiocchi 158gr JHP, and some Federal American Eagle JSP. Will the gun cycle well with the JHP and Soft Point ammo that I have, or do I need to purchase FMJ and round-nose ammo? Is there an issue with hollow points in the 92? My brother also has some Remington 125gr JHP that he said he could give me.

What works best in your 92? I do not want to purchase the wrong type of ammo, and find out it doesn't load or eject in the 92. I plan on sending the gun to Steve Young eventually, but that won't be until the winter probably. BTW, will Steve's Action Tune make it cycle most factory ammo without issues, or do I need to stick to 1 or 2 types of 357? I 'd prefer not to use low velocity "cowboy action" ammo.

Thanks in advance!
Harry
 
#5 ·
That's what I plan on doing, but was wondering if several people would chime in and all said that most 92's like 2 or 3 types of factory ammo that cylce the action well. That way I can start keeping an eye out for that ammo.

Danke. Wo wohnst du in Deutschland? God I have not written or spoken German in >25 years! :) I minored in German and have visted there 3 times in my youth :) I plan on going to Germany again when I take some vacation in Europe with the wife. I can see it would be easy for you to get Geco (RWS?) ammo since it's German made, no? :)
Thanks for the help my friend. Auf wieder...sprechen? :)

Harry
 
#6 · (Edited)
Hornady XTP cycle great in my 92. For plinking the Herter's FMJ feed great too and are easier on the wallet. Herter's/Sellier and Bellot use a truncated cone shape for their FMJ and the Fiocci I've seen were similar if not the same.
Mine had some trouble feeding SWCs and Remington JHP 357. It seems to be less finicky after breaking it in. YMMV.
 
#7 ·
The 158 gr loads should function just fine through your Rossi 92. It would have been designed for cartridges of that length. Whenever one varies from the "standard" cartridge, either shorter or longer, (125 gr and .38 special) there is an chance of adversely affecting the feeding and cycling. I have an 1894 Marlin and it feeds 158 gr .357s and .38 specials just fine. But you need to try 'em and make sure with your own rifle.

I've shot four deer with my 1894 .357 mag. The first one was with 158gr hollow points, and the last three were with soft points. All bullets were pass throughs and none was recovered. The soft points would be expected to penetrate deeper than the hollow points, but I doubt it would make a significant difference for deer sized animals. The factory rounds were about 1800-1850 though my chrono from my 20" barrel. Accuracy was a cloverleaf at 50 yds.

BTW, I bought Steve's video and did an action tune on a Rossi 92 in .44 mag. It's easy enough to do yourself. Just give him a call and order the video. Ask him and he'll happily tell you what extra parts and springs to buy. That tune makes an impressive difference!

You really should know how to strip and reassemble your '92 and, unless you've got someone to show you how, you will find the video invaluable, whether you do the tune yourself, or have Steve do it.
 
#9 ·
Thanks the replies everyone! I just found a box of Hornady XTP LeverEvolution I forgot I had bought a while back because I thought I would find an 1894. Do the XTP's cycle fine? I noticed they have a couple of versions. I will give the ones I have a try once the 92 arrives, although they are a bit expensive to use at the range, but I need to see what the gun likes and what the accuracy is.

Thanks for the tips.
Harry
 
#11 ·
Great thanks! Good to know Hornady FTX works in yours. Others said XTP, so today I ordered a case of Hornady 158gr XTP because it had free shipping for $200 (199.95). I am glad there are only 10 boxes in a case because those are small boxes and they are not cheap. If the case had 20 or 25 boxes I would have just ordered a hanful of boxes. FTX costs $1 to $2 more per box, but I will give that a shot too after I try what I have. It sounds like the high end Hornady stuff might be a sure bet, but hopefully I will find some cheaper ammo it likes too, so I don't have to spend nearly $1/round everytime I want to shoot the 92.

Harry
 
#12 ·
I use PMC 158 grain JSP's for Silhouette shooting and it's nice and flat out to 200 yards with
iron sights and will knock down a full size Ram at 200 yards.
I also bought a box of Federal American Eagle and can't wait to try that out as
it seems to cycle better.
I got the PMC at a stupid money off sale and picked up a case for like $400.
 
#13 ·
Thank you sir. That's great news. I have a box of Fed. AE 158gr JSP too. I also forgot to mention that I found 3 boxes of PMC Bronze JSB (158gr I think) in the safe way in the back behind a bunch of .22LR I have been hoarding :) I forgot I bought those about 3 months ago when i was hoping to get a used 1894C (I didn't realize I had to pay $800+ for one..).
I should be all set for now with at least 5 different brands to start with. I just hope my 92 was built right and is not one of those "finicky" ones, because Steve Young's web site says he has an 8 month turnaround time(!).

Harry
 
#14 ·
If you can get Steve @ Stevezguns to get your work done in 10 months you
are way ahead of the game. He quotes those times but often runs late.
I had another guy slick up my Rossi 92 and he did a very good job on it for
less money.
PM Me if you want that guys contact info. I don't want to post it publically because then
that guy will be up to an 8 month wait instead of 3 weeks.
He also removed that annoying safety and lightened the trigger to 3 lbs.

The only thing I would have liked to have seen him do additionally would be to
smooth out the sharp loading gate but he says it could affect reliability so he
doesn't do them.

Those JSP's hit hard and I can't complain about the trajectory, nice and flat.
 
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#16 ·
Wow are those 2.6 cases of .22LR bulk packs? Dang! That's about 13k-14k rounds right there.
You hoarder! hehehe :) Here is my stash. The cabinet is 18" deep so there's a lot of ammo behind that first row you see. Plenty of Federal bulks packs and CCI AR Tactical bulk and Blazer in the back ;) I have 34k total 22LR because I live in the people's Republic of NY and we can longer order ammo from the Internet or mail order :(

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#19 ·
Thanks for the suggestions! Yes, I have plenty of different 38 Special to put through the Rossi at the range. The gun will probably be broken in with 38's at first. The 92 will be used for hunting as wellm, so that is why I asked about the 357 ammo it likes and cycles well. I heard they don't really have any problems cycling 38 ammo.

Wow are those 2.6 cases of .22LR bulk packs? Dang! That's about 13k-14k rounds right there.
You hoarder! hehehe :) Here is my stash. The cabinet is 18" deep so there's a lot of ammo behind that first row you see. Plenty of Federal bulks packs and CCI AR Tactical bulk and Blazer in the back ;) I have 34k total 22LR because I live in the people's Republic of NY and we can longer order ammo from the Internet or mail order :(

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#20 ·
I would like to think so :) I have 5 .22's and between my wife and I, and my nephew who comes over every so often, we shoot probably close to a brick (500 rounds) every month. So at ~6k rounds/year, my current stash should be good for about 6 years which is not a lot I don't think. So I will be replenishing my stash every couple of thousand rounds :) If I don't have at least 1k rounds for each gun/caliber I have (.22 excluded of course), I don't feel comfortable :) Although I think I overdid it with .223 & 5.56 and I am close to 10k rounds on those :) That should carry me through 1 or 2 more shortages :biggrin:
 
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