Rossi R92 Triple Black, everything it needs to be.

Firearms can serve several roles and often do, but they usually excel at one more than others. The Rossi R92 Triple Black in .357 Magnum/.38 Special is no exception; however, in my experience, the pure fun factor of this rifle outweighs everything else.

Not to put the cart before the horse, but shooting .38 Specials out of this lever gun suppressed on steel makes a range day. Once dialed in, solid hits with the irons at 100 yards was not problematic.

With that said, if a firearm is unreliable or inaccurate, no other qualities can redeem it. Let’s see how this R92 Triple Black stacks up.

The factory sights are excellent. The rear aperture is adjustable, while the front sight blade is also drift adjustable for windage. The front sight blade is adorned with a brass bead that contrasts nicely with the black aperture. Also, it is a little taller than usual, so it is functional with accessories such as a silencer attached. That is pretty important if you intend to suppress this rifle, which, in my opinion, you absolutely should.

If optics are more your speed, a factory Picatinny rail is included in front of the bolt to not interfere with the top ejection. It would be ideal for long eye relief scopes or any type of red dot or holographic sight.

The only thing I did not care for was the safety. It is a switch-type safety mounted on the rear of the bolt. It worked perfectly, but it was not as easy for me to access as a cross-bolt safety.

The wooden furniture wears a black textured paint, taking the place of checkering. A rubber recoil pad is fixed to the rear of the stock, which I think is somewhat unnecessary unless you shooting heavy .357 Magnum or are recoil sensitive. The steel receiver, barrel, and eight-round magazine tube are black Cerakoted. The lever is a larger loop with leather tightly wrapped at the bottom to offer a bit of cushion. Brand new, the action was a little stiff, but after some lubrication and a few hundred rounds downrange, it really sickened up. The trigger was excellent out of the box, with just a cat hair of take up, breaking clean at five pounds, and enough overtravel so as to not interrupt your follow through. For any firearm I would consider for self-defense, this would be the bottom of the threshold of where I would want my trigger.

Accuracy

3 shots from a rest at 100 yards

Conclusions

I am satisfied with this Rossi R92 Triple Black, which has almost 700 rounds through with zero issues, though better than half were .38 Specials. Considering the amount of ammunition run through this rifle with several shooters with and without silencers, I am confident if there were a flaw in this rifle, it would have shown up. About 90% of rounds were fired with either the Liberty Suppressors Centurion reviewed here or the Infinity X reviewed here installed. Aside from the fun factor, which we already covered, this rifle would serve as an excellent trainer for someone getting into the lever action scene.  Additionally, if you carry or hunt with a .357 Magnum sidearm, having a rifle of the same caliber would make sense. The added benefit of a longer barrel over a revolver is it will net you a bit more velocity increasing terminal ballistics, and allowing for a longer magazine tube to increase capacity. The increased sight radius will add a bit of precision to sight alignment. As far as home or self-defense, absolutely. It cannot be disputed the .357 Magnum is great medicine for two-legged predators, and since lever guns are far less innocuous than some other rifles, they can be a bit easier to maneuver through the public eye without drawing negative attention from the ignorant. If you like this platform but are looking for something of a heavier caliber, Rossi also makes the R92 Triple Black in .44 Magnum and .30-30, as well as a plethora of other cartridges in their lever action line. If you are in the market for a new firearm and want it to serve several roles, I would look hard at the Rossi line of rifles, especially the Triple Black Series.

Oh, and moma loved it.

Specifications

Acknowledgments