[pisgah]

I am truly puzzled over a Rossi 92 .44 magnum that my buddy Glenn brought over to the house tonight. He's owned it for several years but never shot it much, as its action is as stiff and rough as any levergun I have ever encountered. For that reason, he finally decided to sell it to a fellow. A couple of days after the sale, the guy called Glenn all upset. Seems as he was shooting it, the ejector and spring popped out of the bolt! Fortunately, even though they popped out of the receiver and fell to the ground, he was able to find them and brought them , along with the rifle, to Glenn. Glenn being a standup guy, he of course refunded the man's money and, knowing me to be an inveterate gun tinkerer, brought it over to see if I could do anything to straighten it out.

The ejector looked fine, and I could only speculate that the gun had been disassembled some time in the past and somehow improperly reassembled, with the bolt pin somehow not securing it in place. So, with the help of a sixpack of excellent Highland Brewery (Asheville, NC) Gaelic Ale, we tore it down and reassembled it in what we were sure was the proper manner.

Well, once we were done, it seemed to be in working order -- although stilll stiff as stiff could be. But after maybe 20 cycles of the lever, darned if the ejector didn't pop out again!

So, does anyone care to speculate on what's going on here? As I said, the ejector LOOKS to be in good order, but I suppose it could be that the little tab on the rear that is captured by the bolt pin may be worn down too far to be properly secured.

Any and all advice welcome, because I am determined to see this thing put right.

 

[txhunter77]

Juat to be clear, are you talking about the ejector or the extractor?

 

[pisgah]

It's the ejector.

 

[John Kort]

pisgah,
Although I never had a problem like that with my Rossi, the action was fairly hard to close. The problem....an awful stiff ejector spring. I can't recall now if I replaced the spring or removed a coil or two but the action works much easier now.

If that rifle has a strong ejector spring that may posssibly be part of the problem.

Good luck,
John

 

[COSteve]

As was mentioned on Leverguns.com (HERE) where the OP posted the same thing, the consensus was that the ejector collar that holds the ejector and spring on was missing. The OP stated that the collar was still there although I find it extremely lucky that he found it both times the ejector and spring flew out of the carbine so I'm not sure what the issue is.

 

[pisgah]

This rifle is the very devil to open or close, but the resistance seems to be midway in the cycle, not in the moment of closing. That last little nudge to close seems normal. And the collar is there, and appears completely normal. I agree, finding those parts, at least the first time, was very, very lucky. Apparently the spot where he was shooting was almost bare dirt; and neither time did the spring and ejector fly out at high speed, just sort of jumped forward and popped out of the top of the action. In other words, not a rocket-like launch such as I have experienced all too often with other parts on other guns. Last night when it happened, we were fortunate to be on a plain, light-blue carpet with short pile, and saw what happened and where the parts went.

 

[Marshal Kane]

I would be curious as to whether the notch in the ejector shank is deep enough for the ejector stop pin/lever pin to retain the ejector. I would assemble all the parts including the stop pin into the breechblock with the breechblock out of the rifle. Note the position of the parts and try to determine if the ejector shank can jump the stop pin. Might use an empty cartridge case or wood dowel to manipulate the ejector a dozen times or more to see if the ejector malfunctions. If you have all the parts and have them assembled correctly, that's the approach I would take to diagnose the problem. Hope this cures your problem.

 

[pisgah]

>I would be curious as to whether the notch in the ejector shank is deep enough for the ejector stop pin/lever pin to retain the ejector.

At this point, I agree that this seems the most likely cause of the problem. It LOOKS okay, but then I don't have a new one on hand for comparison. Next tear-down, I will examine this closely and try what you suggest. Thanks!

 

[COSteve]

Checkout the reference pictures and information for Rossi Parts List and Dissembly Instructions. Under the 'Rossi/Winchester 92 Dissembly' there's a trick discussed under item 14.5 using a spent 357mag case to aid in assembly of the ejector. It might help to give this method a try as you may not have assembled it correctly. If that doesn't get you going, give Steve Young a shout. As The Rossi Specialist, you knows them backwards and forwards.

 

[pisgah]

Checkout the reference pictures and information for Rossi Parts List and Dissembly Instructions. Under the 'Rossi/Winchester 92 Dissembly' there's a trick discussed under item 14.5 using a spent 357mag case to aid in assembly of the ejector. It might help to give this method a try as you may not have assembled it correctly. If that doesn't get you going, give Steve Young a shout. As The Rossi Specialist, you knows them backwards and forwards.

Those are the instructions we followed, and I am as sure as I can be that we assembled the thing correctly. I'm no novice at gun assembly, just a novice with 92s, but I am ure that the culprit is a bad part, either a wron noth in the ejector or a wallowed-out slot in the bolt. I'll scrutinize everything at the next tear-down. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[al_sway]

I had the same problem with a Rossi in .357. fortunately the fellow that I bought it from was up front about the problem (wouldn't always eject), and had a small bag with a couple of parts that had fallen out.
Turns out that it would eject all rounds except for the last, as the shell carrier would hit the case from below and throw it out.
I reassembled the ejector a couple of times, and it would still pop out after a few shots. The final solution was to get a new ejector assembly from a Browning and it was fixed. Has worked for thousands of rounds since.
I looked at the original assembly closely and I couldn't see anything wrong. That is why we went to the Browning assembly.

 

[Lazy Dave]

I had trouble with my first Rossi 92 in .357, turned out to be the pin holding the lever in the bolt was knocked in too far and was binding in the track on the right side of the frame, it was like it from the factory and subsequently repeated by me when disassembling and reassembling trying to find the "Burr" or bend. Once I worked that out and put a spring kit through it and further lightened the ejector spring it became a slick pretty quick 92. Then I bought another in .45 which is pretty slick too.

only thing I can think of is the ejector tail is worn or bent or your coller ring is oval.

Lazy Dave
SASS 74617
ps or the pin is worn check to make sure it is not loose and turning too