Range Report - Rossi Ranch Hand (.45 Colt)

[Darrell]

Finally got the barrel out of this, without much fuss once I had the right stuff. I ended up ordering the wrench for a 98 Mauser, and I reversed the non-handle block to give two flat clamping surfaces. I put a couple layers of black electrical tape on the working surfaces to keep from marring the action, and then clamped the barrel into my ersatz barrel vise. This consisted of the blocks shown in the picture below, placed between a pair of heavy plates in my hydraulic press. Cheaper than buying the "real" barrel vise, and doubtless more effective as well. Once everything was clamped securely the barrel loosened up without a lot of force required.



One thing to keep in mind if you ever have to remove one of these barrels, is to open the bolt slightly. The extractor fits into a cut that can keep the barrel from turning. Perhaps surprisingly I didn't forget to do this step... Just putting the info out there, since you could probably break parts that way.



All of the parts and pieces laid out, including the scout mount. The "fun" part is going to be shortening the magazine to behind the muzzle threads. The vertical bolt for the end cap is going to be the sticking point... It actually rests in a divot in the underside of the barrel and appears to contribute to keeping the assembly tight. For one, this means there is going to be a slight divot in my threads, and also that I can only go just so far back before it will hit the cross-bolt for the barrel band. Another possibility may be to forget the tensioning aspect of it, and drill the magazine tube for it horizontally, and then shorten it until it just fits inside the barrel band. Doing it this way I could shorten the mag tube flush with the barrel band, but then I might need to add some shim material between the barrel and the mag tube inside the forend, to keep the assembly tight.

I assume that's the same scout mount that Legacy was selling some years ago? The article/blurb mentioned that most M92 guns of that era were already tapped, you have to look under the rear sight for the screw holes. I never bothered looking at mine, I'll have to do that.

If that is the same Legacy mount, they also offered a riser for the stock to get a good sight line to the mounted scout scope. IIRC it was ugly as homemade sin.

ETA: Oops, I clicked the quote on the wrong post, I meant to hit the one above, where you talk about the scout mount.

[Netpackrat]

No idea if it's the same mount. I bought it from Noe Bullet Molds... I have seen another mount (may have been a factory Rossi item), but it didn't have as many cross slots. The one I have has regular cross slots along its full length like a standard Pic rail.

The Ranch Hands have the correct barrel contour, but are not drilled and tapped from the factory.

[Netpackrat]

Visited my gunsmith friend today, picked up the AK-74 he threaded for me, and dropped off the Rossi barrel, scout mount, and mag tube with him. In addition to threading the barrel .578-28, he's going to shorten the tube for me, so I won't have to deal with drilling the holes for the end cap myself. I may or may not get it back with the barrel drilled and tapped for the scout mount, depending on whether he thinks there is enough thickness there. The .357 version would definitely have been an easier conversion... Though not as cool as .45 Colt IMO.

[Netpackrat]

Got the Rossi barrel/magazine back from the gunsmith today, and put it back together. Threads are .578-28, because there just wasn't enough meat there to go 5/8-24. This means I'll have to use a piston and fixed barrel spacer when I get my Octane 45, rather than the simpler threaded rear end cap.







He ended up not drilling and tapping the barrel for the scope rail. Said he didn't want to try it without having the barrel installed to be sure of getting it level, and I kind of got the impression that he'd really rather not drill and tap that barrel anyway. So I still need to get some better sights, at least for now.

[Precision]

looks like a fun project. It made me smile.

Smiles are a little tight over the last few days, so thanks.

[Netpackrat]

So, I got some new sights from Skinner Sights. I just finished installing them, and if they work out as well as I expect them to, I may forget about the scope mount entirely.





Rossi uses a non-standard size dovetail, so I bought their oversize front sight, and it took a lot of work on both sights with a safe edged triangular file to get them to fit. The front sight is much higher than the factory unit, both because the Ranch Hands tend to need a taller sight to begin with, and because I want to be able to see them over the suppressor. I also bought an extra height aperture for the rear peep. I may still need to file the front sight down but I do have a small amount of adjustment in the rear. It's hard to tell what to expect just from looking at it due to the taper of the barrel. I'm not going to make any attempt to adjust the sights or even fire it again until the Form 1 is approved and I can put a stock on it. Not sure what distance I should zero it at; maybe 50 yards, but that's a WAG.

Thinking about making a trip later today (after I get some sleep) to the NFA dealer who has my can in jail, to see if I can get him to dig it out for a test fitup, now that I have the .578-28 piston and fixed barrel spacer in hand, just to see how much of the sights are visible over the can.

[Darrell]

Isn't that peep sight kinda far forward?

[Netpackrat]

That's not where I would have put the dovetail, either. If it sucks I can always go with a tang sight or something, or maybe revisit getting it drilled and tapped for the optic mount.

[Netpackrat]

Just back from visiting my can. I've got plenty of sight height over the can when it is installed, even if I have to remove a lot of metal from the front.

[Netpackrat]

Still waiting for the damn Form 1 to be approved so I can get a stock for this thing... 105 days and counting, which previously would have it showing up any time now, but the rush to beat 41F has got everything AFU right now. Nfatracker.com only shows one Form 1 from April that's been approved, and that's an SBR from WA state. I have read that ATF kept track of those that they disapproved while WA's laws were screwed up, and are now fast tracking them on request. Everything else seems to be back in Feb, and some in March, but the "trend" is starting to resemble a shotgun blast, so it's next to useless for trying to figure out when to expect your stamp.



Anyway, more parts arrived for this, so I decided to install them now. I bought a stainless magazine follower and spring from Steve's Guns, and also a sling mount kit and sling from the folks at Amazon Gunsmith Supply. The forward sling mount required some fiddling since it is made for a minimum .645" diameter tube, and the RH92 mag tube is maybe all of .640 inches. I spread the band slightly so I could get my 1" belt sander in the gap, and removed metal so it would be a better fit over the tube. When I installed it, I put a little sleeve retaining compound under the band, so with luck that will remain solid. If it doesn't work out, another option is maybe to drill and tap the forend band for a 10-32 machine thread swivel.

Then I drilled the "grip" for the other swivel. It's temporary of course, but mainly I wanted to test the special drill I bought for the task. Seemed to work OK although I wish they made a black spacer for the swivels instead of just the stupid white line spacers. The sling is supposedly Amish made and they listed them in a number of different styles. This one is said to be buffalo hide and is well made, although it's a pretty basic sling.

I hand cycled it with some .45 Colt ammo, and I definitely lost a round of capacity when I had the mag tube shortened to clear the threading. However, I tried it with Schofield and I can still fit 6 rounds of those. With the new spring and follower it seems to feed them better, although the third round of it out of the magazine still hangs up and requires a sharp rap on the butt to get it moving again. Only does it on the third round, so maybe that will smooth up.