Rossi RP 63 357 Mag - NEW Line, Made by Taurus

[jeffh]

Haven't had much time to shoot it or do any tuning, let alone post about it, so I thought I'd share what I do have so far.

I'm a big fan of Charter's revolvers, but I've had a few Rossis as well - a couple M720 44 Specials - and they were excellent guns.  I paid more for the last one a few years ago than  just did for this new one.  BOth had a very smooth and light DA pull and a crisp SA pull and were accurate.  Just a tad on the heavy/bulky side compared to my Charter Bulldogs though.

Rossi announced these months ago and it's been until just now that enough were available that there was some price competition.  I had a near-new Taurus 605 at the time and sold it to buy this, and then waited months.  The Rossi is suppose to be a step up from what Taurus is currently making and it is, though Taurus is making some nice stuff these days.

The RP63 is a SIX-shot revolver, sized between a J-frame and K-frame, "More like a Colt D-frame" as someone put it.  It's pretty much the size of a Charter Bulldog, but the bottom/front of the cylinder frame is wiser and deeper and will not fit into the same holsters - at least my formed leather holsters.

Trigger pull is pretty smooth, but heavy.  This is why the 605 went away.  On this Rossi, they went back to the Smith-like lockwork and I believe this will repsond much better to lighter springs than the Taurus models, with the frame-mounted firing pin/transfer bar.  I really hope I can get this action to act like the M720s I've had.

The cylinder is a mere .010" larger in diameter than my Charter Mag Pug, FIVE-shot 357.  It is much more refined than the Mag Pug - aesthetically, but the action on the Mag Pug is smoother and much lighter.

Target is only ten yards.  The sights are pretty pathetic, the rear notch being only .038" deep and barely wide enough to see any daylight on the sides.  Blended bifocals make it that much worse.  Not making excuses for my shooting, but trying to be fair to the revolver.  180 grain NOE WFN, plain-based, PC'd, 6 grains of Unique.

No idea why the pics turned 90 degrees CCW on me.

As I get a chance to shoot it more, I'll post more, but I do want to try a different set of springs in the process.  There's a lot more revolver here than the $370 I paid suggests.  A LOT more.  Throats are sized to accommodate the bore, the bore is bright and shiny-smooth, all the holes line up,...  Pretty nice gun.

Oh, I DO hate the grips.

[hounddogman]

I handled one of these at a local store. I had high hopes and really wanted to like it but the double action was horrible gritty. I am happy to hear that others are finding better examples. I guess that the same advice applies to Rossi as Ruger or Smith, try before you buy.

[jeffh]

Dec 1, 2023 12:00:47 GMT -5 hounddogman said:

I handled one of these at a local store. I had high hopes and really wanted to like it but the double action was horrible gritty. I am happy to hear that others are finding better examples. I guess that the same advice applies to Rossi as Ruger or Smith, try before you buy.

The Taurus I replaced with this was like that, but it was only because they "finished" it (coarse, blasted surface) inside and out.  Smoothed out quickly, but just so heavy.

[bigbore5]

I can't tolerate a heavy or gritty trigger. But I do own a Powers stoning jig, so I may consider the adj. sight version. Might be a handy chores gun with a 4" to keep some of the abuse off my service six.

[jeffh]

Dec 1, 2023 18:22:44 GMT -5 bigbore5 said:

I can't tolerate a heavy or gritty trigger. But I do own a Powers stoning jig, so I may consider the adj. sight version. Might be a handy chores gun with a 4" to keep some of the abuse off my service six.

The friend I cut firewood with (a damned GOOD friend, indeed) showed me his older ROSSI 971 a while back.  It was malfunctioning and not safe, so I offered to take it home and fix it.  It was a gem to work and I had it fixed and tuned back up in decent time.  Those older Rossis had cast or forged hammers and triggers.  I had to replace his hammer or trigger - I don't remember which - but when cleaning up the "previously-owned" replacement part, I felt confident in doing so.  NOt long ago, I basically rebuit a Service Six Police Trade-In from Australia.  The parts on the Ruger were through-hardened, as any of them I've worked on were, so I worked with confidence.

With the new ones, you get MIM hammers and triggers.  I had to dehorn the hammer on the Taurus 605 - it made my thumb bleed just cocking it.  What  noticed is that the surface of the hammer spur was HARD, but after the first file stroke, it got REALLY easy - felt REALLY soft.

I'm not bashing MIM parts, but I don't know whet I'm getting into with them.  What little I've done with them leaves me to believe they are only surface-hardened, like case-hardened parts and you can wear through the surface hardening with a stone fairly quickly.

I think the new 6" and 4" Rossis are going to be nice, but don't get too aggressive tuning one up.

If anyone here knows more about MIM parts, chime in, because I've not found the answer on this particular matter.

I BELIEVE that with the older Smith-like lock-work, a lighter et of springs could be feasible.  On the Taurus 605, it seems that when they moved the firing pin to the frame and added the transfer bar, they forgot that they added a lot of extra inertia for the hammer to overcome and failed to beef up the momentum of the hammer to account for the extra inertia.  The solution seems to be incredibly heavy springs and I've read many times where someone tried lighter springs in the Tauruses only to end up getting unreliable ignition.

THIS is why I sold the near-new Taurus to buy the new Rossi (built by Taurus), hoping the heavy trigger pulls could be overcome without sacrificing reliability.  The Rossi has lighter pulls than the Taurus, but it needs to be lighter.  I'm guessing that since Taurus built the new Rossis, they ended up sticking stiffer springs in it than necessary.

[bigbore5]

I can re-harden the metal if I were to cut through the surface hardening. Sorry, but I often forget/ don't think about the fact most people don't work somewhere that heat treats metals like I do.

[needsmostuff]

My thoughts on MIM is you can "POLISH" it to a shine but not put any cutting tools on it.
No idea if it can be rehardened but my technology kind of stops at turning it red/orange and oil quenching.
Hey Jeff, did you get those springs straightened out ?
Looks like maybe needs that sight opened out a touch to the right for fun.