Thread: Help with single shot Rossi

Found the little tab on the opening lever is broken off.
Will build it up with some hard ss

That's what happened to my rossi also. That tab is pretty small, easy to see how they break. I had Dean Maisey fix it, I think he made a new part.
He might be able to give you some info on it

Here is the broken bit

It should look something like this

I lightly prepped it and built it up using 507t toolsteel making sure to penetrate all the way threw into the hole to provide as large as possible dilution area for the dissimilar metals.
Now iv got to clean it up and shape it.

The locking peice it engages only has a very small notch hence the pissy little tab.

I'm thinking I will open out this notch half a mm or so to enable the tab to be a bit beefier. At first glance i cant see a problem with this but will have to look further obviously.

Then onto why it broke it in the first place, in theory there should be no load on that tab during firing unless the angles on the locking piece and barrel are creating thrust. The locking piece has obviously been on a stone and im picking is the cause
Its still nice and tight when closed so hopefully I can remedy this without having to build it up and start from scratch.

Originally Posted by muzza

Spanners - Baikals are fussy on primers. You need to use a softish primer to get reliable ignition .

My firing pin was too short to start with - send it back and they were going to replace - but I had hacked 6" off the barrel and attacked the wood
So they gave it to gunsmith.
Sweet now, but if it isnt shut with authority then it wont fire
You can easy it shut and pull the open lever back down and its good - but if its not completely down then no go
Its only fired a handful of rounds and still pretty tight

Originally Posted by muzza

Mate - you're a legend. Them "basic engineering skills " work wonders dont they ?

Did you make a set of slave pins to help you reassemble it all? You will wish you had if you didnt ..... ;-)

Give the trigger group bits a wee stone while you are in there. dO not over do it - the metal is rather soft compared to an NEF/Handi rifle so be cautious. You wont get a two pound trigger but you can get a smooth release that is way better than the original.

Did I ment ion the slave pins ? And be careful reassembling or you can easily allow the trigger interupter bar to mis-align and then the trigger no go bangy when you pull it .....

Have fun

Cheers muzza
I did think it might be a prick to get back together with my sausage fingers
I thought of tapering the end of a pin to a point and following that threw with the actual pin, Is that what you mean?

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

My Dads single shot 308 has always had problems with opening when firing.
His "gunsmith" mate has had it for a year or so to fix that and shorten/suppress it and mount a scope.
So I thought id have a play at making some subs for it
Shot one opened
Shot two opened
Shot three failed to fire(very light firing pin strike) closed recocked and fired
Shot 4 fired stayed closed and the open button is flopping round doing nothing.

How do I open it and then sort out its issues. Out with the pin punches?

There is no help for these pieces of shit

Neither does 1872 posts

Originally Posted by muzza

Have to disagree Steveh.

Obviously these rifles arent to your liking , but since the OP was seeking help, one would imagine if you arent able to offer any help then maybe you should STFU and say nothing..... 6 post does not an expert make .....

Good on ya Muzza.

Update couldnt be arsed shaping the opening lever tonight, maybe tomorrow

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Update couldnt be arsed shaping the opening lever tonight, maybe tomorrow

seen a couple of these little things in stirling sports today can they look good enough, never had a fiddle with it tho, was the new rem700 mountian rifle in there to, with its spindly little tube haha

Originally Posted by tui_man2

seen a couple of these little things in stirling sports today can they look good enough, never had a fiddle with it tho, was the new rem700 mountian rifle in there to, with its spindly little tube haha

Shes a budget rifle and it shows Abe, still no reason why it shouldn't function tho.

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Shes a budget rifle and it shows Abe, still no reason why it shouldn't function tho.

they had a 243? looked quite tidy but way busy chasing the you fella around as he was doing the bolt, they have a bit of stuff in there now an some sharp prices to boot

Originally Posted by tui_man2

they had a 243? looked quite tidy but way busy chasing the you fella around as he was doing the bolt, they have a bit of stuff in there now an some sharp prices to boot

Yep beats the big green store

Originally Posted by muzza

Have to disagree Steveh.

Obviously these rifles arent to your liking , but since the OP was seeking help, one would imagine if you arent able to offer any help then maybe you should STFU and say nothing..... 6 post does not an expert make .....

You are quite right I am not an expert nor do I claim to be, not even after 36 years of repairing ,building custom guns, sporterising of military arms and accurising all manner of firearms and working with such notables as Jeff Cooper (USA 4years) and a Belgium Gunmaker who specialised in military and long range firearms and custom guns (3years). I have also been a shooter of some not very fine and some extreme firearms since I was 7 years old. Was a general meat hunter and worked the choppers for a number of years.....but I still don't call myself an expert particuarly with the likes of a very clever person like you that has a lot of posts. Note: It is well known around gunsmithing circles that Rossi single shots are a piece of shit!

Shaped up the lever with a fine cutting wheel and a quality small burr in a dremel(not the shit that comes with a dremel which is only marginally better than the shit that comes with a dremel copy)
When I was getting close I lined up by eye with the holes on the outside of the action.

I also opened the notch in the locking piece to allow a beefier tab(half a mm)
When getting close I dropped pins in on the outside of action to check operation and went to wet and dry round a small file.


Better than new.


Once I actually thought about how it had to go together ( I just knocked it apart) what Muzza had said about pins became obvious and I cut the shank off a new 5mm drill bit as a "slave pin".......... Necessary to assemble parts under spring tension before putting into action.
locking piece and firing pin thingie assembled on dill bit butt.


The whole action went together a piece of piss, trigger and associated springs,levers etc took a couple of goes till i worked out to tape the trigger in the fired position. then all good

Fiddled with a bit making sure it all worked closed it firmly on a sub and fired it into a block of wood

Further testing with sub and full power ammo will have to wait. ( full power ammo in shop after hours probably not a good idea! )