Rossi lever action first round cartridge loading issue

Hi to all

I am currently assessing a Rossi lever action (357/38 special) for purchase and have experienced an issue whereby the first round does not properly feed as the cartridge comes out of the tube on an angle and the loading ramp does not engage. When I straightened the cartridge up (with a small screwdriver) the ramp then engages and the other nine rounds will cycle into the action properly.

I have used two different makes of 38 special ammo and the problem persists (but only on the first round.

Does anyone have an idea what the issue might be?

mine works great on 357, 38 jams up

try it with one less round in mag.........

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

try it with one less round in mag.........

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It does not matter how many rounds are in the tube, it does this with the first one you try to load (even if there is only one round in the tube).

so a sideways angle?
Bit odd doing it always on first one.
wont be today but might have to get mine out for a look.
As suggested maybe try 357 ammo. Slightly longer.
Is it a new one or pre-loved?

If it were me i would give it a miss based on your intended use. First round jams suck if you are competing

so....what does the first round do thats different??? what happens if you top/side load the first round in through ejection port. and then load the mag.....
does it load if first is fired or not fired???? eg can you cycle laded rounds out/through easy enough if you top load the first???

the only thing I can picture is the round coming into action is held down by the empty coming out...but it must be something simple....

Quite easy to see why this rifle is on the market.

It is difficult to say without seeing it happen. I imagine from what you are saying the first one is coming out crooked from the magazine tube and jamming before it gets onto the lifter (what you call the loading ramp)
Try unscrewing the end of the mag tube, (at the muzzle end - it may be stiff to get it off, but it will come off, you just unscrew the screw from memory) then hold the end of the mag spring in one hand with it sticking out, so that it make the magazine have less spring pressure, and try cycling it then. I am betting it will feed with less magazine spring pressure. Rossi springs are strong.
(If so, clip the end of the magazine spring off (less is more) until you get where it feeds but it still strong enough to work properly, if you see what I mean.)

Other option is a longer cartridge OAL. The .357 will work I am sure, because they are longer.

Rossis can sometimes be finicky, but it is an excellent design and they can be tuned to run like Rolls Royces.

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Originally Posted by JohnDuxbury

It is difficult to say without seeing it happen. I imagine from what you are saying the first one is coming out crooked from the magazine tube and jamming before it gets onto the lifter (what you call the loading ramp)
Try unscrewing the end of the mag tube, (at the muzzle end - it may be stiff to get it off, but it will come off, you just unscrew the screw from memory) then hold the end of the mag spring in one hand with it sticking out, so that it make the magazine have less spring pressure, and try cycling it then. I am betting it will feed with less magazine spring pressure. Rossi springs are strong.
(If so, clip the end of the magazine spring off (less is more) until you get where it feeds but it still strong enough to work properly, if you see what I mean.)
Rossis can sometimes be finicky, but it is an excellent design and they can be tuned to run like rolls royces.

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Don't think its spring tension, OP said it does not matter how many are in the mag so that is not the problem.

softening spring wont do anything a single round alone in mag doesnt do,or will it???

It's because it's a Rossi.
My first one wouldn't even function.
They one they replaced it with worked sometimes.
Buy a decent lever instead.

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Originally Posted by veitnamcam

It's because it's a Rossi.
My first one wouldn't even function.
They one they replaced it with worked sometimes.
Buy a decent lever instead.

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My M1894c Marlin never missed a beat for sure at least for the 50 ish shots I fired out of it before it went to a new home

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Originally Posted by veitnamcam

It's because it's a Rossi.
My first one wouldn't even function.
They one they replaced it with worked sometimes.
Buy a decent lever instead.

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i have zero issues with my rossi l/a44 or my 22mag semi

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Originally Posted by Got-ya

Don't think its spring tension, OP said it does not matter how many are in the mag so that is not the problem.

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A tube magazine is not the same animal as a normal magazine.
It may not matter how many is in the mag. The cartridges in a levergun mag tube can get pushed sideways and crooked to each other, one goes this way, one goes that way, and if the spring is too heavy the lever action cant defeat the pressure and it fails.
I have messed with a lot of lever action rifles. Some of them have been Rossi's.

this is very likely to be fixable because its only the first round and the rest go through alright. So the action tolerances/cartridge guides etc are alright for the cartridge once it gets into the action....

I would like to see a picture of what it looks like looking in from the top of the action so I can see where the cartridge has jammed. Then I will go and look at my one.

(What about just one cartridge? Does one on its own feed out of the mag?)

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Originally Posted by JohnDuxbury

A tube magazine is not the same animal as a normal magazine.
It may not matter how many is in the mag. The cartridges in a levergun mag tube can get pushed sideways and crooked to each other, one goes this way, one goes that way, and if the spring is too heavy the lever action cant defeat the pressure and it fails.
I have messed with a lot of lever action rifles. Some of them have been Rossi's.

this is very likely to be fixable because its only the first round and the rest go through alright. So the action tolerances/cartridge guides etc are alright for the cartridge once it gets into the action....

I would like to see a picture of what it looks like looking in from the top of the action so I can see where the cartridge has jammed. Then I will go and look at my one.

(What about just one cartridge? Does one on its own feed out of the mag?)

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@JohnDuxbury thanks for your interest in solving this issue. This photo was difficult to take but shows the position the round gets in to and this particular one occurred with only the one round loaded in the tube.
OAttachment 187479
When you close the lever with the round like this the round does not get picked up and stays under the loading ramp/lifter.
Like you I think this must be fixable as all other cartridges after the first feed properly.

Since it only happens on the first round loaded, which is the last round loaded in the magazine, I was thinking about what makes this round different. One difference is that it is not pushed further up the tube by a following round, so maybe it’s not sitting in the right place in the magazine and moving into the action too soon or too late.
Try pushing that last round a bit further into the mag with another round or something similar, then let it come back, and see if that changes anything.

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Originally Posted by Cigar

Since it only happens on the first round loaded, which is the last round loaded in the magazine, I was thinking about what makes this round different. One difference is that it is not pushed further up the tube by a following round, so maybe it’s not sitting in the right place in the magazine and moving into the action too soon or too late.
Try pushing that last round a bit further into the mag with another round or something similar, then let it come back, and see if that changes anything.

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This is a good point to investigate

I had this issue with an 1894 32 Special
It was geometry and the last round not moving across far enough

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Originally Posted by Cigar

Since it only happens on the first round loaded, which is the last round loaded in the magazine, I was thinking about what makes this round different. One difference is that it is not pushed further up the tube by a following round, so maybe it’s not sitting in the right place in the magazine and moving into the action too soon or too late.
Try pushing that last round a bit further into the mag with another round or something similar, then let it come back, and see if that changes anything.

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so your saying possible protrusion in the tube that the rim of the last round loaded doesnt get past which holds it on the piss effecting the way it feeds as opposed to the other rounds that have been pushed past said protrusion and straightened up?

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Originally Posted by scotty

so your saying possible protrusion in the tube that the rim of the last round loaded doesnt get past which holds it on the piss effecting the way it feeds as opposed to the other rounds that have been pushed past said protrusion and straightened up?

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Yeah, something like that. My Win model 94 has a little catch that stops the rounds moving back, and I read about something similar on an early Marlin model sometimes causing issues.

Look at the inside face of the loading gate

Might just need a slight stoning to let the last round settle into place properly in the lifter

I am pretty sure the last round is not pushed forward far enough to properly engage the cartridge stop as Cigar suggested. I am assuming the rifle has a magazine restrictor in place. It may pay to remove a wee bit so you can fit 10 & 1/2 cartridges in. In other words always use the 11th round to ensure the 10th round is fully seated.

And this pooling of information gentlemen is what makes this forum such a great place. It turns out that Cigar and gundoc are right on the money and I was not seating the last round loaded far enough home. I have proven the theory by loading just one and also ten and then pushing another round up behind it as far as I can without losing the ability to retract it. Bingo. Perfect loading each time. It turns out that the solution was something that women have been telling me all my life ha ha ha ha. Just put it in further Rushy.