Thread: Rossi lever action first round cartridge loading issue

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.

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?)

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?)

@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.
O
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.

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.

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

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.

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?

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?

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.