Opinions on Rossi .38 spcl

[Wolfwood]

I think this was a pretty good day at work, aroundan hour and a half into my shift i bought a pistol.

a Rossi .38 special 5 shot revolver.
i had my choice of two, one practically brand new, that had served nightstand duty for most of its life, withonly periodic range visits, the other (for 50 bucks less) was only slightly worn, the main differance was the grip, (both where wood) was darker, im thinking from hand oils from being fondled carried and used as a bush anti snake gun.

anyway the fellow was real nice and let me inspect both, i settled for the cheaper one, as it had a smoother trigger in D/A and i will probably end up replacing the grips anyway, and he went on his merry way.

anyone used these?
better yet, does anyone own one?
it has about a 2 inch barrel, and feels pretty solid, ofcousre i havent got to shooot it yet,
but this is my first revovler, also my first .38 special.

definatly an impulse buy, infact i dont know much about .38 special at all, so any info / tips / recomendations on that would be appreciarted as well, thanks!

 

[Hermit]

The wife has one and it shoots OK. Check the screws, the tend to back out. In fact, we lost the cylinder stop screw one day at the range. Taurus sent a replacement free of charge in a couple of weeks. Now, it's has LockTite on it and haven't had any troubles since.

 

[MAJIK_BONE_77]

Check this out YouTube - Rossi R351 Review Should give u an idea about 'em, had mine for awhile, and it's been a champ.

 

[ftw13]

i had a rossi 4 inch smooth cylinder 357mag w/ hogue grips when i was 16....my dad got it for me. was a decent gun but their new stuff seems very cheap...i'd buy a S&W

 

[APatriot]

I think this was a pretty good day at work, aroundan hour and a half into my shift i bought a pistol.

a Rossi .38 special 5 shot revolver.
i had my choice of two, one practically brand new, that had served nightstand duty for most of its life, withonly periodic range visits, the other (for 50 bucks less) was only slightly worn, the main differance was the grip, (both where wood) was darker, im thinking from hand oils from being fondled carried and used as a bush anti snake gun.

anyway the fellow was real nice and let me inspect both, i settled for the cheaper one, as it had a smoother trigger in D/A and i will probably end up replacing the grips anyway, and he went on his merry way.

anyone used these?
better yet, does anyone own one?
it has about a 2 inch barrel, and feels pretty solid, ofcousre i havent got to shooot it yet,
but this is my first revovler, also my first .38 special.

definatly an impulse buy, infact i dont know much about .38 special at all, so any info / tips / recomendations on that would be appreciarted as well, thanks!

I own a Rossi .357 magnum 2" and I like it. Rossi makes a good revolver.

 

[M. Sage]

I've got a Rossi 851 4" in my lap right now. Previous owner had an action job done to it and it's damn smooth. A little different than what you have, this one's 4", .38 spl with a vent rib, full lug and adjustable sights. It's a very accurate shooter, first time I took it out I was killing shotshell hulls out to 15 yards or so. I picked it up because I really don't need another combat handgun (my P220 SAO is just too perfect for that role) and have wanted a wheelgun to play with. It's now my planned backpack gun. Stuff the first chamber or two with snake shot and fill the rest with heavier FMJ or hard cast and it'll handle about anything short of a bear...

Overall, I'm very happy with my Rossi. Sights are very good, the smoothed trigger is awesome and the quality seems to be pretty good. Only complaint is that the extractor rod kept unscrewing itself on me. Gave it a decent twist with my Leatherman and it's been good to go since then.

 

[jimbo]

I just bought a Rossi 38 spl with a 3" barrel at Academy for $225. I took it to the range and love the way it shoots. I also purchased a UNCLE MIKES revolver holster size 0 and it fits well.

 

[Randman]

I owned a 2" Rossi in .38 spl years ago. It shot very well..It's a no frillz, to the point shooter...I could outshot most of my buddy's back in the day with the thing at 25 yards...

 

[Wolfwood]

good info thanks guys.

so those snake shot rounds are pretty effective?

 

[M. Sage]

Only up real close. I haven't tried one on a snake yet, but they'll sure bounce a hull along pretty good.

 

[Wolfwood]

so like from hip to toe kindof distances?
i dont want to have to bend over to get a shot on a rattler, tha tkindof defeats teh purpose, i'd might as well stomp his head at that point.

that works ok but it sure is scary!

 

[West Texas]

I've got a Rossi 5 shot .38spcl with 2 inch barrel that I've owned for almost 20 years...have put everything from ratshot to +p black talons through it and have always been happy with the results!

On the other hand, now that I think about it, the little punk in Dallas who tried to carjack me once didn't think to much of the ratshot I had in it that particular day...

 

[Wolfwood]

I've got a Rossi 5 shot .38spcl with 2 inch barrel that I've owned for almost 20 years...have put everything from ratshot to +p black talons through it and have always been happy with the results!

On the other hand, now that I think about it, the little punk in Dallas who tried to carjack me once didn't think to much of the ratshot I had in it that particular day...

sounds liek that punk really was lucky!

 

[West Texas]

He didn't try to run away...something about being gut-shot from 3 feet with ratshot just really messed up his whole day...and digestive tract!

 

[dobarker]

I've tried the .38 snakeshot in my 4" s&w to try and shoot some horse feed stealing rats, up close it works fine, but if you tried to pop one more than 7 yards away, it would just throw them against the barn wall and they'd run off.

 

[Wolfwood]

He didn't try to run away...something about being gut-shot from 3 feet with ratshot just really messed up his whole day...and digestive tract!

nice. did you stick around and wait for cops/ems or jsut leave him to suffer and drive off?
im not sure on the SOP for that sort of thing

 

[M. Sage]

so like from hip to toe kindof distances?
i dont want to have to bend over to get a shot on a rattler, tha tkindof defeats teh purpose, i'd might as well stomp his head at that point.

that works ok but it sure is scary!

Little farther than that. I'd bet on their effectiveness at aimed fire in at least a five foot radius from my 4" revolver. At 15 feet, you can't even tell you fired anything though.

 

[West Texas]

nice. did you stick around and wait for cops/ems or jsut leave him to suffer and drive off?
im not sure on the SOP for that sort of thing

Nah, I waited around for the cops...who thought it fitting. Everyone followed procedure, DA looked at the case and declined to do anything with it. The law does work sometime. And the fact the punks mother called me and the DA to say that he got what he deserved probably had something to do with it.

 

[West Texas]

These are the ones that have worked the best for me...

CCI Shotshell Ammunition 38 Special, 357 Magnum 109 Grain #9 Shot Box of 10 - MidwayUSA

Might also try these...

Glaser Silver Safety Slug Ammunition 38 Special +P 80 Grain Safety Slug Package of 6 - MidwayUSA

 

[Wolfwood]

so balistically speaking how much worse off am i with a +p+ .38 spcl than a .357 mag?