The Rossi .357 Magnum: Lot's of BANG for the buck...

Yes that’s right, this is a blog post about a gun and even though it doesn’t have anything to do with motorcycles there are three very good reasons why this review belongs here.  First, this blog is “mostly” about motorcycles but can be about pretty much anything else too.  Second because everyone should be able to protect themselves out there and these sure as heck beat chucking rocks at an armed bad guy.  Third because let’s face it, shooting targets is a hoot.  So hang in there, onward and upward people...

When a true gun aficionado hears the name “Rossi” a few words pop up almost immediately, “cheap”, “Saturday night special”, “inferior”, “knockoff”, you get the drift.  Rossi is not a brand that most shooters would crave.  It’s unlikely you’ll see one of these firearms gracing the cover of a Guns and Ammo magazine sitting next to a pile of shiny, artistically placed rounds and a high dollar tactical folder under soft mood lighting.  Part of this is due to the history of Rossi being a budget line gun manufacturer and partially because Rossi is reputedly functional but not necessarily polished in the fit and finish department.  But is this reputation deserved and applicable to today’s Rossi or is this bias currently unjustified?

A few months ago I was the proud owner of a Glock 26, 9mm subcompact.  I carried the gun with me almost everywhere.  It was reasonably light, accurate, easily concealable and dead reliable.  Unfortunately one evening I accidentally left the gun in the glove box of my pickup truck on the same night some scumbag just happened to break into it (Murphy’s Law hard at work).  Needless to say there is probably some crack head running around Dallas, Fort Worth with a well kept Glock 26 in his pocket courtesy of yours truly.  Aside from feeling angry and embarrassed I also knew I needed a replacement.  I’ll be danged if I put another $500+ gun in my glove box again but I also know that my concealed carry permit will not “permit” me to carry my handgun into just any old place forcing me to occasionally leave my gun in my truck (stupid law if you ask me).  So the hunt was on.

My criteria was clear, the gun had to be absolutely reliable, had to be in a “fight stopping” caliber (9mm, .40 S&W, .45 Colt ACP, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, etc.).  I searched high and low finding some interesting offerings, the Kel Tec PF9, a Taurus .38 snub nose and a couple of others but I don’t mind telling you that in the sub $300 category the pickin’s are mighty slim and if reliability is your #1 priority you’re likely going to be looking at wheel guns.  Well it turned out my friend had a stainless Rossi .357 Magnum that he was looking to relieve himself of.  At first I thought “Rossi?” and all of those key words you see above popped up into my head.  Being something of a gun snob (though only a slightly) I almost passed on the deal but the price was just too good and I took it.

First impressions are lasting impressions they say and I honestly looked for something on this gun that would justify my bias against it.  I searched every inch of it looking for that “gotcha” but never found it.  The gun had a slightly heavy trigger that wasn’t as smooth as say my 10 year old Ruger, but that’s to be expected since it’s a brand new gun and the trigger hasn’t worn in.  It was easily on par with my Smith and Wesson snub nosed .38, so I couldn’t hate on the trigger.  The stainless finish was mirror smooth; it looked almost like the chrome you’d see on a cherry Harley Davidson (back when chrome was still cool).  I couldn’t knock on the gun’s finish.  The barrel had a full length barrel shroud (which protects the ejector rod) and overall the gun was designed to be just absolutely indestructible.  Testament to this is the fact that every inch of the gun is steel, no space age alloys or lightweight polymer mumbo jumbo to be found here.  I cocked the hammer looking for cylinder slop (indicative of cheap revolvers) and found nothing, that cylinder locked up tighter than Barney Frank’s wallet at a Republican Party fund raiser.  Even the dang grips were good, causing my pinkie finger to align just so that the gun had a natural point of aim (something very rare in snub nosed revolvers).  I was almost disappointed by this last fact because one of the joys of buying a revolver is changing the grips out to something “cool” or “stylish” if not absolutely functional.  The “problem” is that not even a good set of Hogue grips would be better than what come stock on the gun as is.  Cosmetically and functionally I couldn’t find anything wrong with the gun but the proof is in the shooting.

I went to the range halfway expecting the worst and halfway expecting to be pleasantly surprised.  I took 158 grain .357 Magnum loads and stoked up six rounds as opposed to 5 rounds in most snubbies (a quick note here, shooting 158 grain .357 Magnum is NOT advisable in a snub nosed revolver, just sayin’).   I cocked the gun (unnecessary in a double action but we all do it) took careful aim and BANG, the gun shot exactly where I was aiming.  I did six, slow, carefully aimed shots at 21 feet and did pretty well.  Now I’m the first to admit, I am not a revolver kind of guy.  I am not nearly as good of a shot with a revolver as I am an automatic.  This is because between myself and the government I have had thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of training using automatic handguns.  Revolvers are just somewhat alien to me but the mechanics work roughly the same for what that’s worth.  Either way when doing slow, aimed fire I shot quite well hitting 5 out of 6 bulls eyes on a 3 inch Shoot –N-See stick on target.  Now it was time to get serious, I load up 6 more rounds (125 grain this time) and rapidly fired 6 rounds.  The first round hit the Shoot-N-See, the others I “pulled” but still hit well within the silhouette (not uncommon for me when using a double action revolver).  I did this over and over for 50 rounds and my group began to gradually tighten.  By the end of the box I was hitting within a six inch area under repeated, steady fire with about half of those rounds in or on the edge of the Shoot-N-See.  Now by my standards this would be unacceptable with a 4 or 5 inch barreled automatic but for a 2 inch barreled snub nosed whose purpose is for intimately close social work, this was more than adequate.  Needless to say the gun is capable of more accuracy than I can muster out of it. 

The intent of the gun is for conceal and carry and though somewhat big and a bit heavier than I would like, it does fit in my jeans front pocket.  It works even better in a jacket or vest pocket though and is no problem to carry in my cut.  Of course I wish it were lighter but it is somewhat reassuring to feel that familiar weight when traversing into unknown or somewhat daunting areas of town.  I do not feel under gunned with this firearm as the .357 Magnum is arguably the king-daddy of all fight stopping calibers. 

Recently however in this 100+ degree heat this gun isn’t my first choice to carry since at 26 ounces empty it is more comfortable to carry on the hip in a high and tight holster than my jeans pocket, covered in sweat, but wearing only a T-shirt prohibits this.  Honestly this is exactly the same weight as a stoked Glock 26 and I had the same issue with carrying it (the Glock).  Sometimes it’s just too hot to carry anything other than a mouse gun so maybe I’ll be getting that KelTec after all but for or anyone looking for a compact handgun with absolute reliability, good accuracy, and decent trigger in a full house caliber at or around $300 giver or take (used ones are much cheaper), there is nothing on the market today that could beat this Rossi at this price point. 

Given this gun’s price, transferable lifetime warranty, decent fit and finish, shoot-ability out of the box combined with old school Smith and Wesson architecture, I give it 5 stars out of 5 stars in value. The fit and finish, reliability and accuracy for half the money of a Smith and Wesson make this gun a solid no brainer.