Problems with Rossi Youth Rifle 223

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gregc

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A few weeks ago, I bought a Rossi Youth Rifle 223 for my 10 year old son. We have had nothing but problems with this gun. On the first day we took it out to the range and spent an hour trying to get the first round to fire. I was using Federal 223 55grain. The hammer was striking the primer but rounds would not fire. Placed the same rounds in my AR and fired no problem. The gunsmith at the range house messed with it a while......took off the hammer extension to see if that was creating problems with the hammer spring. Put some Black Hills ammo in it and it fired flawlessly. Put the Federal 223 back in it and it WOULD NOT fire. Sent it back to ROSSI to get a new hammer spring....got it back went to the range.....same problem mentioned above....

Anyone else heard/having problems with this gun......needless to say my son was extremely disappointed......

I know....don't buy Rossi........first mistake
 

Larry Morgan

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Could be the hammer extrusion is set wrong, so it doesn't strike into the primer far enough. It's tough to tell without seeing the primers.

Is the firing pin floating or is it directly attached to the hammer?
 

gregc

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The primers are dimpled.....you look at them and think it should have fired.....like I said, it fired the Black Hills ammo with no problems....

Rossi told me to just shop around and find ammo that works.......negative...not a good answer. I don't know anyone who would buy a firearm that may not fire all major brands of ammo.....

Not Happy with Rossi at all.....never buy another one.....
 
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My Rossi I had in .243 fired fine, and had a great trigger, but accuracy was so-so, and worst part is, it flies open every time you fire it. Makes for quick reloading, but made me a bit scared to shoot it.

As for your problem, I'm stumped on that - I don't see how that could occur (fire others but not federal). Since it's not the spring, it must be a too-short pin.

Send it to Rossi with a letter (as always, Certified, RRR) telling them that this is unacceptable - and that they have exactly 3 choices here:

1. Fix it so that it works with Federal,
2. Refund your entire purchase price, plus tax, plus all your shipping to send it in, or
3. Get sued, because it is defective

You are correct that that is unacceptable, in my view. In fact, they are putting you and your child in danger of a hangfire!
 

ssgrock3

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don't shoot federal ammo. Shoot black hills and try some other ammo.

Don't threaten something you cannot back up. Sue them..why is this always the answer.

Lots of guns are finicky with different ammo. Sometimes ammo has a hard primer, many times military ammo does. Does it make it bad, or the gun bad, nope. Find what your gun likes and shoot it. No problemo. An inexpensive gun might just have a few limitations, if you want perfection and do all, then probably wrong weapon. If you want something that will send a bullet down range, once you find what it likes, then you are in business.
 

gregc

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I did send it back to ROSSI with a long detailed letter of what was wrong and how I was displeased with their product. They sent it back and still has a problem firing the Federal 223 rounds. I should know better....cheap price, cheap gun.

For the most part, no one should have to worry about whether or not their gun will shoot federal rounds......it is not like I bought some cheap re-loads in a back alley somewhere.......In my line of work, I have never experienced a problem like this before.....then again...I don't shoot cheap guns.......guess I will buy a different youth rifle for my son and spread the word about Rossi Youth Rifle 223.......

Thanks for the info
 

Larry Morgan

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Pick up a nice used gun (Remington, savage, etc) somewhere for a cheap price. With enough looking you could probably snag one for around the same price as that Rossi. It may not be a looker, but at least it will go bang! (Which is what I cared about most shooting at 10 years old, haha)
 

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