Problems with Rossi Youth Model Single Shot

[Aragorn243]

I purchased a Rossi youth single shot with three interchangeable barrels. I did quite a bit of research on this before purchasing and found excellent reviews on it from several respectable gun magazines.

I took it last summer to sight it in for a scope with the 243 barrel and had two issues. The scope would not adjust high enough to bring the round on target. Could be a scope issue, could be a mount issue. Everything appears to be set up as needed. I'm not a novice at this and have mounted scopes on numerous rifles with no problems. The more serious issue is misfires or failures to fire. I used two different brands of cartridges, Winchester and Remington. One would not fire in this rifle. I do not remember offhand which of the two that it was. The other fired fine. When placed in my Savage rifle, the cartridges which failed to fire worked perfectly. This indicates to me that there is an issue of some sort with the firing pin. I've researched this and found nothing on it. Place of purchase suggested it could be a "grease" buildup of some sort which a cleaning should fix. I examined it closely last evening and noted no problems with movement of the firing pin.

Any suggestions on correcting the problems would be appreciated. Two obvious possible solutions are a new scope and using only the one brand of ammo. The first I don't mind, the second I do. A new rifle in my opinion should fire all modern factory loads without misfires.

 

[Twigg]

Hi Aragorn243. I just bought one of these for my son. His version has the .22 & 20 Ga barrels. It shoots equally well using a scope or the irons. Does the 243 barrel have iron sights, and if so how does it shoot with them ?
Sounds like it might be the scope.

I don't have any ideas about the cartridge issue though, sorry. Seems very unusual.

 

[Aragorn243]

MrTwigg,

I haven't shot anything other than a shotgun with iron sights since I left the military so I can't answer the accuracy issue with the Rossi sights. As for the gun itself with the 243 barrel, it was nice. The 243 cartridge typically doesn't have much recoil but these are tiny guns. I was planning to carry it when I put on some drives last season but couldn't get its issues figured out so I carried a Thompson Contender instead.

I bought it for my youngest daughter who will be old enough to hunt this year. I really liked the idea of one gun that will cover all the bases. She's not real big either so the small size is great and the same operating proceedures with each barrel will reduce confusion.

I just wish I could get the thing set up right.

 

[TonyD]

What type of scope, base, and rings did you put on it? At what distance were you sighting at?

On the failure to fire, did you observe light primer strikes? You may want a gunsmith to give it a look. It may as simple as a weak spring.

 

[Aragorn243]

The base is a Rossi base, these are rifle specific. I don't recall what brand rings they are and they are not marked. They were purchased new and are a standard one inch ring with four lockdown nuts rather than a hinge on one side. The scope is a BSA Classic, not top of the line but it is also brand new and I have one on another rifle that has not given me problems.

The gun is a single shot hammer rifle so I wouldn't think a weak spring would be the cause. The primers were struck, just evidently not hard enough. The other brand worked fine.