buttonbuckmaster

Anyone have any experience with the Rossi ML? I looked at one this morning at the gun shop. It looked very similar to the Sidekick my dad has. I know Rossi isn't the most highly thought of gun company, I am asking about accuracy. Any help is appreciated.

UncleNorby

Don't know a thing about them, except that they are considered a firearm, not strictly a muzzleloader, because they can accept centerfire barrels. That probably isn't an issue for you since your dad has a sidekick, and I think they also can accept centerfire barrels (maybe I'm wrong on the sidekick?). They do resemble NEF guns. Also noticed it is another collapsible ramrod gun. I recall hearing NEF owners had mixed feelings about it. I'm sure your dad can give you the lowdown.

Anyway, I have seen them on-line and they don't look too bad to me for the price. I wouldn't be afraid to try one, especially if yu like the feel of the one in the shop. I just bought a Remington Genesis which is really made by Traditions, on sale for less than half price from Cabelas. I might not have bought it if I knew it was a Traditions gun, but now that I have it I have no regrets, and it shoots very well. So don't worry too much about brand names.

buttonbuckmaster

I had a TC black diamond XR for a few years and loved the way it shot. But I hated cleaning that gun. Thats why I am looking for a break action. I'm not a hardcore ML guy, so I'm getting something cheap just so I can hunt a few days a year with it.

UncleNorby

Well, the Rossi does appear that it breaks down easily and you could clean the barrel separately from the receiver easily enough.

There's a new powder called Blackhorn 209 that essentially allows you to clean you gun as you would a centerfire, with solvents. It does cost more, but many say the ease of loading without swabbing and the cleaning advantages make it worth the money.

vabowhntr

I have one of their Miniloaders in .45 ss(for my daughter...) and it is a fairly accurate gun. It likes heavy sabots (240 gr PR bullets) and will shoot well under and inch CTC at our 50 yard range. Although everything from155 to 240 gr in .40 cal bullets has been an inch orbetter at50 yards. They say it is only for pellets in the manual, I don't have pellets and shoot it with 60 gr of t7 2f. The flash hole in the breech plug is very large when compared to NEF, but you don't have primer carriers, just a place to put the primer in. There is some blowback, but not too much. The trigger is on the heavy side, but breaks clean. Overall it seems to be a fairly well made gun, the only thing I would really change is the breech plug. It needs a longer and narrower flash hole, then you would have less blowback.

BTW, it is a firearm under the law, but you can't get replacement rifle barrels like on the NEF Huntsman (sidekick is ml only as the receiver is different) yet. They keep talking about it, so I will keep mine in the hope that one day they will sell me a barrel in .357 or 7.62x39...