Unlike its parent company, Taurus, Rossi doesn’t give all its products fancy names like “The Judge” or “The Tracker“. This little plain jane is just simply called the Rossi revolver, or more specifically the “R85104,” which has a ring of its own.
It’s a medium sized frame revolver with a 4-inch barrel and an overall length of 8 1/2 inches. It has a steel construction with a blued finish, rubber grips, the Taurus Security Safety system, which you probably won’t ever use, a double-action trigger, which you will use, a six-shot capacity and it can withstand .38 +P loads in addition to the .357 Magnum.
Overall the Rossi sort of falls into the range-queen spot in my gun safe. While I have carried it concealed in a Bianchi IWB holster it is not my go to gun. Although I am going to utter a phrase here similar to something you’ve probably heard coming from 1911 owners when referring to their love of those guns and the .45 ACP cartridge, “If I have to shoot more than six times I’m doing something wrong.”
That’s right friends, the .357 Magnum is the magic round capable of downing Godzilla and striking fear into the hearts of those that would do you harm causing them to wet themselves as they flee in terror.
But in all seriousness the only reason I do not carry this gun on the regular is in a self-defense situation the Rossi would require two hands in order to swing open the gate, making it a bit of a slowcoach and of course in a self-defense situation seconds count.
Besides that, the sights are fully adjustable, though the front sight is pinned and so may require the aid of a gunsmith if you’re looking to make a change. For me, the recoil on this gun is negligible even when shooting .357 Magnum loads. When shooting .38 Special the recoil barely catches your attention. Perhaps owing to the guns steel frame and comfortable-for-me grips I have found this gun easy and fun to shoot. Also, at 32 ounces the gun doesn’t feel particularly heavy.