Grips: Rossi R351 five shot 38 spl. FYI

[Braddock7]

New guy here. New to Texas, new to CHL and new to forum. I wanted to share some info about the Rossi R351, a 5 shot 38spl. I picked up at Academy sports for $250. Not a bad gun. No smith, ruger or colt but it serves it's purpose. The factory grips are very comfortable but big. So here's the info. I found out through trial and error that the wood grips for the older Rossi 68 won't fit the 351. Close but no cigar. The 351 has an exposed hole in the frame between the cylinder release latch and the grip frame. Factory rubber grip covers it but not the older wood grips. The grip pin is also larger on the 351. Going to try the Pachmayr compac next. It is a little smaller than the factory ones. Hope this post will save others time and money. Be safe.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

Braddock7:

Welcome to our forum and welcome to Texas.

What may be helpful to you and the rest of us on the board is if you go to the UCP (User Control Panel)
and fill in your Texas town. This will enable your forum neighbors to know that you are near them, and may
suggest local resources of which you can take advantage. Your hometown will then show up on each post that
you make to the threads.

There's a Braddock, Pennsylvania - does that have any bearing on your screen name?

Besides the Rossi, do you have any other carryable handguns?

SIA

[Braddock7]

Thank for the welcome and the user control panel tip. (surprise I'm armed)I'll definately use it. Actually Braddock7 was a character from an old sci-fi book I read years ago. Seemed to be fitting and wasn't taken. Retired from NYC but I've been through Braddock,pa just east of Pittsburgh. As far as carry, I have a few handguns. Texas heat makes most of them difficult to conceal. (s&w 645, s&w model 64 4", h&k usp compact 40, Taurus PT1911,I mostly carry my off-duty gun which is a S&W 3953TSW. It's a slim profile 8+1 double action only 9mm. Alloy frame keeps the weight down. Rides well in an IWB holster. Sold off the service S&W5946 DAO. Great gun but way too heavy. Rossi seemed to be a good choice for a truck gun. Although stainless probably would have been a better idea given the Houston humidity. Then again, I have a CHL so it will only end up there in 30.06 locations. Thanks again for the welcome.

[74novaman]

is yours the 2 inch version for the 3 inch version academy had for a while? I have a 3 inch Rossi .38 that I like a lot. Welcome to the forum.

[Braddock7]

Got the 2" 38. cal Rossi (Pretty much a decent copy of the S&W model 36 chief) last month. They also had a 3" gun in the counter. I like that the Rossi has a shrouded ejector rod unlike the S&W model 36. The 357 guns (model 461) seem to have a slightly bigger frame than the 38 (plus an addition round capacity) but the difference in size isn't as apparent as the J frame 5 shot and K frame 6 shot S&Ws. I tend to think that the grip on the Rossi 357 (model 461)is better but I'm not sure if they would fit the 351 since the 461 frame appears to be larger. Thanks for the welcome. I've noticed Texas is alot friendlier.

[USA1]

Welcome to the forum and thanks for the info.

[seeker_two]

Why not contact Rossi and ask?..... http://www.rossiusa.com/contact.cfm

[Braddock7]

Valid point. Will do. Tried contacting their parent company Taurus about a year ago and got caught in a roller coaster of phone transfers. I got off the phone a little dizzy, queezy and without a solid answer. Found the answer on another forum though but like I said, I'll give it a try. Thanks. I'll post their answer when I get one.

[Braddock7]

Took a while but here' a few pics with the factory rubber grip removed. Not great shots but if I can get them to upload properly, will illustrate the above mentioned hole in the R351 frame and the Rossi 68 wood grip issue. Got the pachmayr compac grips and find them to be a better fit and a bit smaller for concealment. Going to disregard the other Rossi rubber grips that fit the 357 model since they are still bigger than the Pachmayr. Thanks guys. Stay safe. Happy Independence day.

[40khammer]

My first handgun was a Rossi Model 68. Loved that gun. Almost wish I hadn't sold it, but I sold it for double what I paid for it.

[seeker_two]

Anytime someone uses the phrase "easy Dremmel fix", I get nervous....

[The Annoyed Man]

Texas heat makes most of them difficult to conceal. (s&w 645, s&w model 64 4", h&k usp compact 40.......

I had one of those, and it really wasn't a problem carrying it in the heat. I got rid of mine because I didn't like the caliber. In every other way, it was a great gun and it was utterly reliable. I almost regret having sold it. One of the things I truly appreciated about it was how easy it was to clean the bore after shooting. It seemed like a few passes with the brush and some patches had it squeaky clean. There was never any real accumulation of crud in the grooves because of the polygonal rifling.

[Braddock7]

Lol. Perhaps I should say minor Dremel work. Then again God did give us all these extra fingers.

[Braddock7]

Update;
Called Rossi/braztech to see if the grips on the R35102 .38 spl and the R46102 .357 mag. are interchangeable.
Waited on hold from clean shaven til ZZ Top beard grew in and finally gave up. Just as well, the Pachmayr compac for Rossi (small frame) I picked up, fit perfectly. Well that's my two cents on the matter. Spend them wisely.