Trolling on TGT and saw an ad for a Rossi 92 in 357. In the ad they said "shoots 3 inch groups at 50 yards" like it was a good thing. I've never owned or shot one or any lever gun in 38/357

Is that accuracy normal for these? Seems like a big spread for just 50 yards.

No, they shoot much better than that. I bought my dad a Rossi 357 Mag lever rifle (as a copy of his favorite TV show, The Rifleman) and we shoot it all the time. We'll move back to 50 and 100 yards and we can hit smaller targets with open sights with ease. I have not grouped it, but with a 158 grain XTP that I load, it's spot on. It shoots very good.

Mediocre sights, mediocre trigger.

I’d be willing to bet most folks would have about the same results with iron sights at 50 yards.

I've had my 16" .357 Trapper for over a decade and know it pretty well. What you get out of it might depend on what you put into it. If one is so inclined; the first thing I did was take it down and slick it up. I went a bit further with parts from Steve's Gunz. I rarely shoot factory loads; almost exclusively 158gr SWC over a dose of H110. I've never tried to group it, but I can hit a beer can at 100 yards; so whatever MOA that is. If it ever came time to pack out, I'd take that Rossi and a GP100 over just about everything else I own.

Put a Marbles #2 tang sight on the Rossi and it helps tremendously. They are great little rifles.

There are about 9 iterations of Rossi R92 dating from the mid-'70's until today.

All depends on what era it is for ANY comment to apply.

There's also three barrel lengths, two barrel profiles, and a couple different versions of the sights for each of the 6-8 calibers produced.

I only see two on there right now and they're both new. The current production rifles are proving pretty good.