The old Rossi is the first gun I ever wore out from heavy use. Although it still shot accurately, the feeding was unreliable, the wood butt and handguard were both splitting, the feed gate was worn and wouldn't function properly...generally it was full of problems. I'm sure it could have been rebuilt but a replacement was not much more than the cost of parts and labor to rebuild the old one. I doubt I'll be around long enough to wear this one out!
I sold my old one to a fellow who is going to use it to shoot vermin trying to get at his chickens. He feels that feeding a round directly into the chamber from the open action will be sufficient for his task at hand.
