Rossi Firearms are simply designed and are well made.

Last year I had the pleasure, and I do mean pleasure, to field test a Rossi Matched Set for youth hunters. The little .45 caliber mini muzzleloader was what my daughter took her first game animal, a whitetail buck, with this season. The set came with a .410 bore shotgun barrel and a .22 barrel. We have had quite a bit of fun with hunting and shooting in the yard with the different setups. Due to my great experiences with the youth set I began wondering how a matched set for an adult would work out. After all, for the money the Rossi product was a great deal I thought. After just a few moments of thought the deal was done, I had to test an adult set up and determine if the quality was continued to be as good on the matched pair that included a 12 gauge rifled slug barrel and a .50 caliber muzzleloader barrel. In short, the quality is outstanding and well worth the money.

This group was fired at just over seventy yards. The slugs group well and will bring down deer rapidly.

The Specs
Both barrels will accept scope mounts. The muzzleloader is drilled and tapped for the included Weaver style scope mount bases. The shotgun barrel has a built on rail system for attaching a scope with rings. Both barrels have excellent fiber optic sights and adjust easily for fast game alignment. I was pleased with the open sights and use them extensively.

Each Rossi firearm includes the built in transfer bar technology and a manual safety. The rifled slug barrel is 23 inches long and is ported to help with recoil. I found the gun to shoot very well. There were no jams, snags or misfires in the testing I did which included various brands of slugs, cold weather, wet weather and snow.

The muzzleloader goes off EVERY time with a 209 cap and the accuracy of both guns is very good. I found the slug barrel to be a real deer gun for our area where high powered rifles are not permitted. The design is simple and very effective.

The weight of the 12 gauge is just over six pounds. The slugs grouped less than two inches out to seventy yards. I feel confident they would group less than three inches at one hundred yards. I just did not try them at a hundred yards.

As I stated before the open sights are great. Next, I tried the slugs I depend on in the woods. The Winchester Partition Gold slugs are known for their accuracy and knock down power. The 385 grain, 2.75 inch slugs really pack a wallop too.

The porting near the muzzle is a nice feature to have with this slug barrel.

For the accuracy tests for these slugs I used a new product, the wearable PAST Recoil Protection. The first shot I put downrange got my attention. In fact, it jogged my memory that I was supposed to be testing the Recoil system. I put the pad on my shoulder, snapped the harness (much like wearing a half vest) and put a few more boxes of slugs down range.

NOTICABLE difference! My first shots were at 40 yards to see where the sights were lined up. The first three slugs punched one hole, which did not make for a good photo op because no one would believe the hole was the result of three slugs. So, I backed up to seventy yards and put three more slugs downrange. The accuracy was still very good. See photo.

The walnut stock and sling swivels make the set a real value for the woods while retailing for under $300 for essentially two guns. What a deal!

With another week of deer season open in much of Virginia (January 7th is the last day) and most of it open for does or bucks I plan on bagging a few more deer for the freezer with this gun. It is VERY easy to carry and use. The cleanup of this gun is so simple. I think I found a new favorite shotgun for deer hunting. Rossi makes a number of simply, economical and quality products that are no frills and get the job done. Check them out at your local sporting goods store.