Disassembly and Reassembly Of the Rossi Tuffy Shotgun

According to our friends at Rossi USA, the new Tuffy shotgun is as close to the old Snake Charmer as anything that can be purchased new in the U. S. these days. If you aren’t familiar with it, the original Snake Charmer was a .410- or 28gauge break-open single-shot. Its combination of light weight, small size, and pistol-grip stock made it popular with backpackers, small-game hunters, campers, and anyone who prefers a compact shotgun for home defense.

The history of the little break-open shotgun design makes an interesting story. In my opinion, the primal ancestor of this shotgun design was the H&R Handy Gun. The Handy Gun, a .410 or 28-gauge single shot with an 8to 12-inch barrel, dates back to the 1920s. In its pistol-grip configuration, some might mistake it for the modernday Thompson Contender. The Handy Gun ran afoul of the 73rd Congress in 1934, when the lawmakers passed Statute 1236—otherwise known as The National Firearms Act (NFA).

This bill defined a number of "regulated" or Class II firearms as being subject to registration, additional taxation, and ownership transfer/transport controls. In addition to machine guns, short-barreled rifles and shotguns were classified as "Title II weapons." Included in the language of act was a catch-all category called "Any Other Weapon" (AOW). This insidious gem allowed ATF to make its own decision regarding any firearm it concluded should be subject to Class II regulations.

The agency subsequently decided the Handy Gun, essentially a short-barreled smoothbore pistol, was one of those firearms. It didn’t reverse that conclusion until recently, when the Handy Gun was reclassified as a "curio and relic." And yes, the NFA of 1934 still allows ATF to decide what it considers to be an AOW. In any case, after the Handy Gun I would place the H&R Topper pistol next in the family tree.

The Topper’s action was basically a copy of the Handy Gun, and the somewhat longer Topper filled the niche for a .410 with a short barrel for many years. After the Topper, I think the next generation was the H&R Handi Rifle. No, that’s not a typo; somebody at Top of page: The Snake Charmer is no longer made in the U. S., but this clone, produced by Taurus International and sold by Rossi, is a ringer for the real thing. The only thing missing is the old moniker.

H&R decided to get cute with the spelling of the word "handy." And yes, I know the Handi Rifle is a rifle, but it was also available as a smoothbore. Following that, one H. Koon of Dallas, Texas, came along, and combined the Handi Rifle’s break-open action and short barrel with a radically new stock configuration. Koon’s gun, chambered for the .410, was given the curiously odd name "Snake Charmer." The Snake Charmer—or a version thereof—is still being manufactured, though not in this country.

The rights to the shotgun and its name were acquired by a French company, Verner-Carray, in 2001, and lately they’ve moved their manufacturing operations to Izmir, Turkey. The other current manufacturer is Taurus International, whose domestic marketing partner, Rossi, includes the shotgun in their line as the Tuffy. At present, it’s available solely in .410 gauge in either a matte black or stainless finish. The Tuffy reportedly has more powerful ejectors than the orig-

It took the author less than a minute to field-strip the one pictured here. inal, four updated safety features including the proven Taurus Security System, storage for five shells in the buttstock, along with a visible indicator—a window, actually—to let the shooter know when he’s running low on ammo. Field Stripping The forearm-assembly screw (#32E) is backed out (counter-clockwise) enough to disengage it from the barrel assembly (#A).

Then pull the forearm (#43H) down and forward to separate it from the barrel and receiver. Finally, press the opening lever (#50) down, pivot the barrel in the same direction, and back it out of the receiver. Don’t lose the assembly nut (#31); its location is indicated but the part is not shown on the schematic. And don’t lose the O-ring (#39). Boy, that was quick. Detailed Disassembly The stock halves are held together by three Phillips-head screws (#105, 106, and 107).

They’re not of equal lengths, so keep track of which one came out of which hole. Backing them all out will allow separation of the halves (#100F and 101F). Do the separating carefully, maintaining a level plane, to avoid jarring any part of the magazine assembly (#102F, 103F, and 104F) out of place. (If the worst happens, though, the order of replacement is 104, 103, 102.) Now back out the receiver screw (#40), remove its spring washer (#96), and the stock holder (#99).

All the receiver assembly pins are numbered 27, and all the internal parts of the receiver are related to four of these pins. They’re all the same size To remove it, the pin must be drifted out toward its head end. and all are drifted from left to right— with one exception, which I’ll tell you about when we get to the area affected. One of the pins retaining the trigger guard is a #27, and the other, the trigger guard pin (#52), is smaller in diameter.

The remaining pin, larger in diameter than the rest, involves the manual safety. Because it is a good bit more complex than the remainder of the rifle, let’s skip the rest of the receiver for the moment and concentrate on the extractor assembly. This assembly is held to the barrel by three pins. There are two extractor-stop pins (#8) and the extractor-lever pin (#12). Drift the upper stop pin out to the right, withdraw the extractor (#6), and then slide the extractor spring (#5) out to the rear.

Drift the lower stop pin left to right to free the rear of the extractor lever (#10), push the lever pin (#12) out to the right, and remove the lever from its slot. The lever spring (#11) may or may not accompany the lever. If it chooses to remain behind, it can be removed after the lever is out of its way. Like all springs, the lever spring has a talent for getting lost. So be alert. So much for the extractor assembly; let’s get back to the receiver.

Remember, all receiver-assembly pins drift left to right except one, and I’m getting close to telling you which one

Rossi Tuffy .410-Gauge Shotgun (Specifications subject to change without notice) A Barrel Assembly 5 Extractor Spring 6 Extractor 8 Extractor Stop Pin 9 Front Sight 10 Extractor Lever 11 Extractor Lever Spring 12 Extractor Lever Pin 15D Barrel Pin 16 Firing Pin 17 Firing Pin Spring 20 Locking Plate 21 Trigger Guard 23 Trigger 25 Trigger Spring M Hammer Assembly 26M Hammer in the next few paragraphs. Right now, though, push out both the large and small trigger-guard pins from the left. Remove the guard (#21).

The trigger (#23), trigger lever (#45), trigger spring (#25), and locking-plate spring (#38) will come with it. If you can take a photo of the guard assembly, do it now. If you can’t, refer to the photo of it included here, and use it as a final check on your guard 28M Hammer Spring Pin 85 Hammer Lock Assembly 27 Receiver Assembly Pin 29 Hammer Spring E Forearm Assembly Screw F Stock Assembly 100F Stock, Right 101F Stock, Left 102F Magazine Cover 103F Magazine reassembly prior to pinning it back into the receiver.

The hammer pin retains the hammer (#26M) and hammer spring (#29). No surprise to that, but the entire hammer-lock assembly (#85M) is inside the hammer and you don’t want any of it to escape. If that happens, there’s probably no sense trying to locate what’s been lost.

Call Taurus International for replacement parts. 104F Side Window 38 Locking Plate Spring 39 O-Ring 40 Receiver Screw 43H Forearm 45 Trigger Lever 46J Transfer Bar Lever 47J Transfer Bar 48J Transfer Bar Pin 49 Transfer Bar Lever Spring 50 Opening Lever 52 Trigger Guard Pin 68 Manual Safety Lever 69D Manual Safety Stop Pin 70 Manual Safety Locking Ball 71 Manual Safety Locking Spring 83 Manual Safety Pin 84 Manual Safety Rod 96 Spring Lock Washer 99 Stock Holder 105 Rear Stock Screw 106 Lower Front Stock Screw 107 Upper Front Stock Screw The next left-to-right pin retains the locking plate (#20), transfer bar (#47J), the transfer-bar lever spring (#49), the lever (#46J), and the transfer-bar pin (#48J).

Those last five parts have to be preassembled before they’re reinstalled. I’ll be getting to that headache in a moment. Now comes the right-to-left assembly pin. It retains the opening lever (#50), firing pin (#16), and firing-pin

Inside are the extractor spring, lever, and lever spring. spring (#17). Keep the firing pin and its spring under control as you separate them from their retainer. While both do fit in a hole inside the top of the receiver, there’s a possibility of flight, or at least a lurch for freedom, when pressure is taken off the spring. Next examine the manual safety. Note that the safety pin (#83) is larger at one end than at the other.

The pin must be drifted out toward the large end in order to lift the safety lever (#68) free. Now pay attention to this next part: The safety rod (#84) houses a spring (#71) and ball (#70). I suggest you swallow your pride as I did and employ the ever-reliable, totally bulletproof plastic-bag technique when removing the rod. Of course, the safety lever comes into contact with those wee objects secreted in the rod, so when the lever is taken out, said objects are likely to be quickly discharged from the rod.

Reassembly Tips First off, this is not a tip; it’s a must. You will need at least three slave pins. One will equal the width of the trigger and trigger lever. The second will do the same with the locking plate/transfer bar. The third will equal the width of the trigger guard. Let the The author detected a residue building up where the pin has to travel and scrubbed it away after this photo was taken. photo of the guard assembly be your guide to how it should appear before being reinstalled in the receiver.

The multiple photos of the locking plate/ transfer-bar assembly accomplish the same for that component. Admittedly, anyone not accustomed to the task of preassembling the locking plate/transfer bar and trigger groups will find it trying, at least, and possibly downright frustrating. My suggestion for making it less so is to install the trigger spring and the trigger, using the trigger to compress the trigger spring.

The slave pin matching the width of the guard is inserted to retain the trigger, and then backed out enough to allow inserting of the trigger lever. The slave is pushed back through to flush with the "ears" of the

Right and far It’s shown here with the required slave pin still in place. guard, and the locking-plate spring inserted into its hole in the trigger housing. When the guard is reintroduced into the receiver, align the slave with the large assembly-pin hole in the guard. Use the third slave pin (mentioned above) to push out the bly pin halfway to hold them in place.

Then insert the opening lever into its slot at the upper right of the receiver, align its hole with the pin restraining the firing pin, and push the pin through. trigger slave, but leave the pushing pin in the trigger assembly. Install the guard with the smaller guard pin first. The larger diameter of the rear assembly pin will eject the slave pin. The locking plate/transfer bar can be preassembled by "building it" on a normal length assembly pin. First on is the locking plate, and second is the transfer-bar lever.

Withdraw the pin enough to insert the transfer-bar lever spring. The short, bent end of the spring is seated under the lower retainer cut on the locking plate. The longer bent end must sit in a groove cut in the tab of the transfer bar. Push the building pin out with the slave pin (the one that matches the subassembly’s width).

When you ul- The arrow points to the slave pin. timately position the locking plate unit in the receiver, which I’ll describe later, push out the slave with the assembly pin. (The factory probably has special fixtures which make the assembly of these two critters less vexing. But if they do, the fixtures are not available to the outside world.) This is the order of reassembly when both pre-assemblies have been dealt with: First, install the firing pin and its spring in the rear of the receiver.

Install an assem- ■ The preassembled locking plate/ transfer bar is inserted into the receiver from the bottom. Align the assembly with the second hole from the top of the receiver, and insert a full-length assembly pin. Then push the pin through to dislodge and expel the slave pin, and seat itself flush with the left side of the receiver. The hammer is also inserted from the bottom of the receiver and positioned next to the opening lever.

Before the assembly pin can be pushed all the way through, the hammer spring must be aligned with its hole in the hammer. Lift up the open lever to move the locking plate forward. Push the hammer spring as far back as it will go in the receiver. The tip of its bent end should eventually line up and ride between the grooves on the trigger guard. Align the trigger guard with its holes in the receiver. Install the smaller of the two guard-retaining pins.

Double check the alignment and push out the trigger/trigger-lever slave with the larger guard-retaining pin. Make sure the pin doing the pushing ends up flush with the left of the receiver. Insert the safety rod from the right side of the receiver. The safety spring is installed through the smaller hole on the left side of the receiver and into contact with the rod. Place the safety ball on top of the spring.

Align the safety lever with the rod, push down until it rotates while in contact with the ball, and then install the safetylever pin to hold the assembly in place. Finally, lay the stock holder in the right half of the stock, place the left side atop them, and screw both halves together tightly. Now all you have to do is to reverse your field stripping to complete the reassembly.