There are very few guns I have bought and sold that I honestly regret selling. Guns based on the Rossi 92 likely top that list as I’ve had three different ones now. They aren’t the best out of the box and are a little rough around the edges. However, they are fun projects and, with some work, can be a real shooter. So, when I saw the Citadel Levtac 92, a tacticool version of the Rossi 92, I saw my next project and the last Rossi 92 I plan to buy — for now. I swear.
Citadel Levtac 92 Internals
Springs
When my Citadel Levtac 92 arrived, I already had some items on order that I consider crucial if you want one of these guns to operate at its best. I put the Palo Verde Gunworks Rossi 92 spring kit in all my previous 92’s that I owned and the change is remarkable. This spring kit turns your rifle from okay to slicker than snot. The kit includes a main spring with adjustable nylon bushings so you can make the hammer hit exactly as needed instead of like the hammer of Thor. The kit also includes a carrier stop, friction stud, and two ejector springs of different tensions depending on the cartridge. Along with this, the kit includes loads of little tips to adjust the trigger and slick up the rest of the action. When all is said and done, the rifle feels like a completely new beast for only $29.95.
Follower
I also bought a stainless steel magazine tube follower instead of machining one. Buying one for $15.95 is cheaper than doing it myself on a manual lathe. I’ve done this in the past, but I am older and have less time these days. This is an important part to change out because the stock plastic follower is utter junk. It warps and gets screwed up by certain types of lubricants. Since it can’t be relied on, it’s gone — not even tossed in the spare parts bin. While changing this part out, I suggest removing a few inches off the follower spring. This rifle is incredibly over sprung and the shortened spring makes it easier to load. I cut around five inches from mine to get to where I wanted it. Trial and error is key here. Too short and you will have feeding issues.
Citadel Levtac 92 Accessories
Stock
Those two previous things were the biggest pure performance parts on the rifle. However, changing the stock made the rifle feel right. The Levtac’s factory stock is comfortable and works. However, it’s hollow and very light. Some people add spray foam to make it less hollow feeling while some even add weights. Instead, I opted for the Boyd’s Rossi 92 Field Design Stock in Pepper Laminate Wood, Pachmayr recoil pad, and skip line laser engraving. The combination of the wood with all the tacticool parts looks awesome, but — more importantly — adds some weight to the rear of the rifle. This provides a vastly superior balance to the rifle and the recoil pad grips the shoulder firmly with a bit longer length of pull.
The laser engraved checkering is comfortable and gives the meat of your hand something to hold onto on an otherwise slick feeling stock. I found picking a stock through Boyd’s to be an enjoyable experience. The configurator is easy to follow by selecting brand, model, and caliber and has the options displayed in a logical order. You don’t need to search through thousands of SKUs to find the one variation you’re looking for. If they end up making some laser engraved M-LOK wood rail panels, I would likely toss them on the front of the rifle to add some more wood balance in the old meets new build.
Lever Loop
The Citadel Levtac 92 comes with a big loop. The large loop is great for those of us in places that actually have all four seasons. It allows for large gloves to fit in the loop. Now that being said, if you try to operate the action fast a lot, you’re slamming your fingers into the metal loop the rest of the year. Most people end up getting leather wraps or a paracord wrap on the loop where your hand hits. I opted for the paracord since I had a spool sitting next to me and didn’t do any fancy braids. I just wrapped the paracord around in a similar fashion to how a noose is made. It’s comfortable and works.
Ejection Port, Sight Rail, and Controls
Moving above the Levtac’s loop, you’ll find the rifle’s ejection port. While putting in all the other internal springs, I filed the inside of the opening with a jeweler file. It had a lot of sharp edges that dug at your fingers and the cartridges when loading. Just remember to go slow. You can easily take more metal off, if needed, but it’s a lot harder to add metal back.
Continuing the upward direction of talking about the rifle parts, let’s focus on the hammer and safety. The rifle comes with a hammer extension. Use your favorite thread-locking compound on this so you don’t lose it. Now, onto the safety. I’ve done a safety delete on previous ones, but decided to leave it on this rifle for the time being. A safety on a lever action is pretty asinine in my opinion. After all, you have to manually cock the rifle with the loop and the half cock hammer position exists. It’s the same idea as putting one on a single action revolver — I’m looking at you Heritage Rough Rider. With all that said, I’ll leave it for now. However, the first time it randomly slips into the safe position, it’s going the same place as the factory follower.
The rifle comes with a top Picatinny rail with a rear peep sight. The rail is perfect for a long eye relief scout scope if you want a bit of magnification or a red dot if you just want a faster aiming method. I still haven’t decided what red dot will go on the rifle. For the time being, I’ll use the peeps on it. I wish the front sight was a fiber optic one though instead of the included brass stud.
M-Lok Forend and Flash Hider
Now, onto the biggest reason to get this rifle — the included M-LOK forend. The forend allowed for the few accessories I wanted to attach to the rifle and was comfortable in the hand. The rail has M-LOK slots all around it except the top. This gives ample space and the angles needed to attach all your bits and bobs. Speaking of which, let’s talk about the ones on this rifle. At the rear of the forend on the right side is the Hoptic Lever Gun LongBow in 38/357. This gives the rifle six easy-access rounds close to the loading port. If you pop the LongBow off the rifle, you can adjust the tension to hold rounds at your desired level of retention.
The next part I bolted to the ample amount of M-LOK slots is the Magpul Hand Stop Kit. This kit provides a firm spot for your hand to lock into while shooting and loading. It’s affordable and comes in various colors for maximum customization. Lastly, I put an Arisaka 300 Series Scout Light at the front attached to a Magpul Offset Light/Optic mount since I had one sitting around.
The last part I put on the rifle was a generic 9mm A2 Birdcage flash hider. If I was in a country that allowed suppressors, this rifle would be a perfect suppressor host since it comes out of the box threaded 1/2×28.
Performance
Now, onto the rifle’s performance. With the shortened spring, the rifle currently holds nine rounds of 357 Magnum. At the start, I admittedly had a terrible time loading my large stock of jacketed soft points into the rifle’s side port. They had to be loaded like a secret handshake with force in just the right direction to not hang up. I decided to run a ton of steel snap caps through it and it’s since smoothed out some. It isn’t perfect and I certainly won’t be in a speed shooting competition with these rounds, but I’m happy with it now. I haven’t found any Jacketed Hollow Points or Hornady Lever Revolution rounds locally, but I suspect they would load a bit better. The rifle shoots well and provides the accuracy you would expect. Switching between targets is a breeze. At 100 yards, the sights are fairly accurate in their stock setting for my ammo. The rear peep is adjustable for both windage and elevation.
Conclusion
Would I recommend the Citadel Levtac 92 to a lever gun beginner who doesn’t like the idea of ripping apart a brand-new rifle? Likely not. There are smoother-running stock rifles floating around that would likely suit them better. Hell, we wrote about a bunch of them. That being said, with a little work, the Citadel or any of the Rossi imports (they go by many names) can be terrific shooters. Anyone who knows me well knows I like to tinker and build and love to problem solve. Perhaps that’s why I’ve had so many of these guns at this point. The Citadel Levtac 92 will be the last though. This one isn’t for sale.
