The Rossi Brawler Single Shot Pistol: Full Review

.45 Colt, .410 shotshells, and bushels of fun from a single-shot problem solver.

July 25, 2024 By Jeff John

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In these days of high-capacity handguns, the Rossi Brawler single-shot pistol shooting .45 Colt or .410 shotshell seems anomalous, but such a gun simply solves many situations more easily than a large or average-size revolver.

I once shot a snake with a three-inch .44 Special using CCI Shotshells, only to need a second shot. That second shot didn’t come off since a shot capsule walked out and prevented the cylinder from turning. Once I figured out the problem, the capsule was easily pushed back into place to finish the snake. I considered myself lucky it was anchored by the first shot, although it was still close, uncomfortably alive and very angry. The Brawler loaded with a .410 shotshell and No. 6 shot would have finished the business at once.

target with numerous holes in it — This Federal 2.5-inch No. 6 shot load at 15 feet shows how the Brawler could be a good short-range game or pest gun. (Photo courtesy of Jeff John)

Survival is another aspect. Outdoorsmen often need simplicity, and the Brawler offers that in a flat, easy-to-pack pistol. While it’s not rated for .45 Colt +P, standard-pressure loads from Hornady or Winchester should bring down a deer-size animal if you can work your way in close or hunt from a blind, and the .410 is equally at home dispatching small game.

The Brawler comes in at an affordable $240 with a useful barrel length of nine inches that delivers better ballistics than a short-barreled wheelgun but at a weight of 36 ounces. If that seems heavy for a polymer-frame handgun, there is plenty of steel inside spread across an overall length of 14+ inches.

Simplicity

The Brawler incorporates a crossbolt safety above the trigger that locks the action. The integral Picatinny rail allows easy mounting of optical sights. (Photo courtesy of Rossi))

The manual of arms is quite simple. With the hammer down and cross-bolt safety in the Safe position, press the release button on the top right near the hammer to break open the pistol for loading or unloading.

The ejector is automatic and tosses empties or loaded ammo free (spent .45 Colt casings went 15 feet over my shoulder) but also makes a loud “click.” There is a loud “click” when closing the action, too. You can minimize noise by carefully breaking open the action far enough to insert a cartridge without activating the ejector, and then depressing the barrel release button while closing the barrel. Release the button while pulling up on the barrel to ensure the action is locked. In addition to the crossbolt safety, the Brawler has a transfer bar. The hammer rests on a steel shelf and never contacts the firing pin until the hammer is cocked and the trigger pressed, which then raises the transfer bar into position for ignition.

The cross-bolt safety is within reach of the forefinger and can be applied whether the hammer is cocked or uncocked. If the pistol is cocked and the safety pushed to Safe, pulling the trigger will drop the hammer about a quarter-inch and lock it in place. You will need to recock the hammer and push the safety off to fire the pistol, decock or even break it open. Safety on or off, you cannot open the action if the hammer is cocked. This crossbolt safety is pretty noisy, with an audible click going on or off. You can operate the safety quietly by squeezing both sides of the button between thumb and forefinger, then easing it on or off.

Although the Brawler has the transfer bar, it would be best to get used to using the crossbolt safety. On Safe, the button sits in a recess in the frame and won’t be disengaged accidentally. When in the Fire position, the button is proud of the frame on the left side and could be accidentally applied during carry. If you practice always pushing it to the Fire position, it’s pretty easy to apply or disengage the safety with the shooting hand.

Owner's Manual

hammer on a break action — The button that allows the action to be opened is to the right of the hammer. The rear sight is set deeply within the Picatinny rail itself and is not adjustable. (Photo courtesy of Rossi)

The owner’s manual has a confusing passage regarding decocking the Brawler. It says to apply the crossbolt safety, squeeze the trigger with the hammer securely under the control of your thumb and lower it a half-inch—then release the trigger and lower the hammer to rest. However, as I mentioned, when the crossbolt is on Safe, you won’t be able to lower the hammer more than about a quarter-inch.

Here’s how I recommend decocking the pistol. With the safety off, make sure you’re pointing it in a safe direction, squeeze the trigger with the hammer securely under the control of your thumb and lower it halfway. Releasing the trigger at this point allows the transfer bar to drop away from contact with the firing pin, so the hammer comes to rest on the frame. This is nothing new to users of single-action revolvers having a transfer bar.

I like to do a basic fieldstrip on a new gun to better understand it, clean off the factory preservative and lubricate with a better quality oil or grease, but there were no disassembly instructions in the manual. The Rossi rep informed me that the company doesn’t expect anyone will ever need to disassemble the gun, thus the lack of disassembly instructions.

break action opened — The action kicks out empties with vigor, and the grip is wide and comfortable, with a rubberized texture for a sure hold. (Photo courtesy of Rossi)

The fixed iron sights are very small and fine, and they sit low in the Picatinny rail. You can’t see them until the hammer is cocked. They’re hard to pick up in a hurry because the tall, wide parts of the Pic rail on either side create an exceptionally busy sight picture. The good news is the rear sight is mounted between the rails and allows an optic to be mounted very low. I suspect Rossi figures almost everyone using this pistol will fit a red dot or pistol scope. Those using it primarily with shot loads will likely point-shoot the Brawler over the irons, but an optic adds versatility.

The grip angle is steeper than I normally like, and the pistol pointed low for me. Overall, the recoil was a little stouter than I expected with all the loads tested. I’ve long enjoyed shooting the .45 Colt in single- and double-action revolvers, which weigh about as much as the Brawler, so that was a bit of a surprise.

The grip is wide and comfortable, though, with a rubberized texture giving an iron-clad hold even in the 90-degree heat of the Nevada desert. I suspect the recoil feeling stouter is partly due to the height of the bore over the grip, as well as the grip’s non-slip design.

Accuracy

With a Viridian RFX15 mounted on the rail, I tested three .45 Colt loads, two from Hornady and one from Winchester. Results are shown in the accompanying table. The showstopper was Winchester 225-grain Silvertips. The best group with them was an even one inch, and the average of all groups was just under two inches.

I also shot the Brawler with just the irons at 25 yards with Hornady 185-grain Critical Defense. The first shot was low left, which I attributed to my struggle with the sight picture. The next four went into a three-inch group, and three of those were just under two inches. The entire group was 3.5 inches left and 2.5 inches higher than point of aim. My point: If you decide not to use an optic, be sure to test the regulation of the irons.

For the shot load test, I stuck with the irons. Rifling in a barrel tends to open up shot columns a lot faster than if fired from a choked smoothbore, so I set up a Birchwood Casey 12x18-inch Splatter target at 15 feet for use with Federal .410 2.5-inch loads with No. 6 shot. I figured any snake farther away than that could probably be retreated from, and anything closer would just get minced a little finer. When I aimed at the red center of the target, enough heavy No. 6 shot clouded up the nine-ring area sufficiently.

A warning in the owner’s manual indicated that shooting slugs is unsafe in the Brawler, and they should not be used in the gun. This seemed odd since there are a few personal defense loads in .410 with one or more projectiles, so I contacted Rossi.

pistol, target, and box of ammo — The minimal sights are fine, but a red dot makes a great companion for the Brawler, especially when shooting .45 Colt loads. (Photo submitted by Jeff John)

The reply from Rossi noted that a .410 slug is actually a .40 caliber projectile packed in a sabot. In a rifled barrel, which the Brawler has, the sabot is too undersized to properly engage the rifling, so it could destabilize in the barrel and have an extremely unpredictable exit direction. The Rossi spokesperson added that the terminal ballistics of .410 slugs are such that you’re better off using a .45 Colt round.

Overall, the Rossi Brawler proved a fun gun to shoot, and it would make a great companion out on a preseason scouting trip for big game. Adding a red-dot sight doesn’t increase the weight appreciably, and such an optic allows for accuracy far beyond what the vestigial iron sights will provide. Even without the sight, though, you’ll not be handicapped with a shotshell for snakes, and it would prove itself on small game using ball or shot.