45lc Puma

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robctwo

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Just got back from the gun show. Wasn't really trying to get another gun, but had been looking at pistol caliber long guns. Thought I wanted the pump lightning replica, but the guns available just didn't do it for me. Nice little Puma, 20" octagonal barrel, case hardened receiver. $459 out the door.

I have a bunch of 45lc loaded. Thought I'd like the Taurus revolver. Not very accurate, so not shooting it much. This looks like a kick.
 
That's an excellent price and a nice rifle. I have the same Puma 92 in .44 Mag. I've removed the semi-buckhorn sight and put a Marble's Tang Sight on mine. That improved accuracy quite a bit. The action is smooth and it has a very decent trigger.

I'm not sure what you can get from the .45LC but it should be quite good to at least 100 meters. For handloading the .45 cases are too thin to push velocities much. Still, that should be a really fun rifle. My .44 is.
 
My Marble's sight came from Midway. It's $120 but is well made and has windage adjustments as well as elevation.

Your rifle should have come with a tang sight screw included. The Marble's will have two screws and three sight disks included.
 
Had a chance to stop by the range on the way home today. Had two boxes of 100 reloads from a couple years ago.

First box had major feeding problems, looks like there is not quite enough crimp. Second box crimped well and fed without trouble. The action is a bit stiff, but working in.

Shooting powder puff loads at 25 and 35 yards. The gun is shooting right, and a bit high. Didn't have tools to drift the sights. Looks like the front sight will be easier to drift. I don't mind a 6 o'clock hold for close work. The rifle was grouping nicely. I was shooting with a friend, off hand. We both were putting them in the same location so I'm confident it is the gun.

Ran about 125 total through it. Very happy with it for what I'm looking at.
Got some 250 gr RNFP from my local caster and will be fooling around with loads for the next few weeks. No recoil with Trail Boss or HS-6 loads. I'll work up some of the hotter stuff for Ruger as well.
 
I have run about 250-300 rounds through it so far. Broke it down for cleaning today. Smoothed out a few spots, but did not do a major tune-up. I'll probably just slick it up a bit every time I tear it down.

I've been detail stripping 1911s and fiddling around with them for a few years, so the internals of this gun made sense to me.

I didn't remove the loading gate or any of the front end, just the "field strip".

I noticed that there were some brass shavings in the action. Looks like I've been shaving a very fine amount of the rim.

I've got a bunch of loads ready to go for the next range session.

I got the rear sight drifted to "right on". Shot a few bowling pins with it this last week. Fun little gun.
 
I'm not sure what you can get from the .45LC but it should be quite good to at least 100 meters. For handloading the .45 cases are too thin to push velocities much. Still, that should be a really fun rifle. My .44 is.
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The "thin case" myth is just that. A myth. The limiting factor of most .45 Colt guns are the grossly oversized chambers. A Marlin 1894 .45 Colt rifle will reliably drive a 300 to 335 grain bullet to around 1500 ft/sec with pressure in the neighborhood of 25,000 CUP.(*) I don't like to go much higher than that in a Marlin, because the design doesn't lend itself to long case life. The Puma, having the far stronger lockwork of the Winchester 1892, will do much better. Standard-pressure loads will push a 250 grain bullet to around 1200 ft/sec, and bumping up the pressure load to .45 ACP pressure levels will gain a couple hundred ft/sec more velocity. Certainly more than adequate for deer-sized game.

Of course, since the .45 Colt uses short, fat bullets, you're not going to get much more than ~125 yards point-blank range, no matter what load you use.

* - Velocities were obtained with my loads developed around the characteristics of my own rifle and loaded according to commercially published reloading information. This is only a guideline! USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!
 
Right On, EnsignJimmy!

New Starline and Winchester .45 colt brass is just is thick, if not a tad bit thicker than most .44 Remington mag brass out there.

Proly Remington and Federal 45 colt brass is the same way, but I don't use it, so I have no clue.
 
Nice looking rifle.......I have an older Rossi/Puma 20" in stainless. If you ever think you might want to get rid of that top 'safety', give this person a call:

http://www.stevesgunz.com/

He is a very good person around the Puma '92 and really does good work.

God Bless and good shootin'
 
Thanks for the link. I doubt that I'll ever turn the safety "on". The half cock notch feels pretty solid.
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I thought you might like to have it removed for a cleaner look...Steve can do this and fill in the hole to make it look more original;)
 
I hate the damn safety on my 454 Casull Puma. I love the gun and get pissed off everytime I look at the damn safety. Indiana legislated language which allows pistol cartridge lever rifles to be used during Deer season. I went with the 454 Casull but most of my shooting is with the 45LC. If I ever need to step things up I can always sight in for the Casull (after a through chamber scrubbing). It is a great litle carbine but if I had to do it over I would buy a Marlin in 44 Magnum. I like both rifles equally but being able to easily scope the Marlin now outweighs the greater power of the Winchester 92 clone Puma. And as usual I've posted a pic! :p
 

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Nice looking rifle, I just ordered the .44Mag version of that one this morning. I had fondled a .357Mag version at a local dealer a little while back, and was really impressed. It should be here in a few days...depending on how long it takes Bud's to ship it out. It was a toss up between the 24" and 20" Octagonal barrels, I went went the 20" for it's shorter length. It should make a sweet little woods deer gun.
 
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