Puma 92 in 454 Casull

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FenderTK421

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I have been kicking around the idea of getting one of these for a few months now. Wouldn't mind trying out a new moose gun and would like something different, plus I already have a pistol chambered in .454 and a few in .45 Colt. While stainless would would match my Ruger Alaskan, I am really leaning toward blued for aesthetic reasons. Just can't really see myself owning a stainless lever gun. That said, I have to choose between a 16" and 20" barrel, standard or the Hi-Viz sights. I intend to keep the gun iron sights only and don't intend to fire past 100 yards. Can't imagine the 4" of barrel would make much of a difference. Any of you guys own this gun? I would love some feed back on the sights and the barrel length. Unfortunately time is somewhat of the essence as Puma quit making them last month. I have already seen the price jump $100. Spoke w/ a local FFL about ordering. He is going to check stock for me tomorrow 2-22-10. As it stands I am going to order a blued 16" model w/ Hi-Viz sights, assuming they are in stock. If any of you own one of these and can offer an opinion I would sure appreciate it, thanks.
 
I dont own one but they are popular here in Indiana, since you can hunt with the .454 but not rifle bullets.

They are universally liked, and universally punishing to the shoulder. It is a lightweight gun in a powerfull chambering.


Other than that, dude you live in Alaska sounds like a perfect gun for a lot of things.

Go for it.
 
Love mine. It's quite a thumper. Shoot 45 colt & 454 well. I mounted a Williams peep sight on mine and is deer accurate out to 150 yds for me if I do my part. Some people have cracked the forend wood but I have not had a problem with mine. Puma makes some nice stuff.
 
If anyone is curious, I just picked it up from the dealer... Very nice fit and finish. I lucked out and got really pretty wood as well. De-cosmolining it now :D Will put a few .454's and some .45's through it Sunday and let you know how we do.
 
I have one (round, 20", blue), and 3 more in the attic NIB that I'll be selling shortly. :D

Anyway, I like mine a lot, and it hasn't given me a bit of trouble. When shooting 454 Casull you WILL appreciate that recoil pad!

I swapped our the rear iron sight for a peep from here:

http://www.skinnersights.com

Made it a lot better for my aging eyes. There are other peeps available, but this one is the cheapest and pretty simple to install.

BTW ... it be lucky you got yours when you did ... they aren't going to be making any more.
 
Try and find one
Might be easier for an American.....I find it usually takes a bit longer for some guns to trickle north. There is a new Taurus dealer up here who I've been pestering and hopefully we will see some soon.
The good news is they are still listed on Rossi's site and they have new models as well for 2010......the bad news is a guy might have to do some legwork.
 
If you got good looking wood, then you did luck out, because most of them have crappily-finished wood.

My advice: Don't shoot any .45 Colts through it at all, ever. You don't want to ring the chamber and they probably won't feed anyway. *DO* shoot lower-powered .454 casull, either factory or handloaded, not full-house 60-65K .454s (at least not with any regularity). You can use low-end loading data like .45 Colt or .45 Colt "+P" loads, put into .454 brass for handloading milder loads.

As for barrel length, I guess the 16" makes more sense for having light/handy, but then again, the 20" helps a smidge with recoil-taming, and some might say balance better. After all, the legendary Win 94 was considered to have perfect balance due to its 20" barrel. With a large bore like that, velocity won't be much different.

Good rifle overall though, except for the silly safety. If you want a peep rear, you have to drill & tap the left side of the receiver - in that case a Williams FP model 94 works fine on the 92. I put the Williams peep rear and a brass front sight on mine, in place of the factory front sight - believe it might be a Marbles brand, IIRC. Oh, and I took the insert out of the rear peep - simpler, more rugged, and faster acquisition, at the slight expense of some precision perhaps.

Fender, which barrel length did you get?
 
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I've heard the same thing about firing .38's in the .357 rifles. I would not use .38's in the .357's or .45LC in the .454's unless I had to, but that's just me.
 
I have two Puma/Rossi 1892s in .44Mag; one is a 20" Oct barreled short rifle, and the other is a 16" carbine. Both shoot the same out to 100 yards, and both have been 100% reliable with any .44 mag round...including all of my reloads. I shot two boxes of Wally-World 240gr JSP Winchester WhiteBox to get some brass, and found another 100+ pieces of Magtech brass at the range for reloading. Since those original two boxes of ammo, I have not shot any factory stuff...just reloads.

As far as feeding goes, both guns have fed 200gr RNFP, 240gr LSWC, and 240gr XTP-HP bullets with no issues. One of these days I might pick up some .44SPL brass for plinking rounds, but 7grs of Unique under a 240gr lead bullet in a mag case is a very nice target/plinking load.

The only modification that I have done is to replace the sights on both guns to Marble Arms products. And swapped out the safety on the short rifle with one of Steve Gunz plugs. Other then the factory sights being crap, the guns are very well made, and have very strong/smooth actions.
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Hey Dr. Tad sorry it took so long to reply, my rifle ended up being the 20" round barrel blued. It shoots absolutely phenomenal. I have only shot out to 100 yds. I have put about 200 rounds of 454 (unfortunately all different brands and weights) and 600 rounds of 45 Colt through it. A lot of the 45 colt was a friends hand loads. The first thing I noticed is: If I intend to hunt w/ this in .454 I better get the dies and start reloading. Not only is the price exorbitant, but the different loads hit w/ nearly as much variance as going from cowboy action 45's and moving to really heavy .300 grain bear loaded 45's. The different .454's were all over the paper. Too expensive to range the gun in per load when I am paying an average of $50 for 20 shots. it usually takes 3-5 rounds to find the 'sweet spot' at 50 yards. I need to either find a reliable supply of the 360 grain buffalo bores or start loading something consistent. The ammo variance on accuracy is simply too huge. I need to find one load and stick w/ it to obtain optimal accuracy. That being said, I have learned to work w/ the stock sights quite well. The overall feel and balance are absolutely spectacular. It is extremely light and nimble feeling, points VERY well and the balance is just perfect. A friend picked up a .45-70 in (I think) mod 95. It feels like a club and only holds 4 rounds. My 'little' .454 points and moves like an AR-15 and recoils no worse than any .30-06 bolt gun I have ever fired and holds 10 rounds. Definitely a confidence builder in the woods. I do hate the safety, so I simply ignore it. The only mod I have made, and likely will (maybe I will change the sights to a peep another user PM"d me about once I develop a consistent go-to load) make is adding a nice sling. I love this little rifle and would recommend it to anyone. Haven't noticed any problems w/ firing the different ammo as far as rings building up, but I clean it meticulously. To reiterate, the recoil was surprisingly minimal, even w/ the fastest .454 loads, standing and shooting 20 rounds at a time was no drama at all. All in all, I can't think of a better bush gun.
 
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