Very cool and unique lever rifle...

[DHart]

Hey guys, I just discovered this little carbine and it won me over in an instant. Thought I'd share it with you...

Legacy/Rossi '92 Ltd. 16" Trapper - .454 Casull

You'll be grinning from ear to ear when you handle this. This model really offers a LOT of great features.. nothing on the market like it:

• The .454 Casull chambering also feeds and fires .45 Colt for great ammo options - go from mousefart .45 Colt cowboy loads right on up to Corbon 200gr. JHP or Buffalo Bore .45Colt, and from there you can also shoot the stout .454 Casull if you feel like it. Remarkable versatility in this chambering. Both Georgia Arms and Buffalo Bore are just now about to release new personal defense (anti-personnel) JHP loads in .45 Colt and (Buffalo Bore) .454 Casull. They should be excellent defense loads from this rifle.

• Hi-Viz sights (green rear dots, red front dot) are bright as can be... really quick to acquire.

• Short 16" barrel makes this Trapper very quick to the shoulder and very handy in tight quarters or brush.

• Nicely cushioned ventilated buttpad absorbs recoil well

• front loading port in the tube is superb alternative to relieve your thumb from pushing rounds into the receiver loader.

• John M Browning's superb 92 action... great choice for pistol calibers, smooth, reliable, VERY strong

• fine grain black finished hardwood looks like ebony against the stainless steel

• compact and lightweight

• low maintenance stainless finish, good for humidity, perspiration, salt water spray, etc.

...this rifle's definitely got the goods!

Davidsons commissioned a limited special run of them. Rossi makes them, Legacy is the importer. I bought mine at Sportaman's Warehouse in Portland, OR for $469. They're not even listed on Rossi's or Legacy's websites, but they are on Davidson's website in the Limited and Special Edition section on page 3:

http://www.galleryofguns.com

Now if Marlin would just get off their butt and make a great little 16" Trapper in .45Colt or .44mag, I'd probably buy one of those too, lever rifle glutton that I am!

 

[Dave R]

Intriguing. I like the cartridge, the length, the price, the versatility...

 

[Okiecruffler]

I'm not sure why, but I just can't warm up to a stainless lever gun. There's just something wrong with it on a very basic level. Same with synthetic stocks on them. Now a blued version with a nice bit of walnut, sign me up.

 

[DHart]

Okie... well you may not prefer the visual look of stainless, but it's a great practical finish for a firearm... lower maintenance, more corrosion resistant. I love blued guns with walnut stocks and have a bunch of them too, but this Puma is agreat little carbine. By the way, the stocks on this rifle are hardwood with a black finish... very nice looking compliment to the stainless... it looks like ebony.

 

[Okiecruffler]

Can't tell from the picture, are the stocks finished in black, or are they stained black so that the grain is still apparent? I realize these are wood, but several companies make replacement synthetic stocks for Winchester and Marlin lever actions. I don't deny that stainless is a logical finish for a lever gun, especially considering how many of them are used, but it just don't look right, kinda like those nickle finished SXS's. I'd like to see how the 454 in a rifle stacks up against the 444 and 45-70's. Should be a pretty good all around cartridge I should think.

 

[Wildalaska]

Having seen what 454 Casull loads do to lever guns, we wont sell them.

That is not a claim that the guns are unsafe to shoot, that is merely a statement of discretion being the better part of valour on our part.

WildlevergunsrusAlaska

 

[DHart]

Okie... the hardwood is stained and the grain is apparent.

Wild... I think of the rifle as a .45 Colt chambering carbine which will also shoot .454 Casull, if desired. That's what's so great about this rifle... you can shoot .45 Colt to your heart's content and also shoot .454 if you wish to. Of course shooting mostly .45 Colt with only occasional .454 would be going very easy on this rifle.

Paco Kelly has had a Puma 92 in .454 for a couple of years and with over 500 full pop .454 loads and a lot of hot .45 Colt through the gun has found no adverse affect! You can read his article here:

http://www.gunblast.com/Paco_Legacy_454.htm

For myself, I will rarely shoot .454 through my Puma... I'll shoot almost entirely .45 Colt. And for that use, the rifle is way more than up to the task with the 92 action. And... it's a great feature to be able to shoot .454 on occasion if I feel the need or desire to do so!! For my intended use, then, this rifle is perfect. And according to Paco... it will withstand a lot of .454 use with no adverse affect. Paco was recently asked on the Leverguns forum how the gun was still holding up and said just last week that after thousands of rounds of .454 and heavy .45 Colt handloads it is holding up just fine.

http://leverguns.sixgunner.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3868

Lastly, being a Davidson's gun... Davidson will replace the rifle if ever there is a problem... for a lifetime!

All considered here, that's good enough for me.