Puma 454 problem

[xxclaro]

I just recently got a good friend of mine to get his first levergun, a Puma 92 in 454 casull. He love's it, and it shoots well, but he is experiencing some feeding problems. He is using factory Federal Fusion ammo, and the bullet noses seem to be jamming into the top of the chamber and getting quite deformed. It's not a smooth transition from magazine to chamber, there's a definite hitch in there. He is thinking that maybe when he starts handloading he could seat the bullet a bit deeper to alleviate the problem. I told him I'd tap the wealth of knowledge on this site, and see if you guys can help him out. Any suggestions?

[crawdaddyjim]

Is he working the lever slowly? If so follower won't pop the cartridge up and it will catch. Got to work it with authority. Also these guns benefit greatly from a Steve's Gunz workover. He sells a video if your friend is up to the DIY.

[Buffboy]

I'll second the trip to Steve as I'm well impressed with what he did to mine. Still, the 454 is at the outer limit for that action for length and it's a straight wall cartridge. They can be very fussy as to bullet nose shape even when they are the correct length. Mine has a little hitch in it's getalong with the Hornady 250grXTP no matter what I do, but feeds the 260gr Speer like butter. Then it also feeds the 300grXTPmag Hornady very smoothly too which has about the same nose profile as it's little brother. It even feeds a 325gr cast bullet, with a hugh metplat, well. That surprised me as I figured I'd have all sorts of trouble with that bullet. When he starts reloading, he's just gonna have to see what works well in his gun. I'm sorry, if this is confusing but that's my experience. I've found I can't really predict what will work in mine.

[Pisgah]

Not disagreeing with what anyone else has said here, but I'll relate my experience with my Rossi M92 .45 Colt. When I first got it, I had real problems with it feeding any 255 gr. SWC load unless I seated the bullets deep. After firing maybe 300 of the shorter rounds through it, I one day loaded it up with full-length loads -- and found that it would now feed them slick as you please! I think that as the action wore in and loosened up just a bit the lifter was allowed to travel just a fraction of a hair further and everything finally lined up just right.

[Andrew]

Hmmm, the only .454 problem I have is I don't have one.

[J Miller]

xxclaro,

Seating any bullet deeper without a corresponding change in powder charge can lead to severe pressure problems. The .454 is a high pressure cartridge anyway so I'd be real careful with the seating depth.

As for cranking the levers, it is not necessary to use force when doing so. If the gun is functioning properly you can use one finger and work the action and it will feed and chamber. If it's not, no amount of abuse on the lever will make it work. The carrier is held up or down by a spring loaded plunger. It will only move up and down so far and the bolt is what trips it. No matter how fast you work the action, these things all happen at the same time and place. Brute force is not needed.

Rossi's are hit or miss with their quality. Some of them will feed empty cases, some of them won't feed properly assembled factory ammo.

I'd suggest your friend try different brands of ammo with different shaped bullets to get an idea of what types cause trouble. Then have the rifle tuned to work with them.

Joe

[mikld]

I own a Rossi/Puma in 44 Mag. and have found cartridge overall length to be the determining factor in feeding. I loaded a bunch of 240 SWC but they will not feed. Too long from crimp groove to nose (meplate). I switched to Beartooth 250 gr Round Nose Flat point and feeding probs gone (slightly shorter from crimp groove to nose).

BTW, I really enjoy my '92 clone (yes that safety is ugly). I have a DVD from Kiowa Jones for instructions on how to slick up the action and remove that stoopid safety that I will do once I get relocated.

[Camp Cook]

I have a 20" barreled s/s Puma M92 in 454 Casull that feeds anything and everything that I put into it.

Here are some of the loads/bullets I have tried 240gr XTP-Mag, 300gr XTP-Mag & Gold Dot, Beartooth 280WFNGC's, 330gr Jae-Bok Young WFNGC's, Beartooth 355gr & 405gr WLNGC's, Cast Performance 360gr & 395gr WLNGC's and 300gr factory Win JFP's.

I even load it up with every one of my 45 Colt loads from 200gr RN cast Cowboy loads to 345gr Beartooth WLNGC's and I have never had a jam with any of these bullets either...