Puma accuracy and magazine tube

[rogn]

Got one in 45 colt for my son, whos military, a cupla weeks a go, liked it so much I got one for myself. Been working on loads for hunting especially for sons gun as he is stationed in the south and hog hunting is almost mandatory. We both think a load a tad more energetic than the factory roundnose. Got some good stout loads w/ 300 gr, 250 gr XTPs and a couple with 255 and 270 Keith SWCs. Accuracy is what Id expectfor a "function dedicated reproduction". We see about 1 1/2 inches @ 30 some yards. This is with the supplied sights and a modification or 2- I filed the rear notch to give a good bit of light on either side of the front post, and augmented the front post w/ some awful ORANGE nail polish. Williams sights on the way. Now today after a bit of shooting different loads I went back a few hour later and iried a similar load, one "flier" abt 2" off and 3 touching at sight in point. Tried a feww at 65 yd offhand and was better then I expected. Then I saw the magazine tube had migrated about 3/8" inch. But ya know the acurracy seemed to have improved. Now this is conjecture since I only fired a few rounds and stopped to repair the mag tube. Also eyesight is less than perfect(awaiting cataract Sx). Has any one seen this effect before? The magazine plug retaing screw had jumped out of its counter bore and was bearing very firmly on the barrel. Im plannig at this point to JB Weld the tube seat and use a spot of it in the barrel band to retain the tube against recoil. Then perhaps I can experiment with wedges and upward pressure on the barrel. Any thoughts?

[J Miller]

You epoxy that magazine tube in and you'll be sorrrrrrrryyyy!

Seriously there are ways to get them to stay put, but epoxy is not one of them.

Joe

[rogn]

Poxy unsticks at about 300* F---???

[J Miller]

Rogn,

Granted, but epoxy is not a correct way to fix a moving mag tube. There is two cross screws and one vertical screw that hold them in. Assuming it's a carbine. You need to find out why they are not working. Most likely the mag end plug screw which fits into a hold in the bottom of the barrel just back from the muzzle is either unscrewed or broken off. Mine broke.

Find out why and fix it before you bubba it by epoxying it together.

Or, call our own Nate Kiowa Jones and discuss it with him. He's probably got some really specific fixes for it.

Steve Young aka Nate Kiowa Jones Sass# 6765
Steve's Guns aka "Rossi 92 Specialists"
4525 Alamosa st.
Port Arthur TX 77642
www.stevesgunz.com
Email; steve@stevesgunz.com
Tel: 409-984-5473

Joe

[rogn]

Screws not loose or broken. Vertical plug retaining screw climbed out of counterbore andskidded over barrel surface. Band clamping screw actually slightly collapsed mag tube. Have fired quite a few of the heavy lods withou ill effects earlier. Just trying to acheive the screwed in effect like reports of 454 carbines. But will try to contact Mr Jones

[J Miller]

Well, that's a new one on me. I've been shooting lever guns, mostly carbines for over 40 years and I've never seen the barrel band collapse the mag tube.

Yeah, in this case I really do suggest contacting Steve.

Joe

[rogn]

No, not the band. The barrel and the tube have cuts to pass the forward band screw and these are to lock the two together. The tube moving forward caused the screw to flatten the tube for 3/8". Irroned it. A slightly larger screw may be an asset(non metric)

[CaptainFinn]

My Rossi .45 Carbine has handled my handloads fine, but my Rossi rifle with a half-round half-octagon barrel (it has a rifle forearm and encap, and a carbine-style barrel band at the muzzle) did just what you described. The mag tube jumped forward about two inches, the mag tube plug screw popped out of the rather shallow hole in the bottom of the barrel. Actually the hole was more like a round shallow dimple. So what I did was drill the hole a little deeper with a drill bit with a 90-degree bottom profile (not sure of the technical term). So the hole now was deeper and had a squared-off bottom. I got a new plug screw and made sure the end of the screw was nice and square and snugged it in nice and tight and added some lok-tite in case the screw backed out under recoil.

The barrel band screw fits into a slot on the bottom of the barrel; mine had stayed put, only the mag tube had moved forward, so a drilled and tapped the bottom of the band and put in a small flush slotted set screw (I actually used a 8-40 scope base screw plug) through the bottom og the band and into the mag tube, just deep enough to grab the tube, not deep enough to protrude into the interior of the tube and bind up the magazine spring. (Being as it is just 3/4" or so from the end of the tube I don't think it would matter one way or the other).

This has held up rather well. No problems after about fifty rounds of 300-gr FNGC over 23 gr of H110. I have heard that the newer guns actually use a mag tube that threads into the receiver, but I haven't seen any of these yet.

[Morgan]

Two years ago, past tense, I owned an Emf short rifle (rossi) 44 rem 92. From day one with factory rnds the mag tub would edge forward from recoil. Fire 5 rnds use a mallet to reseat the tube, tighten the mag cap screw and fire some more and use the mallet again et al. Emf said they hadn't seen any problems like that........ok. Had a smith drill slightly deeper into the mag cap screw hole and it still didn't solve the problem. I have a Emf '92 .357 and a Rossi .357 that I would not part with. The problem with the 44 seemed to be the slide in mag tube, the recoil would back the tube out of the frame (straight tube).
My solution: I traded the Emf 44 in for a Marlin 1892 44 mag, the Marlin's mag tube is balloned near the frame end and doesnt back out under recoil.
Maybe you will have better luck as I realize that mine might have been an individual problem.
Captain Finn states that now the mag tubes are threaded into the frames in the larger mag calibers. That would solve the problem but might change the appearance from the looks of the original 1892,

Good Luck.......................ken

[Griff]

Pictures, pictures...

Captain Finn's suggestion about the depth of the hole is correct. That's called an "end mill"... I believe. For the standard carbine configuration I wouldn't recommend the screw into the tube from the band method. Either the band is not right & allowing too much room between the cut in the barrel and mag tube, keeping the screw from engaging both as designed to keep the tube in place.

[EdinCT]

My old 32 sp 94 Winchester did this and I couldn't stop it. My dad cut a piece of lead flashing and slid it under the barrel band before tightening it and while it shows if you look close its never moved again.

Ed