Well I finally picked up my 454 Casull and brought it home after having it on layaway for a couple of weeks. Today was my first day at the range and I have to say that I am pretty ticked! After only firing between 12 to 15 rounds of Hornady 240 gr factory loaded ammo through it, I noticed that the for-arm wood stock was spilt, not cracked, but split! Also I noticed that it was having problems chambering, and after further inspection I noticed that the magazine tube had slid forward under recoil, rounding out the retention grove. I had a gunsmith look at it and he said that it would have to go back to the manufacture since the whole magazine tube would have to be replaced along with the for-arm stock. This is unacceptable after only one trip to the range and less than one 20 round box of ammo! Has anyone else had this type of problem with there 454? My concern is, that even after they fix it, what is to stop it from happening again, and again? I don't want to be paying for this after it is out of warranty. My Puma 454 Casull is a Stainless Steel model with a 20” barrel and Hi-Vizz sights. Also, even with the sights set at the lowest setting it was still shooting about 8-10 inches high and way to the right. After adjusting the rear sight all the way to the left it pretty much centered up, but what can be done about the height? Thanks for any input.

Brian,

This is definatly a reason to be ticked off. I'd get into the owners manual and / or their web site and phone the factory service center.
No gun should tear itself apart within one box of factory ammo.
http://www.legacysports.com/

As for the elevation, a taller front sight is in order. And you shouldn't have to move the rear sight all the way to either side to center the group. When you call the service center discuss that too.

Joe

Brian,

This is definatly a reason to be ticked off. I'd get into the owners manual and / or their web site and phone the factory service center.
No gun should tear itself apart within one box of factory ammo.
http://www.legacysports.com/

As for the elevation, a taller front sight is in order. And you shouldn't have to move the rear sight all the way to either side to center the group. When you call the service center discuss that too.

Joe

Thanks for the reply Joe, I'm really disgusted, I was really excited about this rifle, but now I just don't know what would keep it from happening again. I think I will call them tomorrow and ask them if I could exchange it for something else that might not tear itself apart like the 454 did, maybe a 45 Colt. Or even return it and get my money back, but I bet they wont do that. They will probably only agree to fix it. If so, I will probably sale it.

Brian,
I went through a similar situation with Remington several years ago. Personally, I would give them the chance to make it right. As much as we hate to be on the receiving end of a lemon, it happens with every manufacturer. There's several people here on this board that have had great success with their 454 rifles.

If it's not right when you get it back, well... then I would become fairly frustrated. Give 'em a chance though, at least once.

Brian,

I posted all the info for M&M Gunsmithing here:
http://shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=12011

His address is just two numbers away from Legacy Sports International, and he may be affiliated with them. At any rate he worked my Rossi over and fixed all of its operating ills. He has the parts, and experiance to work on them. He also does custom work.
You might contact Mike and ask him if he can suggest a real cure for the problem.

It seems that no gun is ready for use out of the box anymore. It's a shame really. But I'm at a loss of what to do about it.
Hopefully this will all be covered by the warrenty.

Joe

Thanks alyeska338, I here what you are saying and agree with you. I'm just concerned that it will happen again since this is a brand new rifle that seams to have destroyed itself under it's own recoil. I just don't know what they could change to fix it, rather than just replacing the broken parts, and letting it happen again. It seams more like a design problem.

Joe, when I left the shooting range, I went right to a Gun Smith, as I was afraid that the Puma 454 did not have a warranty since there was not a written warranty card in the box. He called LSI and they told him that is was under warrantee and that I needed to contact Mike at M&M Gunsmithing as they handle all warranty repair work for LSI. So I guess that answers the question about his affiliation with LSI. I called Mike and left a message but he is not open on Mondays, so I will have to wait until tomorrow. I hope he has seen these problems before and knows how to fix it so that it doesn't happen anymore, rather than just replace the broken parts.

What happened to your rifle that caused you to send it to him? What type of Rossi do you have, is it a 454 Casull? Thanks again guy's for the info.

Brian

Well, let's just say that I sincerely hope you have a better experience with Puma than I did with Remington!

Good luck and let us know how this plays out.

Brian,

My Rossi Puma is one of the early .45 Colts. Mike said it was made around 1990. It was new in the box when I got it in 02. Unfired, with all the paperwork and everything.
When I got it to the range I found out why. It wouldn't feed ANYTHING. Not even factory ammo. So I shipped it off to M&M and sent some dummy ammo loaded with some Beartooth 265gr Keith SWCs with it.
I told Mike about the not feeding problems, asked him to work over the excessively heavy springs, do an action job with a trigger job and adjust the action so it would feed the longer rounds.
I also had him drill and tap the reciever for a side mount sight, and mill a dovetail in the barrel to install a real front sight and get rid of the barrel band sight.

It's made a heck of a difference.

The only complaints I have now are the crappy stock and forearms, both cracked from the factory (they have been repaired, but I'm doubtfull about it holding), and the magazine end plug retaining screw on the bottom of the barrel was drilled off center.
If I set the mag plug screw at a 90* angle to the barrel like it should be, the mag tube twists off to the left. So the mag tube is straight, it's screw is not square with the barrel and eventually it's going to peen out the hole and head downrange.

Then it will go back to M&M and I'll have Mike do some custom fixing so that won't happen again.


I have one of M&M's add sheets and he states he does custom work too. So ask him what he thinks, I"ll bet he has an idea or two.

Joe

Thanks for all the info Joe. I'm going to talk to both LSI and Mike at M&M tomorrow I hope.

In some ways I wish LSI would just give me my money back as I have read allot of post about the stocks cracking, and if yours has cracked on the 45 Colt, I don't see them being able to keep mine from cracking or splitting again on the 454 Casull. But I really don't think that they will give me my money back.

If not I would be willing to exchange it for a 45 Colt or something like that in hopes that it would hold up better over the long run since it would not be shooting high pressure, hard kicking rounds like the 454 Casull, although you kind of blew that theory out of the water when you said that your stocks cracked as well. So I don't know what to do.

I'm sure my only option will be to let them fix it though, and if so I will discuss it at length with Mike. Mine has the Hi-Viz sights on it and I explained the problems that I am having with them in an earlier post. I might see if he can mount a period correct Buck Horn sight on it with a Marble's tang sight as well. I think it would make the gun look allot better, as I like the old style look. I wonder if he can put better/nicer checkered walnut stocks on it?

Anyway, I just hope that it will all work out in the end, and that I don't get it back only to have the same problems again with it later right after the warranty runs out. Hopefully Mike can fix it in a relatively short period of time so I can get back out shooting again. This gun was to be the first of a collection of lever action rifles. I haven't had any guns in a long time, and I have been waiting for the time to come when I could get back into shooting. I recently received a raise at work and finally have the cash to start collecting guns like I have always wanted to do and this was my first one. What a way to start off. Now my gun is broke and will have to be sent back for repairs and who knows how long that will take and in the mean time I don't have anything to shoot. Talk about bad luck!

Brian

I'm sorry to here your misfortune.I have a M92 in 454 that didn't react as bad.I must say that "they"(assemblers)don't take much time on the sights.The one I have shot like yours, high right,with the "old"buckhorn sights.I'm sort of a tinkerer so I ripped mine apart after the first range session.I think the forearm problem lies in the fact that they remove too much wood for the huge mag tube.Mine didn't split on me after 15 rounds of 300 grainers.The barrel band was moveing although,it put a deep scratch in the barrel.This is a heavy recoil in a small package,something wants to give.I think the people who put these together could do better.
My advise to someone who is buying one is to check it or have it checked GOOD ,before fireing.
Don't give up,I hope you make out OK.

I'm sorry to here your misfortune.I have a M92 in 454 that didn't react as bad.I must say that "they"(assemblers)don't take much time on the sights.The one I have shot like yours, high right,with the "old"buckhorn sights.I'm sort of a tinkerer so I ripped mine apart after the first range session.I think the forearm problem lies in the fact that they remove too much wood for the huge mag tube.Mine didn't split on me after 15 rounds of 300 grainers.The barrel band was moveing although,it put a deep scratch in the barrel.This is a heavy recoil in a small package,something wants to give.I think the people who put these together could do better.
My advise to someone who is buying one is to check it or have it checked GOOD ,before fireing.
Don't give up,I hope you make out OK.

Thanks docd, I'm going to call them now, hopefully I will get some relief. I agree with you, If someone buy's one take it right to your gunsmith first before you fire it, explain the potential problem with the gun, and have them give it a good disassembly and look over.

Gosh ,I hate to hear bout your trouble,I've got a Puma 92 in a .357 and i've not had any problems,But theres a BIG recoil difference in a .357 Mag. and a .454 ,I've been tring to decide between a Puma in a 454 or a 44 Mag. Now I'm leaning toward a 44Mag.


Buckeye

Sorry I'm just now posting a follow up response but I have been out of town for the last week. Anyway guy's here's what happened. I called LSI last Tuesday before I left town. I spoke with Pat Wheeler in the service department about my 454. He was very nice and explained to me what he thought the problem was and said that he was confident that they could fix it with out any further problems. I told him that I was not comfortable with having them fix it since it had torn itself apart in less than 15 rounds and that I was afraid that it would simply happen again. I told him that I would like to return it or exchange it for a rifle in another caliber that does not recoil so much that it would destroy itself. I was ready for him to become angry and defensive and tell me that they would only repair it when much to my surprise he said that they would be happy to handle it whichever way that I would like! I told him that I would like to exchange it for one of their .45 Colts and he suggested that I exchange it for one of their octagon barrel rifles. I ask if I could get their 45 Colt rifle with the 24" Octagon barrel and brass receiver and he said that that would be fine and that he would pick out a nice one for me himself and apologized for any inconvenience. He also said that he would include some Buckhorn sights as well and that I should give a call the day that I knew that they had received it so that he could see to the expeditious handling of the exchange himself. I shipped my rifle to him that day and he received it three days later. I spoke with him on the phone the day that he received it and he went and picked out the rifle that I had requested and said that he picked one out with a very nice stock. We discussed shipping, as I was leaving for vacation prior to the time the rifle was expected to arrive at my home and I offered to pay the difference for expedited shipping so that I would receive it before I left, and he said that he would ship it “Next Day Air” so that it would arrive before I left for vacation at no cost to me and that again he was sorry for my inconvenience! I am extremely impressed with their service department and the way that they handled this problem! I would not hesitate to do business with LSI again in the future as they offer the best service after the sale of any company that I have ever dealt with! I think I will post this message on it's own thread so that others will know how good LSI is to work with!

All Pumas in .454 should be glass bedded at the "wrist", where the wood stock joins the frame. They can be worked over by a gunsmith, such as Mike at M&M or Steve Young, or Mic McPherson, etc, with an action job and have the gunsmith shoot it for feeding, and sight it in. You will have more money into the gun, but you will not be sorry. They are wonderful guns when done like this.