I bought a Puma M92 454 Casull on the 22nd of May and on the 24th I took it out for its first day at the range and I have to say that I was pretty ticked! After only firing between 12 to 15 rounds of Hornady 240 gr factory loaded ammo through it, I noticed that the forearm 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 forearm stock. I felt that this was unacceptable after only one trip to the range and less than one 20 round box of ammo! My concern was, that even after they fixed it, that it would just happen again. I didn’t want to be paying for this after it was out of warranty. My Puma 454 Casull is a Stainless Steel model with a 20” barrel and Hi-Vizz sights.
On the 25th I called Legacy Sports International and 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 exchange it for their 45 Colt rifle with the 24" Octagon Barrel and Brass Receiver and he said 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 Legacy Sports International’s service department and the way that they handled this problem! This whole process only took 7 days including shipping both ways. 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! Pat Wheeler bent over backwards to make things right and I can’t say enough about how happy I am with them. In this day and age you simply don’t find service like this!!!

That's the way to keep a customer and acquire more. Let's hope they continue to treat all their customers that way.

Brian,

That's incredible service! Glad to hear they took care of the problems.
Let us know how that brass framed rifle works out. I've seen a couple, but never had the chance to use one.

Joe

Yes I agree, that is the way to keep customers and get new ones as well. When my 454 first broke, I didn't think I would ever buy another Puma Rifle. But after the way they took care of me I'll probably become a life long customer. I'm trying to decide which one of their rifles to buy next.

I'll let you guy's know how the Brass Receiver and Octagon Barrel work. I like the fact that it has a different forearm stock arrangement; hopefully it will avoid the pit falls that the 454 had.

Interesting !

That gentleman probably used to work for Henry Repeating Arms.:D

Gee the Quality must have went to **** since I bought my Puma 454- hundreds of rounds throught it and not one problem what so ever!!! Maybe that was a "Friday gun"!!

The stock split on mine on the first outing. Little bugger does jump around a bit with heavy loads.

Thought about sending it back, but decided to repair/strengthen wood myself.

Used a mixture of Devcon 2Ton Epoxy and Acetone to impregnate forearm and glue split. No problems since.

Of course, I beat a new truck with a ball peen hammer the first day so that I get the new out of it and can use it like a truck ;*)

Nice to hear of great customer support. Seems little to go around this day and age. Gives me hope.

Scotty

I bought a Puma in the 480 ruger caliber recently and it has a lot of problems. I took it to the range one time and fired 40 of the Hornady 325 gr XTP factory rounds. The stock did not show signs of splitting, but the barrel had rust in it when it was delivered. I was able to clean the rust out, but the barrel still looked corroded. The action is very rough and tears up brass to the point where I don't feel safe reloading that brass. The sites it came with are way off. It shot over a foot high at 50 yards even when I make the front site dissapear under the rear site when aiming. The action sometimes jams at the very point the lifter for the next round attempts to lift the round to chamber level. the accuracy is very poor, I suspect because of the barrel corrosion at the muzzle end. I was very dissapointed because I was sure this would become one of my favorite rifles. I emailed Legacy and they didn't hassel me at all. they just told me to send it in and they would fix it. I told them I could not afford to mail them the firearm at this time and they sent me a UPS pre paid slip to mail it to them. It's with them now and I hope they can fix the problem.

So far their customer service has been the best I've ever delt with. I really hope they can fix this firearm because I know I'll love it once it actually works.

I love the puma's. 4 main reasons why. (1) they had the gonads to put out a lever action in 454 casull. (2) they also put out one in the .480 ruger. (3) Legacy Sports International’s service department you can not beet. (4) for the price you have a great strong action to work with.


I have several puma's all needed work to to fit me. i would put up any of my puma's to any other lever action's around.

I'M working on a puma i just got in a week ago 24" Stainless in 45 colt, when i'm done it will be a 18" stainless octagonal barrel in 454 casull. with a few extra tricks added on. and with out the crescent buttplate.

I LOVE THE PUMA'S WITH A LITTLE WORK.

This is an old problem. I have been working with a Puma 454 for almost a year now. It has had a lot of problems. Check out the forums in my siganture. I have had two different guns both stocks split. Read all the stuff on the posts in the forum, and 92 group. Hornady has a problem with the brass on they use with the .454.

Just got a 92 in 454.I shot 16 rds through it and the accuracy went to ????.10 rds of 250 gr horady hp/xtp mags and 300 gr ones for the last 6.At first the gun shot real good but after 8 or so rds. the groups started growing big.The last 3 grouped at about 2 ft. @ 25 yards.first 3 were 2 in. @ 50 yards.I looked down on the shooting bench and there was a screw with a shank but no threads.After inspecting the gun I found it was the barrel band screw at the muzzle( this is called the magazine ring screw part number 10 in the manual).The threads were still in the band.I stuck the broken off part of the screw back in the hole and it was a very tight fit .Had to tap it with a plastic hammer.It seemed to be a very tight fit almost like a taper.I stuck it back in the hole so I wouldn't lose it.Turning it with a screwdriver it feels like a loose screw but the threads on the other side of the band don,t turn ,needless to say,I,m taking it back to the dealer I bought it from tues.to see if his gunsmith can repair it.I also downloaded the return form from lsi to return it to m&m .But after reading your article I think I'll just call lsi.Also,it would seem that if this screw broke and didn,t fall out that the recoil would be on the screw ,band ,at the forearm .Thus cracking the forearm and the shooter would not know the front band screw had broken causing the problem.Anyone had this screw break on them

I've got a Puma in .45 Colt and I pretty much only shoot the potent 300 grain Ruger Only loads in it. Its handled them without problem for a few years, 350+ rounds now. Accuracy could be a little better but its otherwise a fun gun to shoot. Mine is the stainless round barrel 18" ? I think

I am looking at the Puma M92. I can get it in .44, .357 or .45

I am leaning towards the .45 for no particular reason.

Any comments?

With the .45 Colt you can take advantage of its ability to digest high performance .45 Colt ammo, the .357 and .44 Mags are pretty much top pressure stuff from the factory. I've got a different brand .44 Mag carbine and I love shooting that much more than the M92 but its up to personal preference in caliber. The .357 is going to be the cheapest to shoot.

This is a bit of a sidetrack, but I'm just curious... the original poster exchanged the bad rifle for a brand new one from the factory - can that be done through the mail, or does the new rifle have to go through an FFL holder?

There is an exception, you can send a rifle back to the manufacturer and have it returned without the need of an FFL transfer.

There is an exception, you can send a rifle back to the manufacturer and have it returned without the need of an FFL transfer.
Thanks, I just wasn't sure if that was still the case when you get a brand new rifle back.

That's the way to keep a customer and acquire more. Let's hope they continue to treat all their customers that way.

This thread was one of the reasons I purchased a Puma. It is a 16" 44 mag. Turns out the barrel is overbore and very inaccurate. I called LSI and they said to send it to there repair facility and they would replace the barrel, great. I was happy. It is now over four months later. I have talked to the VP at LSI and long story short he said he would check it out and they would get it figured out, he would let me know. Well he never called me back and after I called and left multiple vm's, over several days. I got another employee pass a message from the VP, that they were waiting on parts and it would probably be another 60 days, so sorry. I was polite, professional, and felt as though I was totally blown off.

"I bought a Puma M92 454 Casull on the 22nd of May and on the 24th I took it out for its first day at the range and I have to say that I was pretty ticked! After only firing between 12 to 15 rounds of Hornady 240 gr factory loaded ammo through it, I noticed that the forearm 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 forearm stock. I felt that this was unacceptable after only one trip to the range and less than one 20 round box of ammo! My concern was, that even after they fixed it, that it would just happen again. I didn’t want to be paying for this after it was out of warranty. My Puma 454 Casull is a Stainless Steel model with a 20” barrel and Hi-Vizz sights.
On the 25th I called Legacy Sports International and 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 exchange it for their 45 Colt rifle with the 24" Octagon Barrel and Brass Receiver and he said 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 Legacy Sports International’s service department and the way that they handled this problem! This whole process only took 7 days including shipping both ways. 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! Pat Wheeler bent over backwards to make things right and I can’t say enough about how happy I am with them. In this day and age you simply don’t find service like this!!!'

road dogs! let me say this, .... my 454 puma m92 ls1. does have a couple issues,
like with the site being a bit off to the left from the center. i can't find a scopemount for it,
Other's may have loading issue, splitting fore(wood), etc,....
if anything, "they stand firmly behind their product" life-time warrantee.
what the real deal is, .... whenever, whoever get your hands on one that's right, and i mean works well,
its garranteeeed to bring a smile on your face that just about feels like xmas.
what a beautiful and fun as heck rifle. 300, is all i shoot. and thats fully loaded (11) to empty,
like butter.

I have a Puma model 92 in .44 mag. I bought mine about 4 years ago when it was EMT Puma/Rossi 1892 Hartford model. I first bought it because it was cheap cost and I was looking to get into cowboy action shooting. I didn't want to spend a lot of money at the time because I had also picked up a nice consecutively numbered pair of Ruger Vaquero .44 magnums with Ivory grips that had the ruger emblem in them. They had also recently belonged to a SASS shooter who had some outstanding trigger and cylinder work done on them. The hammers pulled back so easily and the cylinders freespun in both directions. I had to have them.
Anyway I never got into the SASS shooting but have recently gotten back into shooting my model 92. I was at a gun store a few weeks back and they had a winchester trapper carbine with the large loop lever and chambered in .44 mag. With only a 16" barrel it was a honey to hold. I was going to trade my Puma in on it until the guy told me he was only going to give me $200 for it when they wanted $600 for the Winchester because it was no longer made. That would have been fine but what really chaffed my *ss was that I bought this gun new for $450 and had only test fired it with a few rounds. My barrel inside was like a mirror while the Winchesters was filthy. I had also recently priced out the new Puma 92s and they are going for $650 new with a price increase in a month. Knowing this when he told me $200 I could have laughed in his face, but being proffesional about it I decided to back him into a corner. I quoted him the same figures and told him he knew d**n well if I let that gun go for $200 with him knowing a new one goes for $650 he would have it out in his rack that same day for at least $400 to $450. He just smiled at me because he knew I was right.
Also mine was stainless and the Winchester wasn't. I really didn't like the loop lever either I just wanted the shorter barrel version. So I went to a local SASS supply shop and talked with their gunsmith. He machined the barrel down to 16" just like the Winchester for only $175 and I ended up with a stainless version of the Winchester without the loop lever that I didn't like anyway. Saved over $400 in my pocket and did it my way as Franky would say.
I love the short barreled feel of this gun now. I have fallen in love with it all over again. Something about the feel of a short barreled levergun makes you feel like Rooster Cogburn.
It just feel right. It's compact with a lot of punch. Easy to carry and can be strapped to a pack and it doesn't stick out any where. Also makes a great, handy camp gun.
My only problem is the kick with the steel buttplate. I am contacting M&M Gunsmithing in Virginia to see if they can get me the factory buttstock for the model 92 in the .454 or 480 that has the recoil pad on it. I don't care about losing the look, I built the gun for use. I just hope the because it was an EMT and not Legacy Sports that there's no difference.

I have been thinking of getting an SS 16" barreled Puma in .357 Mag and was wondering if the bore is oversized like in the .44 Mags. Anyone slugged the bore of their .357?

This is a bit of a sidetrack, but I'm just curious... the original poster exchanged the bad rifle for a brand new one from the factory - can that be done through the mail, or does the new rifle have to go through an FFL holder?
Not sure about longarms but I have done an exchange on a handgun. The new gun was sent to my FFL holder who had me fill out the form for a re-register and he collected $25 for the state. THEN he told me that I had to take the Handgun Safety Test that just went into law that same year before he could turn over the handgun so the state took another $25 off me to take the test AND another $2 off me for the Test Manual! Needless to say I was one unhappy individual when I left the gunshop with my new gun!:mad: YMMV if you live in another state.

I am looking at the Puma M92. I can get it in .44, .357 or .45

I am leaning towards the .45 for no particular reason.

Any comments?

If you carry a sidearm such as a single shot or a modern revolver I would match up your ammo with that. I have my Puma in .44 mag because I also carry a S&W 629. Unless your leaning more toward one of the larger bores such as .454 or .480.

I have recently purchased the Puma model 92 in 357, I love it. The 357 is very "shootable" and with custom loads does everything I need it to do. The 357 is very accurate has less recoil and seems to NOT shake itself apart like the larger cal. seems to. I was considering the 454...but I read a few informed bloggers and professional "cowboy shooters" who said the 357 was the way to go. I like the ease of mods on this gun, it is "customizable" and that is for me.

Good Luck with your shooting, and with life.

+1 on the 357! I have the 20" Stainless model and it shoots great. I have full confidence in hitting anything out to 150 yards. Haven't had a chance to shoot beyond that range.

I have an 18" Blue in 45 Colt. I use the same bear loads in it as my Ruger Bisley, and it works great (BTB 330 Grain ahead of a full case of W296). My only squawk after about 200 hot rounds and 400 standard rounds is the 8.5 pound trigger pull (like that from new) and I need something to keep me from bruising my shoulder. Need to address this. I'll tell you what though, those loads really work great in this rifle. I wouldn't hesitate to use it up to 150 yards on a trophy moose (or further if I was better as bullet drop at range) or brown bear.

I own a Puma that is chambered in .454Casull. It is the 16",SS,version.

I was not awhare that they made one with a 18" bbl.

I would also highly reccommend that you reconsider your feelings about this statement. "I wouldn't hesitate to use it up to 150 yards on a trophy moose(or further if I was better at bullet drop as range)or brown bear".

My reasoning is this :
*150yds "or further" is a awful long way for any .45Colt, no matter to what level it is loaded to or what bullet used
*"trophy moose",up in your part of the country a trophy could get to be/would be, how big ?? 1800(or so) hundred pounds,right ?? At 150yds the .45Colt has how much power(no matter how loaded) ??
*brown bear can get very big,are very tough,and be very agressive,right ?? At 150yds "or further" is really stretching the ability of any .45Colt. Again,how much power will it have at those distances ??

The above is simply one persons opinion. I have never hunted the bigger moose or brown bear so I have no expierance with them. -----pruhdlr

pruhdlr

Don't get wrapped around the axle when you talk about "power" from a 45 cal at 150yds or further. Its only a number!

The fact of the matter is that a 45 cal, 255gr hard cast lead bullet at 900fps out of a handgun will shoot through just about anything in North America.

A decent .45 colt load from a M92 can send a 300gr bullet at 1,600fps which will still be doing better than 1,000fps at 200yds. Hitting beyond 150yds is the problem. With the proper zero, this load with be + 4" from the muzzle to 160+yds. At 200yds its a foot low.