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.