New To Me 454 Casull Puma M92

[kynardsj]

Well I went and done it. Been hankering for a hog hunting rifle and ran across a stainless 454 Casull Model 92 Puma today. Recoil had been too much for the previous owner and I think he downsized to a 7mm-08 or something. He fixed it up nice as it has the rubber cheek piece installed and he had the barrel drilled and tapped, a scope mount installed and a Burris 2x7x28 pistol scope mounted on it scout style. The cheek piece lines your shooting eye up perfectly with the scope. Action is slick without any wobble. I came home and ordered 100 brass, 250 grain and 300 grain jacketed bullets and a set of dies. Hopefully here in about a week I can stoke some up and shoot this thing. Oh yeah, I know I'm breaking "Man Law" by not posting a pic but I just can't get them to download here. 

[Old Fart]

Be sure and let us know how it goes.

[Rangr44]

You're going to have yourself a mini-,45-70, there. 

FWIW, Rossi made a lot of Model 92 Scout rifles in several chamberings.

This is a .44 Mag:



Even my non-Scout Rossi Model 92 Big Loop .357 has the Scout scope mount factory prep holes D/T in the barrel, though - hidden under the rear sight leaf.
I discovered the prep when I removed the rear sight while installing a receiver peep.
I would presume that Rossi was prepping ALL their barrels, for awhile at least, since they couldn't know what model a particular barrel would be used on at the time a barrel was turned out.

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[kynardsj]

The story from the guy I bought it from was that a gunsmith drilled and tapped this one and charged him $100.00. I don't know who supposedly did the work but I think the previous owner might have got taken. This rifle looks new or has been a safe queen. It did have fiber optic sights on it as the front one still is. It looks very similar to the one in the pic but stainless with the fiber optic front..

[Rangr44]

I can't recall if I ever saw any stainless scouts advertized by Rossi - so he mighta paid to have a copy made.

A "Custom Scout", jf you will.

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[kynardsj]

Gonna try this picture thing again. It's not in the pic but it has a nice recoil pad.

[dpe.ahoy]

I have 2 of the 454's, one 16" stainless and a 20 " blue.  No scout scope on one yet, may try it on the shorty.  I have a Marlin with the scout set up and it's pretty quick to use.  I think ya got a nice Hog gun there.  The factory pad ain't no Limbsaver but does a good job, ya know when ya touch her off but doesn't hurt.  DP

[kynardsj]

Loaded up some 454's today and went to the range. Loaded 10 of the 250 grain XTP's over 34 grains of Lilgun and 10 of the 300 grain XTP magnums over 30 grains of Lilgun. According to the book they should be running about 2000 fps and 1800 fps respectively. Just getting used to the rifle and shooting from a crappy bench I could keep them at about 2 inches at 100 yards. That's minute of hog easily. The point of impact for the 250's was about 10 inches higher than the 300's at 100 yards. I went ahead and zeroed for the 300's as they'll be the ones I take hog hunting next month. Also shot some hot 45 LC's and they were pretty pleasant. One other thing I learned about this rifle shooting 454's. It ain't something you want to spend the whole afternoon shooting especially from a bench. My shoulder felt like a mule kicked it everytime I touched one off. Pulled my shirt up when I got home and yep, that right shoulder is banged up pretty good. Overall I'm really pleased with the rifle and feel it'll do the job I bought it for. 

[dpe.ahoy]

Ya might want to get a grind-to-fit Limbsaver recoil pad for it, that will take all the brusing away.  Hope you enjoy yours as much as I do mine, sounds like she is gonna be makin pork chops.  When you get away from the bench, the recoil shouldn't bother near as much.  DP

[Yahto]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and have been a 454 owner for over a year now.  I have both a Puma M92 and a Ruger Alaskan. 
As I was reading I ran across a note that stated that the Recoil Pad was no Limb Saver.  Well, here's a low budget trick that saves me a little shoulder pounding.  At the bottom of the pad (on the 454) there are diamond shaped cutouts for flexibility to absorb the recoil.  If you take a look, there's rib that runs the length of the cutouts.  I drilled out the rib portions in the diamonds and bingo, instant relief.
I shoot H110 @ 30.5 gr with a Hornady 300 gr XTP Mag and being of short (but not as light as I should be) stature it's fine offhand.  Oh yeah, I also took about an inch off the stock to make it fit me a little better too.  Got used to shooting the little black rifle too much.
I'm working up some loads for both the Puma and Ruger and hope to get out within the next week to chrono and shoot some paper to see how they feel and how accurate they are.  I'll be loading 240 and 300 grXTP and XTP Mag bullets and following Hodgdon loading info where available and may try some loads that I found on the internet but not going above or below factory spec's.  I read that I can go as low as 27.5 gr of H110 with a 300 gr bullet so, I loaded up a few.
As a note, my friends all ask me "why such big guns?"  My answer, "because I can't run anymore."   I head into bear country at times and being I've been to wars, conflicts, and "other" and I don't take chances, the odds may be a factor.
Last note, I've ordered up a Marbles tang peep sight too.  I wanted to try that before having to drill and tap for a scout type scope.

[kynardsj]

I've shot the rifle some more since that range session and believe the reason I took such a pounding is that I was leaned into it on a bench. I sat more straight up the next time so my shoulder would have some give and it wasn't as bad. Have since bought a custom 13 inch barrel with a muzzle brake for my Encore. The brake takes a lot of the recoil out of the 454's but it is LOUD !!! Have to wear muffs even when shooting your average 45 LC's in it.

[dpe.ahoy]

Ya know, I've looked at the pads and seen the rib in the middle.  It just didn't click that those could be removed .  Guess I better start excersizing the ol gray matter a bit more.    I have the same kind of pads on some older bolts that could use that trick.  Thanks for the tip.   DP