Hey guys, I need some help. I have a puma 454 casull and I am sure it is because I had to double and triple check the barrel to make sure, I can get 45 LC to shoot through it with terrible accuracy. I have tried to feed a 250 grain jacket with a col of 1.72 and it locks in the chamber when I try to cycle the action. My brass is 1.38. What can I do. This gun has been a disaster from the start. I cannot keep 3 rounds in a twelve in circle at 25 yards. I do not know what to do. Someone told me that it might shoot better with full length rounds. It will not even cycle a 250 grain bullet. Please help.

The answer to your chambering issue might be related to this FAQ on the PUMA web site:

Can I shoot 45 Colt with my .454 Casull or 44 Special with my 44 Mag?

No. Shooting any caliber in any firearm, other than what is stamped on the firearm is dangerous and will void your warranty.


I can only guess that it has something to do with the internal dimensions of the receiver area. The feeding mechanism is probably tuned for just feeding the .454 Casull. I have seen this in firearms that have been tuned to feed .357 Magnum rounds with 100% reliability, sometimes have issues feeding .38 Special rounds.

I have 2 of the 454 Pumas, blued 20" and stainless 16" that both feed my 45 Colt reloads. Find a good smith and he should be able to smooth things out for you. Shooting the 45's in a 454 is just like shooting 44 specials in a 44 mag or 38 specials in a 357 mag. Perfectly safe. DP

I am sorry guys, you miss understood my question. My 454 will not load 454 rounds. It will shoot 45 LC all day long with absolutely no accuracy. Has anyone else had this problem.

Sounds like you got a build up of carbon from shooting the 45LC's? Give the chamber a good scrubbing to get the carbon ring out. Then your 454 should load.

I had the same problem. My new Puma would not feed 454 but would feed 45 colt. And yes it is safe to shoot the 45 in the 454. I tried a lot of bullet style discovered that it would feed 454s with a long wide meplat nose bullet, 300 grains were the best.

I sent it back to the factory repair (LSI International) and asked them to fix the feeding problem. It took about two months and now the rifle will feed anything I have tried. It still is very hard on the brass, taking nicks out of the rims. It feeds best when the lever is moved briskly and with authority but it feeds everything.

A legitimate point could be a ring of carbon left by shooting 45 colt rounds. Check that out and then try a wide blunt nose bullet.

I'm told that Steve Jones under a different name does a wonderful job of tuning these guns. Look under the Leverguns section for 92 clones to find that link to his website. I think its Kiowa something. I'm sorry I can't remember more but he has a very good site.

Scruf

Scruffy
My Puma has fed every thing I put into it! Maybe there a problem with the new models but mine doesn't care what bullet profile used it feeds them! The only problem I've seen is if I shoot a bunch of 45LC's the 454's are sticky going into the chamber until I clean it!

Don't know about the feeding problem, good scrubbing sounds reasonable to me. Steve Jones can definitly slick up a Puma 92 ( he did and older Rossi for me long time ago) or send you everything you need to do it yourself. Thats what I did and it wasn't very difficult and came out pretty good. Not as good as he would have done but way better than factory. For the accuracy issue, mine shot "groups" before fire lapping with Beartooths lapping kit, only took 15 rounds for mine, your mileage may vary, after lapping and breaking in the barrel I got two five shot groups under 2 inches each at 50 yards offhand. Thats about as good as I can shoot anything and waaaaaay better than before. I also have changed the sights to a Lyman front bead, and a Marble tang sight. Hated the original sights...From a rifle I didn't particularly care for it's turned into a "keeper." Hope you have the same luck with yours..

The fella that works the Puma 92's name is Steve Young, not Jones, thats his "alias". My memory is totally shot......

I tried a lot of bullet style discovered that it would feed 454s with a long wide meplat nose bullet, 300 grains were the best.

Scruf

I tried a couple of different bullets in my Puma 454. Both handcast and both loaded in 454 brass. Have not fired 45LC in mine yet.

My point being, the 300 grain bullet that is mentioned before is what shoots best in my Puma also. I tried a 230 grain that fired ALL OVER THE PLACE!!!!!!!!! I mean two feet high and two feet left, ALL OVER THE PLACE.

Your 45LC that fire with no accuracy may be struggling with the same problem. The 300 grain bullet is longer and has more contact with the rifling. Try as heavy a bullet as you can get in the 45LC and you may see better performance.

I will be trying a 255 grain bullet in 45LC when I do shoot them.

As, to the feeding problem, try feeding an empty 454 brass into the chamber by hand. If that won't chamber you have something, (carbon ring) or a metal burr (defect in chamber) or something blocking loading.

couple of ideas.

Good luck :cool: