[Dutch4122]

I'm not sure if this question was asked before, but has anybody seen or bought the new Rossi '92 Puma in .454 Casull?  I was looking through one of my loading manuals and saw that this cartridge produces some pretty serious pressures.  Is it true that this round might be a bit hot for this action?  I remember hearing that some of the old Winchester 1892's converted to .44 Magnum didn't handle the pressure very well.  Any truth to this or is it just an old wives tale?

Legacy Sports International has this carbine cataloged on their website.

 

[TedH]

I have not seen what you are referring to but if it is a regular model 92 type action that sounds pretty extreme.  I have seen some model 94 Big Bores that were rebarreled to 454 Casull.  The gunsmiths that did the jobs did not recommend full power loads even in those because of the pressures involved.

 

[Jack R]

Dutch,
While mine's not the new Rossi 92, I took delivery of one in 45 colt that I had rechambered for the 454 Casull last week. Been shooting Win 300gr JFP factory loads to get some brass for load testing. No excess pressure signs, primer edges were rounded,no flattening of the area around the pin strike, ejection was easy. And it's accurate.
And yes the 'smith recomended NOT to load to full power.

I'm working on some loads based on 2400 powder and 325 gr RFNGC and 405 gr RFNPB. Hope to get to the range Saturday to try them out

 

[Fireplug]

Jack R,

Please, keep us informed about the new loads and your '92 .454 in general. I for one am especially interested in how the heavy bullets work. I think that Legacy is doing some pre-release promotion since none of the gun shops seem to have any '92 .454s yet, or even know when they will.

Thanks,
Fireplug

 

[Stranger]

Curious...

If full power 454 Casull loads will blow up the 92's action, what's the point or rechambering???  Why not simply load up .45 Colt on the hot side?

 

[Jack R]

All,
I guess I should have been a little more precise on what my 'smith considered "full power" Casull loads.

We discussed at lenghth the cartridge characteristics, Freedom arms has several loads that exceed 57,000 CUP,  some of the original loadings put out by them were reported to exceed 65,000 CUP and were NOT recommended for any firearms except those made by Freedom Arms.

My Rossi was tested for reciever hardness and we (my smith, me and several people he was close to in the industry). Agreed that if my MAX loads were kept in the
51,000-52,000 CUP range that I shouldn't have any problems. Some of the loads I'm working with are pushing a 325 gr hardcast RFNGC @ avge 1700fps from a 20' bbl. and are in the 49,000/50,000 CUP range.

Shooting any higher pressure loads won't "blow-up" the gun but would shake it apart in short order.

As with any cartridge,loading data should be used with caution.

Loading 45 Colt to these velocitys would increase pressure past the danger level in my NMBH and Vaquero due to the reduced powder capacity with MAYBE the long chambered Red Hawk being the exception.

Hope i haven't carried on excessively but working with ideas in different cartridge/firearm combinations is almost an addiction for me.

 

[arkypete]

I've been shooting my Rossie 92 in 45 Colt for the past year or so with what I consider an adiquate load. I'm using a Saeco 300 gr GC's a head of 20 grains of H110. It's accurate, easy on both me and the rifle and I'd guess it would take most any critter here on the East Coast.
I could up the load a bit more but to what end?
Jim