Puma Rifle Fans ???

[Shawnee]

"Cinteal's" post below piqued my curiosity about the Puma rifle and its' use with the .45 Long Colt and the .454 Casull.

I know the Puma is made or marketed by Howa - is Howa a subsidiary of "Legacy"? Is that why I see Legacy/Puma and Howa/Puma in the ads ?

What is the general opinion of the quality of the Puma rifles in those calibers ? Are its' iron sights decent? Is it accurate (maybe 2 MOA) with both calibers? Go ahead and compare it to the Marlins.

If any of Y'All are using the Puma in .45 Colt or .454 Casull to hunt deer or hogs or black bear - are your experiences with it good or bad or ?

From the rifle(s) - how do the .45 Colt and .454 Casull compare with the .44 magnum re: deer hunting performance? Do they offer anything that is really "over and above" the .44 magnum that a deerslayer really needs ?

Where do you find your favorite handloading data for the Casull ?

How do you rate the recoil of the .45 Colt and the .454 Casull in that 6.5 lb. rifle ?

C'Mon, Puma Dudes - what say Y'All ???

Many thanks !

 

[tkaction]

I have a "92 " in 357 magnum. Well made and shoots 1-2"
at 50 yards open sites with cheap 38 specials. The only drawback is it isnt very loud! Very nice looking rifle with the curved butt.

 

[kludge]

I had been drooling over a Puma 454, and almost bought one a year ago.

Then I met someone at the range with one and was excited to see it perform. He said he was having a problem with his... the magazine was unscrewing itself from the receiver... so he took it to a smith who put it back together and lock-tite'd it.

Well after a dozen shots it had uncsrewed itself again.

Fluke? I don't know; I'm kinda glad I didn't buy it, but I still have an itch for a 454 rifle for deer hunting.

The 45 Colt will shoot broadside through a deer, and that's about all the damage you can do. What does a 454 give you? Flatter trajectory and the ability to use some really heavy loads.

The 454 comes with a recoil pad (the others don't) so that may tell you something.

 

[MAKster]

The Puma 1892 is made by Rossi in Brazil. Legacy is the importer. EMF and Navy Arms also import Rossi made versions of the 1892. Howa of Japan has nothing to do with these rifles. Maybe you are confused because Legacy also imports the Howa bolt action rifles.

 

[garyhan]

I immediately replaced the rear sight on my .44-40 Puma with a Marble's tang sight, not necessarily due to any problem with the factory rear, but simply because I shoot much better with an aperature. My first five shot group at fifty yards went into one hole, and if I do my part, the rifle repeats this performance every time. I have never had a malfunction. These rifles are great fun to shoot and a real bargain.

gary

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Legacy Sports International (LSI) is an importer/seller of sporting goods in the US. They sell a variety of products from a variety of sources:

1. The Rossi 92 clones from Brazil (I think) are labeled the "Puma 92"
2. The Howa rifles from Japan are just called Howa
3. They also market the Nikko-Stirling scopes, which IINM are Chinese-made.

I'm a big fan of both #1 and #2. The scopes I'm not so sure, but they're supposed to be pretty good for the money.

If you want a rear peep sight on a 92 back at the action, you have to drill & tap the left side of the receiver. I did this on a Puma 92, and put the Williams FP-94 on it and a brass bead front sight - it's really slick.

 

[Shawnee]

Any of you guys using the Puma in .45 Colt or .454 Casull ?

The aperture sight sounds good to me.

 

[cinteal]

Shawnee

Ran this post by my buddy with the Puma in 44M. He has had no problems with action reliability. For my part, I'm looking to buy one . . . and I don't skimp on firearms. Just a resume, but my safes are filled with Kimbers, Wilsons, Wichester Shotguns (M12s), Merkel, CZ, Browning, Sako, and Weatherby. There are better looking rifles than the Puma, but the damn thing is solid. I bet I've shot ~200 rounds through my friend's. Not a single problem . . . for him, either, after 1000+ rounds.

I have seen better rear sights . . . I've shot well with the factory ones on the rifle. We didn't group the rifle, but were shooting Osage Orange apples at 50 . . . got boring it was so easy.

I know you love the ballistics tables so I'm not going to go technical. The 44 mag outperforms the 45 Colt in everything but energy, and it ain't far off in that regard. My last deer caliber (when I hunted for deer) was 44 mag in a 7.5" Redhawk. Out of 6, one ran about 80 yards. The rest . . . less than 10 feet. the 80 yard runner was shot at 87 yards. The rest . . . less than 40.

Also, the buddy has a Marlin 1894 in 357/38. I've shot it, too. The Marlin is prettier and doesn't have the weirdo safety. Other than that and side ejection (couldn't care less shooting irons), they're no better from the limited experience I've had with them.

 

[Wanta B]

I have a Puma 92 16" stainless 454 with the fiber ptic sights.Used it this year for both deer and bear.Got both and both were one shot kills.The deer was about 125-135 yrds away and went down to a nice heart and lung hit.The bear lost it's capacity to think around 75yrds away from me.

Mine has feed everything that has been given to it and so far reliability is 100%.Also mine was rather smooth OTB and is smooth as glass after sitting in front of the TV working the action several thousand times.

Lets see,recoil...like a Daisy Rider BB gun with 45LC cowboy loads all the way to rather sirited with heavy handloads.Accuracy,on average 2" @ 100yrds. It has been as tight as .75"@100yrds 8 rnds with consistancy useing a freinds light handloads from a bench but has gone up to 4"@100yrds using regular old Remington 454. I have about 7500 rounds thru' it to date with no sign of trouble.Most full on 454.

Wanta B

 

[taliv]

i have the puma in .480 ruger. not terribly accurate, but accurate enough and a heckuva lot of fun

 

[mavracer]

Any of you guys using the Puma in .45 Colt or .454 Casull ?

Mine's a pre puma (no dang lawyer safety) 45 colt.
it cycles fine with any thing from mild cowboy loads(200gr@1000fps) to bear medicine(360gr@1500fps) BTW she wears a 24" 1/2 round 1/2 oct barrel.