what 454 boolits in rossi puma

looking for some boolits to use in my 454 rossi puma 20" . wanting a load for goats , hogs & deer . & also a heavy hitting boolit to use on wild bulls , water buffallo . i reload so anything goes , i'm keen to try some hottish 45 colts . also should a rifle be dedicated to lead only or is it safe to use both cast & other bullet types ? never used cast on game before but have totall faith in the old 45 cal & lever set up . what does the 20" rossi barrel mean in the field over a pistol ??? & would a 454 be enough to smash a water buffallo's shoulder & still have enough to get the job done ?? or is that just 2 much to ask ???

I don't have a whole lot of experience yet with my Rossi .454 SS with 20" barrel, however, from what I think I know, I really like 300gn RNFP Cast Bullets from Oregon Trail.

That bullet over 24gn of 2400 will take down anything in the lower 48. Out of the 20" barrel it's pushing that 300gn bullet at about 1650fps, maybe even a bit more.

That same bullet over 21gn of 2400 is easier to shoot and will easily take deer, hogs and goats. Not sure of the velocity but I believe it's around 1350/1400 out of a 20" barrel.

With a .45 Colt round, that same bullet over 17.5gn of W296 or 18gns of 2400 will produce about 1250fps. That's a powerful round, yet easy to shoot.

Note: if you try these loads, you should work your way up to them, from at least 10% less, as starting loads.

A 300 grainer or even a 340 grain boolit in front of H110/Win296 will make for a good hard hitting round out of the 454 Casull Lever Action. I've run a 300 grain up to 1800 fps from my LSI Puma 454 Casull and I suppose a 340 would be able to run in the upper 1600 fps range from a 20" barrel.

awesome . i'm gona get a lee c452-300-rf (90359) because my local keeps lee moulds & start with that . although i've had nothing but trouble getting my rossi to feed . it was sent back for waranty 3 times & still isn't fixed [smilie=b: . ( & yes they did send me a new one that was worse than my 1st one .) do those wide meplat boolits feed fine in your rifles ? i'm sending mine to a smith to get sorted once & for all . the boolits i use on goats hogs & deer , should they be soft ??? as there not that hard to kill ? gota go cya's

I shoot the Lee 300gr (about 320 with WW) with a stiff load of Lil Gun for 1980fps from my LSI Puma in 454. I did shoot a Black Tail deer using a 300 gr Sierra soft point at about 1600fps before I got the lee mold. Heart shot taking a bit of shoulder on the far side. Made a finger sized hole in and out. I haven't shot anything useing the Lee boolit yet but I don't think I will be recovering a lot of boolits with it.

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Originally Posted by deadkelly

awesome . i'm gona get a lee c452-300-rf (90359) because my local keeps lee moulds & start with that . although i've had nothing but trouble getting my rossi to feed . it was sent back for waranty 3 times & still isn't fixed [smilie=b: . ( & yes they did send me a new one that was worse than my 1st one .) do those wide meplat boolits feed fine in your rifles ? i'm sending mine to a smith to get sorted once & for all . the boolits i use on goats hogs & deer , should they be soft ??? as there not that hard to kill ? gota go cya's

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My .454 Rossi 92 is not too bad as long as I keep the OAL at specks or a tad less. It does real well with .45 Colt at OAL specks. I do not cast at all and after trying a few different commercial bullets, I found that I like the bullets from Oregon Trail the best. All there cast bullets are rated at 24 BHN which is pretty hard.

Where are you? you mentioned "Water Buffalo" so unless you are shooting in a game preserve it isn't in the lower 48 or even 50.

I've not heard of the Lee 452-300-RF not feeding in a Rossi Lever. Most have had to load it to the short COAL to have reliable feeding but there's been a few that have been able to run it through at the longer COAL. My LSI Puma 454 was a no go with the longer COAL.

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Originally Posted by Freightman

Where are you? you mentioned "Water Buffalo" so unless you are shooting in a game preserve it isn't in the lower 48 or even 50.

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Brisbane Australia . i intend of making a yearly top end trip . and yes water buffalo are on the wanted list . most of the time it will used on goats , fallow & red deer , with the odd mountian boar .

+1 for the Lee 452-300-RF. I shoot it out of mine over a stout charge of Lil'Gun. Crimp in the top crimp groove and it will feed great. Good shooter too.