Puma "Chuck Conners 1892 rifle"

[Hardcast]

Saw a SHOT show pic on Gunblast that made my heart flutter. :) Went to the Puma website and they have a banner photo of it, but no information. I would like to know price, specs, availability date and caliber. I suppose it's in 44-40 because that's what Lucas McCain had. If it is 44-40, that would mean new dies, brass, and boolit mold too. I'm not thrilled about loading 44-40's with the slight bottleneck, but I just can't tolerate buying factory ammo. Maybe it would be better shot with blanks and NO recoil just like Lucas did, ha ha. BTW how did Lucas McCain get a Winchester 1892 rifle in the 1880s? :)

[Bullshop]

I just got a flyer from them. The Riflemans rifle is msrp $1,299.00
They also show an 1886 in 45/70 at the same price.
Now this is msrp not dealer cost. I tried to find these models but as of last week no one seems to actually have them yet.
BIC/BS

[454PB]

I have a Uberti 1866 44/40 lever rifle and it's no harder to load for than any other caliber. Yes, you'll need dies, but the boolits and/or moulds are readily available. If you already cast for .44 caliber, you may own a suitable mould already.

I use a Lee 210 gr. RN swc boolit and size them to .430. It shoots cloverleaf groups at 25 yards using the crude sights it came with.

[Hardcast]

I just got a flyer from them. The Riflemans rifle is msrp $1,299.00
They also show an 1886 in 45/70 at the same price.
Now this is msrp not dealer cost. I tried to find these models but as of last week no one seems to actually have them yet.
BIC/BS

$1299.00 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy Cow !!!!!!!

[missionary5155]

Greetings
I have a 1892 Winny SRC 44-40. Been loading it for years and it is no more trouble than any other pistol cartridge.... Just use the right size boolit and enjoy it. A 200-260 grain boolit powered by 8 -10 grains Unique it a real thumper out to 100 yards.
God Bless you !

[cajun shooter]

The 44-40 does need to be lubed before sizing but thats not a problem. You might also want to slug your bore as they do differ in size. The one I load for prefers bullets that are sized to 428 and not 430 like the one 454 shoots. Just a small step to make it shoot correctly.

[KCSO]

My last flyer was showing delivery in the SPRING of 2009. The rifles are Chiappa made in Italy and if they are as good as the ones Charles daly got they are super nice guns. They also have the Bounty Hunter !

[Seafarer12]

I went to their site and didn't see anything about it.

Nevermind I downloaded the catalog.
I really wish they would make a 92 in 32-20 or 327 mag.

I guess Rossi isn't making them anymore.

[Harry O]

I have four 44-40's, two rifles and two revolvers. EVERY one of them have .44 Magnum barrels (0.430"). That means if you shoot Cowboy 44-40 loads (which are 0.427"OD and soft lead to boot) you will have BAD leading in a few shots. I did.

The two rifles (Marlin and Rossi) have chambers that are large enough to chamber handloads with 0.431" bullets in them. They shoot just fine that way. However, the case comes out pretty close to straight. They don't last long if you full length size them. Since I have different guns and the chambers are definitely different, I have to full length size them.

The revolvers (Ruger) have the same size barrels, but the chambers are tight and the front of the chambers were even tighter. Not much could be done with these. I had the front of the chambers opened up, but getting a custom barrel or boring out the chambers to allow 0.431" was more than I wanted to spend.

I changed over to 38-40's and have not looked back. The dimensions on my four 38-40's (two rifles and two revolvers) are right what they are supposed to be. No problems at all with them. I have not shot the 44-40's in several years.

[Warhawk]

I was up in Oklahoma City last weekend and we stopped by H&H Guns. They had a Chuck Connors commemorative on the rack. I didn't handle it, the $1300 price tag made sure of that. It's a fantastic looking gun, the wood has the same type of grain that the one at SHOT show had. It has a medallion in the stock, and Chuck Connors signature laser engraved into the wood. The screw in the lever is there, but it's located so that it can't touch the trigger.

Cool gun, but way out of my league. Maybe in a few years I'll find one that's been fired, so I can afford it.

[Tazman1602]

Just got a flyer from Jerry's Sport Center guys. The Chuck Connors Commemorative is in the catalog again, whether it's actually available or not I don't know.

I don't like wall hangers, but I still watch "The Rifleman" (reruns of course....) and the thought of having one of these just made my heart flutter a bit...........

So many guns, so little money.............<GRIN>

Art

[cajun shooter]

I have the following guns in 44-40
Two USFA revolvers 5 1/2 bbl's
One Uberti 1873 Texas Brush Popper 18in bbl
One Rossi SRC rifle 1892 model
One Cimmaron Birdshead grip 3 1/2 bbl revolver
All of these guns have been slugged and found to carry the correct bore size for the 44-40 which is .427 Several gun makers such as Ruger and Marlin decided to make all the 44-40 guns with bores of .430 so that they could use 44 mag bullets. This is why you will find guns with all sizes of bores. The first Winchesters were built with bores that only were .425 in size and they have plenty of them around. I have a 1800's 44-40 loading tool that includes a single cavity mould that is the Lyman 42798 which was the original bullet at 200 grs weight . The loader also has a bullet sizer that measures .425
The guns being made by Chiappa which is Armi San Marco and that company has a very bad reputation for building guns that break very easy and often. In fact the other Italian gun makers even went to them to discuss the problems as it was giving all of the Italian makers a bad name. Try going to the cowboy forums and selling a gun made by them. That is the reason for the name change and the outlandish prices on the guns. They figure that they will appear as one of the old makers. They have people who have purchased the guns and have them break on the first day. I had a friend buy his son a 1874 Sharps for his son for Christmas and then tell me. I told him I wished him luck. The gun broke the firing pin on the second round. He was lucky as the gun shop took it back and he purchased a Pedersoli.

[Bret4207]

I don't like wall hangers, but I still watch "The Rifleman" (reruns of course....) and the thought of having one of these just made my heart flutter a bit...........

So many guns, so little money.............<GRIN>

Art

I always wondered what Chuck Conners was trying to prove by rolling his sleeves up over those skinny little arms of his. The guy had biceps like a girl, but I swear 90% of his movies and shows he's got the sleeves rolled up into his armpit.

Just another one of those things that the voices in my head ponder....[smilie=b:

[Baron von Trollwhack]

I handled a thing called a "Mare's Leg" or similar, at the Charlotte NRA show last may, some manufacturer brought. Short stock, short barrel, loop lever. Pretty, though, except for production blemishes visible. They had it on a cable tether so you could sort of shoulder it like a rifle, or you could hold it in one hand as a sort of pistol to simulate shooting it. Either way you could simulate levering from your chosen approach.

It was a real goth fantasy sword right out of hollywood's gothic fantasy world. Buy a copy of Chuck's hat, you will be happier.

BvT

[Mavrick]

Bret...What d' ya expect from a "working athlete?" He wasn't an action film actor, he was a baseball player...lean and mean. I enjoyed the effect, tho', as he looked like the hard-working farmer he was trying to portray.
Most in those days would have owned a shotgun first, but that doesn't mean much.
He used a bit of ammo for a dirt-farmer, tho'.
I enjoy my M92(Rossi) which is a 21" barrelled .256 Mag...just a modern .25/20!
Have fun,
Gene

[John Taylor]

Funny how when they started the Rifleman show with that short sawed off rifle the government went after them. Cost them a bunch of money to keep someone out of jail and still be able to use the gun for the show. Now you can own one because it came from the manufacturer with the barrel already short. So it comes down to make your own, go to jail. Buy a new one and no problem.

[NVcurmudgeon]

Chuck Connors was 6' 5" 190 lbs. and left handed, so he was quite tall and lean, a good first baseman's build. He was a good enough first baseman to play one game in 1949 with the Brooklyn Dodgers and 66 games for the Cubs in 1951. He played for the LA Angels of the Pacific Coast League which was the equivalent of AAA today, and that was about his level. He visited a WWII vet I knew in the hospital and said that he was likely to become a better actor than ballplayer! I probably saw him play at the old Emeryville ball park in the late forties when I was a baseball crazy young Oakland Oaks fan, but don't remember it. Sad he passed away at the young age of 51.

[cajun shooter]

The story goes that the producer of the show was looking for a actor that could twirl the rifle for effect as was done on the opening scene for the show. When Chuck walked into his office, he tossed him the rifle and said cock the lever while spinning the rifle. He did it the first try and was the only one who could. That is how he won the part. Bret, I know you was a cop as I was. Some of the toughest guys I ever had to arrest was the tall slim ones as they were very powerful. I would not have liked to do a toe to toe with him. A sissy he was not.

[Clinebo]

Or for a little more $$$$ you can buy one here.....
http://www.riflemansrifle.com/default.htm
Makes the 1300 dollar gun seem like a deal!