Puma

[Scrounger]

With Winchester/ USRA fast retreating from the picture, and Marlin with their noted virtues and equally noted faults, just where does PUMA (Legacy Arms) fit into the picture? If you've owned or handled one, what do you think?

[MT Gianni]

I have a 92 in 44 mag with the ugly cougar medallion on the stock. It pushes a Buckshot hp'ed 429244 at about 1800 fps and a 429421 a little slower. the Lee heavy 310 gr about 1550 fps. It is neither target quality or able to stand up to the 5,000 rds some gamesmen might shoot through it in a year but fun to shoot, accurate enough to hunt with and a light package to carry. It will punish a shoulder without a lace up pad. It will not replace either my 94 in 30WCF or the BB 356 as they are different applications. I don't think the Puma deserves the top spot but it does deserve a place. Gianni.

[454PB]

I bought one in .454 Casull last spring. It's a dandy little gun, shoots well, and very nicely finished. I've owned a number of Win. 94's, 92's and Marlin 336 over the last 40 years. The Puma is every bit as well made. I'm not crazy about the safety mounted on top of the bolt, but I guess it's a lawyer mandated requirement and can be removed if so desired. The wood finish is quite dark, but the wood itself is attractive.

I've read that other owners have had trouble with the forearm wood splitting, I haven't had that problem yet, but mine only has about 100 rounds through it. Recoil is pretty stout with .454 ammo, so that is probably the cause. They also have a rather cheesy looking plastic piece that pushes the cartridges from the tube to the feed ramp. That could easily be replaced, there are metal one available in the aftermarket, or can easily be machined. One nice feature is the fact that you can load either through the loading gate or unscrew the magazine tube and load like the older .22 rifles. That feature also allows unloading the magazine without feeding the rounds through the action.

[Lee]

454PB, I've a Puma in .480Ruger, one of the "last?" they supposedly made. (Marlin was rumored to make one in that caliber, plans fell through.)
Although it seems well made, mine has a little problem. It won't feed. From what I see, some roughness on the inside of the receiver causes the boolit to hang up and jam. [smilie=b:

Now I am not very knowledgable about gunsmithing, but you make mention of "aftermarket" parts. Further comments on this would be greatly appreciated, especially as to sources, interchangeability with other manufacturers, etc.

I am debating whether to try a little Dremel polishing of the receiver where the boolit hangs up, or whether to go the hassle of returning, shipping, etc...............Lee ;-)

P.S. Sorry if this is straying off-topic...........................

[454PB]

That would be a tough one, Lee. I think my temptation would be to try and fix it myself. Does the round hang up as it enters the chamber or before? I know my Puma is real touchy about C.O.L., a little too long and it gets sticky. Here is a link to a guy that I've been told is a guru on leverguns of all kinds, and can supply aftermarket parts:

http://www.levergun.com/main_index.htm

[Lee]

It hangs up just as it is being lifted up to start forward into the chamber. You gave me a thought tho, I'll try some dummies seated to different lengths, perhaps that will help. And thanks for the link.........................................Lee

[hpdrifter]

Well, I've had a .45 Colt PUma for 2 weeks now. I shot it the first week. I sent it to the warranty repair service at the end of first week. It had a feed ramp ground into the chamber and it was ground too far. My cases were bulged after firing.

I enjoy shooting the little rifle and the 45 colt in it. Without ammo in it, it is very slick feeling. With the ammo, it has a catch at the half way mark of entry.

From what I've seen, it seems like the lifter is a little primitive; it shows heavy casting finish. It positions the round at prolly close to 40° to the barrel for insertion. The front sight dovetail seems(seems) like it may be cut a little off of square, but the rest of the rifle,minus the lifter/carrier is pretty well made.

Like I said, I enjoy shooting the round in the rifle, but am kinda getting second thoughts about my purchase. Haven't shot/handled a Marlin 94 so can't compare.

[Ed Barrett]

I have a .357 Mag. and a .454 love them both. the 454 is a lot of gun in a little package. I don't think I would ever buy a .454 pistol but in a rifle it is a 45-70 class round. The .357 has had 1500 rounds through it, about half were 38 specials. The .454 has had about 700 rounds some were "very hot" and it's as tight as new. If puma picked up the lease on the Winchester name I think they would do as good or better than USRA.

[scrapcan]

I had a Puma marked with Rossi about 10 years ago, It was a faithful win 92 reproduction. It did not have a secondary safety, only halfcock notch. It was very fun to shoot. caliber 357 mag. It had a 16" barrel. Good finish an dhandled well. It took a while to get it to feed. I had the most problem with some of the lyman swc styles. SWC that had a large step were the worst. Had to figure out exactly how much crimp to put on. I found that a roll crimp was far more reliable than the taper crimp I also tried at the time.

I finally read the Kuhnausen manual on the 1911 auto. ther is a section on feeding different styles of bullets in the 1911. I tried some of the techniques in that manual for seatin gof wadcutters for the Puma and it worked. If you have the manual for the 1911 you might look at the section on feeding and bullet seating. It tells how to feed swc style in a standard mil spec barrel. the method works on the 1911. I use with an autoordance box stock shooter.

I looked for my notes and could not find them, been to long since have moved the rifle on. A friend had an original win 92 that had been converted to 357 mag. it is hard to believe but when taken apart the parts were pretty close. Never tried to swap anything. As many of you also know, a gun sold is a gun always something you want back in safe/cabinet.