Rossi M92 Rifle In 454 Casull

Striper69 · Apr 24, 2017

I don't want to hijack the Lever Rifle thread so I'm starting this one.

I loaded 10 rounds of 45LC with the hottest load in the Hornady manual for 255 gr. cast bullets and took the new rifle to the range today. The rifle performed great with no hiccups as far as feeding so I think I'm good to go with 45LC ammo with this gun. It was very accurate at 15 yards. I also shot some lighter loads with plated bullets but I think I'll stick with the 255 gr. for now.

The next step is to get some 454 Casull brass and load with that. A guy said in the other thread that the gun was hard to handle with the factory ammo he had to use since he doesn't reload/load his own ammo. I think that a lot of the factory ammo would be pretty hot and maybe a bit too much powder for the rifle.

If you look at the manuals you'll see that it takes less powder for the rifle to get the same velocity that a pistol load will get. The highest pistol load is way over the recommended max rifle load.

I'll start at the bottom to see how I like it.

Clifjr · Apr 24, 2017

I'm the guy who said that. That day was my first time shooting my Rossi 92 in 454 Casull. The Ammo I was using was Hornady Custom 300gr XTP Mag #9150 and Federal Premium 300gr Swift A-Frame #P454SA. I started with the Hornady and I was shooting at CRESAP outdoor range in Frederick. If you ever shot a rifle there you know they don't allow you to stand, the rifle has to be shot on the bench. I'm 6'3" and have always felt cramped on the benches but it is what it is. The rifle surprised me with the barrel rise and I wasn't holding onto the forearm very tight. It has a good kick to it and after 30 rounds I had a good size bruise on my shoulder. The forearm doesn't help being so skinny and my xxxl hands. That being said, the recoil is nothing compared to my 444 Marlin but that rifle has a ported barrel. I'll have to try some 45LC next time I take it out but I only have cowboy loads that I use in my Ruger Vaquero. The 454 rounds cycled error free for me and the action felt smoother than any of my other lever actions.

iH8DemLibz · Apr 24, 2017

OP,

You'll never get Casull cases in a Long Colt chamber.

Casull cases are about .100 inches longer.

You'll need to push the chamber back some.

Clifjr · Apr 24, 2017

iH8DemLibz said:
OP,

You'll never get Casull cases in a Long Colt chamber.

Casull cases are about .100 inches longer.

You'll need to push the chamber back some.

His rifle is chambered for 454 Casull just like mine.

lazarus · Apr 24, 2017

Clifjr said:
I'm the guy who said that. That day was my first time shooting my Rossi 92 in 454 Casull. The Ammo I was using was Hornady Custom 300gr XTP Mag #9150 and Federal Premium 300gr Swift A-Frame #P454SA. I started with the Hornady and I was shooting at CRESAP outdoor range in Frederick. If you ever shot a rifle there you know they don't allow you to stand, the rifle has to be shot on the bench. I'm 6'3" and have always felt cramped on the benches but it is what it is. The rifle surprised me with the barrel rise and I wasn't holding onto the forearm very tight. It has a good kick to it and after 30 rounds I had a good size bruise on my shoulder. The forearm doesn't help being so skinny and my xxxl hands. That being said, the recoil is nothing compared to my 444 Marlin but that rifle has a ported barrel. I'll have to try some 45LC next time I take it out but I only have cowboy loads that I use in my Ruger Vaquero. The 454 rounds cycled error free for me and the action felt smoother than any of my other lever actions.

Ouch. I feel you. I am only 6'1", but I feel like the Cresap benches were made for someone who is about 5'2". When I can I shoot off a bipod fully extended. Gets a few inches more height than I can get with their sand bags piled up.

Heck, even my AR-15 starts to lightly bruise my shoulder after about 100 rounds from their benches the way I have to hunch over my rifle. When I can, I prefer Hap. Especially because you can stand, sit or go prone.

Though looking at maybe joining IWLA Damascus.

Clifjr · Apr 24, 2017

lazarus said:
Ouch. I feel you. I am only 6'1", but I feel like the Cresap benches were made for someone who is about 5'2". When I can I shoot off a bipod fully extended. Gets a few inches more height than I can get with their sand bags piled up.

Heck, even my AR-15 starts to lightly bruise my shoulder after about 100 rounds from their benches the way I have to hunch over my rifle. When I can, I prefer Hap. Especially because you can stand, sit or go prone.

Though looking at maybe joining IWLA Damascus.

Yes their benches are small and I've used about 6-8 sandbags stacked and usually have my hand resting on them holding the forearm. I've never been to Hap but I've considered joining Damascus IWLA but never did anything about it. CRESAP is just so convenient and cheap to shoot but it still is a very nice facility and staffed well.

iH8DemLibz · Apr 24, 2017

Clifjr said:
His rifle is chambered for 454 Casull just like mine.

My Bad.

That's one hell of a rifle then.

Put some 300 grain bullets in it and it'll kill anything in North America.

lazarus · Apr 24, 2017

Clifjr said:
Yes their benches are small and I've used about 6-8 sandbags stacked and usually have my hand resting on them holding the forearm. I've never been to Hap but I've considered joining Damascus IWLA but never did anything about it. CRESAP is just so convenient and cheap to shoot but it still is a very nice facility and staffed well.

IWLA Damascus is actually about 10 minutes closer to me than Cresap and nicer facilities. I also like the fact that I can go shoot more than just Sunday's. It isn't often, but at least 3-4 times a year I've got no work during the week and nothing I really have to do at my place. IWLA Damascus is the kind of place you could roll up mid morning on a week day and probably only bump in to 1-2 other shooters every hour or two until after work.

I am tempted by IWLA Mount Airy though. IIRC they have a 300yd range. Damascus for as nice as all of their facilities are is only a 100yd rifle range...

A longer drive for me though and everything else isn't as nice.

Clifjr · Apr 24, 2017

iH8DemLibz said:
My Bad.

That's one hell of a rifle then.

Put some 300 grain bullets in it and it'll kill anything in North America.

Here's mine. Got from one of our IP's for a very good price recently.
Sorry if I hi-jacked the OP's post.

iH8DemLibz · Apr 24, 2017

That's really nice.

Would be the perfect addition to pair with my .454 Super Redhawk.

Clifjr · Apr 24, 2017

One last post for the OP. Here's a link to part 2 of a article on these rifles that list some hand loads recommendations. Bottom of the page you can click on part 1.
http://www.realguns.com/articles/588.htm

John from MD · Apr 24, 2017

I have a Rossi 44 mag that I load hot for pigs. They are light guns and will do some dancing around from the bench, especially if you are an over 65 old coot like me.

I load 275 gn gas checked, powder coated bullets that have a large meplat and they are thumpers at over 1650 in my 16 inch barrel. While the 16 inch barrel is handy in the field, it jumps around on the bench.

I have a leather butt cuff that has closed cell foam inside which is much more comfortable than that damn steel plate. :party29:

I also put some skateboard tape on the leather and it stays glued to my shoulder.

Having shot the .454 in the 20 inch barreled version, I would expect those 300 grainers to make it dance as well.

llkoolkeg · Apr 24, 2017

Bad-a$$ed!

Striper69 · Apr 25, 2017

Clifjr said:
One last post for the OP. Here's a link to part 2 of a article on these rifles that list some hand loads recommendations. Bottom of the page you can click on part 1.
http://www.realguns.com/articles/588.htm

Feel free to post anything you want about Rossi 454 Casull's or anything else.

Striper69 · Apr 25, 2017

John from MD said:
I have a Rossi 44 mag that I load hot for pigs. They are light guns and will do some dancing around from the bench, especially if you are an over 65 old coot like me.

I load 275 gn gas checked, powder coated bullets that have a large meplat and they are thumpers at over 1650 in my 16 inch barrel. While the 16 inch barrel is handy in the field, it jumps around on the bench.

I have a leather butt cuff that has closed cell foam inside which is much more comfortable than that damn steel plate. I also put some skateboard tape on the leather and it stays glued to my shoulder.

Having shot the .454 in the 20 inch barreled version, I would expect those 300 grainers to make it dance as well.

I also have the Rossi 44 Mag rifle.

I use a Limbsaver pad and it really tames that rifle down even with hot loads.

Striper69 · Apr 25, 2017

lazarus said:
IWLA Damascus is actually about 10 minutes closer to me than Cresap and nicer facilities. I also like the fact that I can go shoot more than just Sunday's. It isn't often, but at least 3-4 times a year I've got no work during the week and nothing I really have to do at my place. IWLA Damascus is the kind of place you could roll up mid morning on a week day and probably only bump in to 1-2 other shooters every hour or two until after work.

I am tempted by IWLA Mount Airy though. IIRC they have a 300yd range. Damascus for as nice as all of their facilities are is only a 100yd rifle range...

A longer drive for me though and everything else isn't as nice.

I'm lucky cause I get to use an outside range on an indian reservation that the rangers and police use for practice and qualifying etc. I've been the only one on the range every time I've wanted to use it.

The only caveat is...it has a dirt surface and when it rains I can't really use it. They've built concrete platforms at 5, 10, 15, 25, 50 and 100 yards though so it makes it a nice place to shoot.

It's free too.

Striper69 · Apr 25, 2017

Today was a good day.

I was hoping that one of the gun stores in Omaha, Ne. had some 45 Casull brass and a die set for it but wasn't really counting on it.

The Bass Pro store had the die set and the Cabela's had the brass so I'm set!

:bannana:

It's going to rain tomorrow so I'm going to load 50 rounds of 454 Casull ammo with Win 296 powder and Hornady bullets I have. I'll also load 50 rounds of 45LC ammo with the plated bullets (I have more of those).

I also picked up some used 223 brass on the range that I had a hell of a time cleaning up and I'm loading 50 rounds using that brass. I want to use it up ASAP.

Striper69 · Apr 25, 2017

Clifjr said:
I'm the guy who said that. That day was my first time shooting my Rossi 92 in 454 Casull. The Ammo I was using was Hornady Custom 300gr XTP Mag #9150 and Federal Premium 300gr Swift A-Frame #P454SA. I started with the Hornady and I was shooting at CRESAP outdoor range in Frederick. If you ever shot a rifle there you know they don't allow you to stand, the rifle has to be shot on the bench. I'm 6'3" and have always felt cramped on the benches but it is what it is. The rifle surprised me with the barrel rise and I wasn't holding onto the forearm very tight. It has a good kick to it and after 30 rounds I had a good size bruise on my shoulder. The forearm doesn't help being so skinny and my xxxl hands. That being said, the recoil is nothing compared to my 444 Marlin but that rifle has a ported barrel. I'll have to try some 45LC next time I take it out but I only have cowboy loads that I use in my Ruger Vaquero. The 454 rounds cycled error free for me and the action felt smoother than any of my other lever actions.

I hear ya!

The first time I shot my Marlin 1895 45-70 I used Hornady 45-70 FTX ammo and the gun jumped out of my hand from the front stock.

:eek:

Reloading (and a Limbsaver) can really tame the gun down though.

Striper69 · Apr 26, 2017

I was all ready to start loading up some bullets for the 454 Casull tonight...

but as I was putting a 300 gr. Hornday XTP in the case I noticed that the OAL was way off. So I looked at the catalog and found out that there's also an XTP Magnum bullet.

So I have to wait until tomorrow night to load the rounds.

:sad20:

Striper69 · Apr 28, 2017

I got some 240 gr. Hornady XTP Mag bullets but I didn't want to load the handgun load. I'd rather start at a milder load and work up from there.

Looking on the web for something I can use. I'm going to call Hornady tomorrow. I could also just go to the plant here in Nebraska if I wanted to.

Rossi M92 Rifle In 454 Casull

The #1 community for Gun Owners of the Northeast

Member Benefits:

Ultimate Member

Active Member

When All Else Fails.

Active Member

Ultimate Member

Active Member

When All Else Fails.

Ultimate Member

Active Member

Attachments

When All Else Fails.

Active Member

American Patriot

Hairy Flaccid Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Users who are viewing this thread

Log in

Forum statistics