Dern it my 454 has problems

[Ranch Dog]

I'm with you Don! Big thing here is the temperature swings, 35° to 40° during the day. Gets a lot of people sick.

[pricedo]

Yeah Hommer,
I figured that I should not mention reloads. I wonder what WOULD have happened if I had been shooting some full strength factory loads. Probably flare it out more, or do it the same, with less shots.

"And it does look like the bolt was bit hardened properly!" I think you meant not, instead of "bit" ?

While I had the bolt out of the 454 and my 45C. I must have hit them with a file at least 10 different times. And the more I did it, the more they seemed about the same. I'm thinking more like it was probably because of the 60-75% engagement of the lugs that caused the problem. But then, that does not explain the bolt face being .010" caved in at the middle, and then the ejector is .010 below that.

Doesn't sound very safe to me.
Warranty on the gun is one thing.........who replaces fingers & eyes?
And these are NEW guns that are having these problems..........AMAZING.
Poor fit & finish and a stock finish that washes off in the rain is one thing.......defects that could affect life & limb another.
If quality control is so absent in the Brazilian Rossi plant that bolts that haven't been properly tempered are being installed in guns somebody at Rossi needs "a good, swift kick in the fanny" wake up call.
That gun would have been going back for a replacement or a full refund (including shipping) if I'd bought it & somebody from Rossi would be getting an earful on the phone...........a new gun in that state is absolutely unacceptable.
If they refused then I'd say, "maybe somebody from BATFE, Federal Commerce or a state regulatory agency should see first hand the condition of some of the guns you are shipping into the USA".

[donhuff]

Don,

I appreciate the emails we've been exchanging. I pretty much understand the mod/fix you performed to get the locking lugs to fully engage the receiver. I'm wondering if you plan on posting pics of the area(s) you made adjustments?

I Finally got a couple of pic for you Xshot.

[Ranch Dog]

Thanks for the picture! Today while installing the Gunslinger Spring Kit, I spent quite a bit of time studying the 454 Casull lever against all the others I have and for the life of me I do not see the "why" in the difference. All the other big parts seem to be the same. The 480 Ruger lever is the same as the others (357 Mag, 44 Mag, and 45 Colt).

[donhuff]

RD, put the lever out of one of your other calibers in the 454 and it will NOT function. Because the round sit on the carrier .100+" farther to the rear, when the lever goes down and back, it hits the rim of the round and locks up. .....I tried to insert your pic from another post of a cutaway, but it did not work. I have different pages open of the cutaway, my lever, and this text, so I can jump from one to the other to get this right, I hope.


The stop on the lever right below the breech bolt/lever pin, holds the round short of the stop on the carrier. I assume because if it were not there, another round would be allowed to exit the mag tube with the bolt all the way forward, and holding the cartridge stop proper, open. (see in the cutaway how close the lever is to the stop sticking up on the carrier? I don't think a .22 would fit. plus imagine that the round was .100" further back. That's right where the notch is on the 454 lever).

But when the lever/bolt moves back a little, the cartridge stop is released, and holds the next round, and the round on the carrier, is pushed all the way back to the stop on the carrier. And there's the problem. The lever is still too close to the carrier to make enough room for the longer 454 round. So they cut a notch in the lever to accommodate it. If the round were no bigger in diameter than say a 357, I think it might would clear without the notch. I have made up a few experimental rounds using 357 max brass that has been trimmed back to 1.420" (360 DW length) and necked down to .30, and they function fine with a standard lever and carrier, but I have filed the stop on the carrier back a little to make room for my 170g Keith .357 bullet, to be seated out like it supposed to be.

Dang it. All this has gotten me wondering "what if" AGAIN. If I put the 454 carrier and lever into a 357, just how long of a 357 can I make?

RD, if you know how (and I'm sure you do) to put those pictures in my post so you and others don't have to look all over the web. Please do. http://www.rossi-rifleman.com/download/ ... id=266&t=1
http://www.rossi-rifleman.com/download/file.php?id=1108

[donhuff]

Well, I wasn't correct on some of the things I said in the earlier post.

The 454 lever extra cutout/notch is NOT to clear the cartridge. It is to clear the carrier right behind the "tit" that sticks up to stop the round. As you'll see in the pics, there is a lot more clearance behind that tit on the 44 carrier (the one on the bottom) and the 454 carrier (on top). See how the 454 one has a steeper angle because the tit is placed further back. THIS is where the lever is hitting.

I put the 44 lever in the 454 and it would not even move a little. All the pins go in, but the bolt doesn't move a millimeter.

And for the 357 fans. I tried to put the 454 carrier into my 357, but it would not fit It's to wide in one spot. If I had another one, I could mill that spot down. But I don't want to screw up the only one I have. I have no doubt that the 360 DW would work, and that would give a little boost. But brass is hard to find. What I really wanted to try was a 357 max cartridge. I'm pretty sure it will be to long, but I could keep shortening it until it did work, just to see what would fit.

[donhuff]

Remember how I told you the 454 ejector was thinner where it makes up the bolt face? This pic shows it really well. I said it was .018 thinner but it looks to be more than that.

454 on top then 44 then 357