Tried the 454 again with fingers crossed

[donhuff]

I took my 454 out again. No I did not send it back. I was waiting until after the holidays to ship it, but I kept think about what might have been going on. As you know I shot my mouth off right away about how it had to be soft metal in the bolt. Made sense to me cause it bent so easy. But the more I kept fooling with it and my other 92s, it seemed like it was bout the same hardness as the others.I coaxed the metal on the bolt back into it's proper location, and worked on the lever slot to make the locking lugs raise up to where they are making full contact with the bolt. And I took it to the range yesterday to see if it would give again. No I didn't start out with full race loads. I started with mild 10.0 unique and kep an eye on the bolt. All looked well, except the group I was shooting, It was a pretty big spread for 30yds. That's where I shot cause I can still see where I'm hitting at that range, plus, it was getting later in the day and getting dimmer. That's why I put so many rounds into the same spot too. It was a torture test for the gun, and not really for accuracy.

After 10.0g shot so loose I was not expecting much when I bumped it up to 12.0gs. Boy, was I surprised. It shot pretty dang good. But then 14.0 went big again, I'll have to try 13 next time.

So then I bumped it up a notch and shot some with 26.0 4227 and my 260 swc. They shot pretty good but awful weak for a 454. But then the star of the outing was the same 4227 load but with a 300g XTP mag bullet. Wow, and you know that I had to pull that one out of the group. This load was getting on up there power wise, but still not like a bucket full of Lilgun would do.

In all I shot bout 80-90 rounds and the bolt looks like it did when I got there. Next outing I'll up the pressure some more and keep an eye on it.

[akuser47]

Good job as long as you keep an eye on it should be GTG looks like it is working thus far.

[pricedo]

I'd ship it right back ATT: CEO Kressner and include a note asking what he thinks happens to a manufacturers reputation & credibility when customers are routinely receiving pieces of junk like that NIB.

[Ranch Dog]

Don, you did a great job of diagnosing the problem and taking corrective measures. Good example of a real world shooter stepping back and figuring it out.

[pricedo]

Hope the gun pans out to be OK in the long term.........only time will tell.

[Tuco Ramirez]

Great job Don!!!

If you keep having that problem where each shots goes darn near through the same hole, ship it to me I can fix that.... As we say down here....nice shooting Tex!

[akuser47]

lol tuco

[donhuff]

I'd ship it right back ATT: CEO Kressner and include a note asking what he thinks happens to a manufacturers reputation & credibility when customers are routinely receiving pieces of junk like that NIB.

I don't like to send stuff back. I don't take new cars back to the stealerships either, unless the transmission falls out onto the highway. I use to work as a mechanic at a chevy dealership and I know how it goes in those places. I get parts and fix it myself, when I can. We had an alternator bracket break on our VW jetta diesel once while we were in Kansas. I had to use the dealer that time. I told them to put an alternator on it. The 18 year old "service tec" (note I did not call him a mechanic!) found the broken bracket, and replaced it. And since the alt. light did not come on, he did not replace the alternator. So I got to replace it shortly after getting back home when the pulley fell off. Dealers don't usually fix what's wrong. And after replacing that bracket 2 more times because VW had made it too light for it's intended purpose. On the last one, I tig welded the hail out of it. It looked awful, but it never broke again.

And communicating direct with the "man in charge" is just a dream. It aint gonna happen with a company that big. Yes, he might hear about the complaints eventually if enough of them pour in. But as long as demand exceeds supply, why change a thing? Seen many 357 R92s on the shelves lately? Until another company steps up and makes a better product at the same price, or cheaper, it aint gonna happen.

[donhuff]

Don, you did a great job of diagnosing the problem and taking corrective measures. Good example of a real world shooter stepping back and figuring it out.

Thanks RD.

I just regret that I blamed the bolt being made too soft to begin with. I should have taken more time to think about it before I spoke. The bolt does seem soft, but no softer than any of my other 92s. And I really don't have any idea of how soft, OR HARD, a part such as this, should be.

I still have the problem of the ejector being too low in the hole in the bolt. While the loads I shot the other day were not hot enough to really deform the brass. It wont take much more pressure to make that dimple start showing up again. I guess I need to just get another ejector and hope "it's a good one". I've looked at the ones made for Winchesters, and they look a little more robust (at least in the pictures they do). But at $40, I hate to try one and find out it wont work. Do you know if the ejector is on the restricted parts list with Rossi? I was going to try the one out of my 45 since they have the same case head size. But it has the wings on it and the 454 does not.

[donhuff]

thanks Tuco,

I showed you how to do it. Make the hole bigger and then it's easy to hit!

I was starting to have a hard time around shot 20 or so, as I couldn't figure out where to aim. I kept hitting more to the right and I kept following the hole. Next time I'll move the sights way off so that I don't hit my dot, and hopefully cant see the hole, as it tends to distract me.

What I hate the most is that those danged Jacketed bullets did so well. They tend to do that to me. If I were to ever go hunting again, I know I'd sure have them in the gun.