454 casull worth importing?

[trekker]

Hi Fellas, Im glad to see this gun back on the market, enough so Im considering it to replace my 44 mag Rossi

One issue is Im in Australia and being its not offered by our importers I would have to self arrange and landed costs will double the price of the gun

The other thing is being a one off or grey import, in Australia, I will have little to no recourse if there are warranty issues.

As such i am trying to get an idea of the chance of getting a lemon or something not easy to fix on the gun. Without trying to crystal ball it, would you folks say these are about on a par with regular Rossi quality?

Are any major issues surfacing? How are the chambers( any bulged cases out there)?Screws holding tight?

My guns get a lot of use for the record, high volume full power for culling hogs, and also range fun.

[jstanfield103]

If it was me and I do have the 454 Casual, I would keep my 44 Mag and enjoy saving the money. Do I like my 454 Casual, yes but I like my 44 Mags more.

[LittleBill]

I would wholeheartedly agree with jstansfield. Im on my second sample and it is crap too, to the point of being dangerous.
My first one, new, had voids in both sides of the receiver so I sent it back, waited almost 100 days for a replacement and the replacement has a barrel that looks like this

This is from the front sight dovetail being cut far too deep and/or a combination of that and a front sight being too large and being pressed in with a 20ton press and displacing the metal far enough into the bore enough to cause shadows from a flashlight.
As you can imagine accuracy is all over the place (yes, I fired it). So, where am I now? Send it back to Rossi where their "gunsmith has 8 weeks to look at it to determine if it can be repaired or if it will need a new barrel. Then, Rossi will only then request a new barrel from Brasil which Im told will take up to 8 weeks to get, then I can only assume that the gunsmith will have (and take) another 8 weeks to do the repair. So Im looking at almost a year waiting for a $1000 gun that is in working order and safe to fire.
If I were you and I had a 44mag model that works, is safe and accurate I would just be happy with that. Ill never buy another Rossi anything.

[trekker]

Thanks fellas, I cant risk something like that happening as I would end up nearly $2k in the hole. Re-exporting the gun for warranty very difficult from our shores. Oh well, keep the 44mag I guess.

[jstanfield103]

LittleBill,
That would be frustrating as heck. I would not hesitate to send her back again. You paid for it so I would definitely be willing to wait a second time to get a good one hopefully. I don't think you have another option at this point.

[LittleBill]

J, no I have no other option with a barrel like this.

Trekker, nothing wrong with 44mag. Its got PLENTY of horsepower. I probably shoot more 44mag and spl than anything else. Love those cartridges, and out of longer barrels 44mag is a beast.

[MoMan]

I don't have the .454, but I do have numerous other R92s. If it were me and given what you have to go through to get it there, I'm not sure I would take the gamble on this one. I am not any sort of Rossi hater, I have multiple R92s, and love 'em all. I've had the Raging Bull in .454 casull and enjoyed it, I sold it off as I wasn't really shooting it much as it really was a wrist-twister, as I got older!! If I was wanting a lever gun in .454 casull, I would probably take a gamble on the R92, HOWEVER, I would not be dealing with the costs, etc. for importing it, OR shipping it back and forth if there were to be a problem!!
That's just my opinion on your particular situation!

[trekker]

Thanks fellas, I found a used one nearby here in Australia but it has odd manufacturing marks to the blueing and the reciever metal itself. I was getting confirmation on the level of the imperfection from the seller but then thought I'm not going to risk any QA issues with an action supposed to be operating at 60kpsi. To be honest I wish they had brought the 480 ruger back as well. Far less popular calibre and scarcer for components, but bigger, lower pressure.

[LittleBill]

What sort of imperfections are we talking about?

Oh, and by the way, I too have another Rossi, a little 16" trapper in 357 and I wouldnt take anything for that little gem. I actually posted here about it. That thing is just perfect. Id wage a couple paychecks Ive got about 5000 rounds through it now and nare a hiccup. Beautiful bluing, nice w-m fit etc. Just a great gun but this 454 thing is just been a real nightmare.

And whats the deal , if anyone knows, with the 454's that have a mag tube as well as the loading gate? Is this the new, updated version?

[trekker]

I never looked further into it littleBill, will stick with the 44 mag rossi for now.

Regards these issues, it sort of boggles my mind not being American why your industry just doesnt take this over

You guys invented all the lever actions we use, you are also the worlds biggest consumers of them( probably buying 90% of all units sold worldwide) yet you rely on Brazil( rossi), Japan( browning, winchster), italy( chiappa, uberti, pedersoli) etc etc to produce most of them. Which brings all the QA, delayed shipments and intermittent production issues we see.

You have to admit its a strange state of affairs.

Im not knocking the US btw, you brought the world these fine guns. I just wish you still made all of them!