PUMA 357 & 44 Mag.

Big Cabin · November 20, 2005, 09:30 PM

I just bought a pair! Wow am I ever happy. Winchester needs to learn a thing or two about delivering a smooth action to a consumer! My rifles which I tried out today are great. Both were smooth, accurate and a pleasure to shoot. They digested anything fed to them and drilled great groups with them. The quality of the wood, fit and finish were great!

If anyone out there is looking around for another lever gun, check them out!

By the way, I have an original Win 92. that left the factory in 1893 that is wonderful as well. However somewhere along the way, Winchester lost it. Their current lever guns don't hold a candle to the Puma rifles which I think are made in Brazil.
D

Hafoc · November 24, 2005, 12:59 PM

I had one of those in .45 Colt that I rather foolishly let go, because I thought I was going to get out of shooting that caliber. Yeah, that was dumb, I should have known better.

I'm not entirely bummed that I sold it, because I had the sporting rifle type and I wanted a "Border Special" short rifle.

Mine was imported by Legacy. It had a rather ugly and flimsy-looking pivoting safety lever in the top of the breechblock. I understand the EMFs and possibly the Navy Arms versions are also made by "Rossi" or whoever owns the Rossi line in Brazil now. I think it's Taurus, actually. The Pumas were made by Rossi in Brazil, but I think Taurus bought them out.

When I get its replacement, I'm going to have "Kiowa Jones" buy a short rifle EMF for me and do an action job on it before he sends it to me. Check his website, he describes this.

It really is a fine action, the 1892, and I think inherently smoother than the 94. My Legacy rifle was pretty good just as it came from the box.

However, I did do three improvements on it.

First, I installed a Lyman #2 tang peep sight. No problems there, it went right on once I had the right model.

Second, I kind of did an action job-- which I did by cycling the action 3000 times, without dropping the hammer. It was reasonably smooth before I did this, but afterward it was SMOOTH.

Third-- well, the Puma stocks are miserably finished. They're covered in a black gunk. I think they dip them in a tank of very dark walnut stain.

The reason they do this appears to be that whatever South American hardwood they use is very inconsistant in color. It's an excellent wood, hard, dense, with a good grain, but while most of it is a classic stock-wood color, it also has streaks that range from black to slightly greenish white.

Refinishing the stock is easy, although labor-intensive. I've done it on two rifles and it came out well each time.

First, you can remove the stain from the stock a little at a time using Hoppes No. 9 and paper towels. I figured that Hoppes is usually no problem on stock wood, and maybe it would take the stain off. It does.

It's going to take a lot of Hoppe's, and a lot of time. You can remove the black color a bit of a time until what's left is to your liking. In my case I kept going until I had a red-brown the color of the walnut on 19th century Winchesters as seen in some gun books I have.

The wood had a nice even grain, and looked like it might be walnut.

One of the rifles I refinished had black streaks and half the foreend that greenish-white color. I left the black streaks alone-- there was nothing I could do with them, and they looked kind of cool anyway. But for the white streak, I got some mahogany-colored gel wood stain and applied it carefully, only on the white areas. That brought its color down to the same as the rest of the stock. Looked very natural.

Then I put on a hand-rubbed oil finish, using Tru-Oil. Pretty common stuff, that- I think I bought it at Wal-Mart. It worked very well.

Pretty nice results, yupyup.

Big Cabin · November 24, 2005, 09:28 PM

Can you send me pics of the rifle after you refinished it?

The stock on mine is very dark but appears to have a great pattern to the grain that would be beautiful when brought out.
D

Hafoc · November 26, 2005, 10:58 AM

Sorry, I don't have a picture.

The advantage of using Hoppe's, though, is that you can just do it a little at a time. If you want, put some on a paper towel and rub the stock with it. See if some of the color comes off. If it does, you can repeat until you get the color you like. No need to sand or anything. No need even to remove the stock from the gun.

Unless you want to put the Tru-Oil on. That step would be optional, I guess. It does stick on the metal parts, and while you can scrape it off with a thumbnail it's a pain, so it's best to have the stock removed for that part of the job. It gives the wood a soft glossy finish and provides some extra protection.

The advantage of an oil finish over urethane, say, is that if the oil gets scratched you can just rub more Tru-Oil on the scratch, and it will blend right in.

Hafoc · November 26, 2005, 11:05 AM

I should add that one reason I used Hoppe's is that I thought it might color the wood a bit itself; also, it should thin the stain and make what's left penetrate deeper into the wood. The result would be, I thought, that you'd end up with a deeper and very even staining job.

Whatever the theory, in practice it worked well for me. The only problem was those white streaks, and MinWax mahogany gel stain, dabbed very carefully ONLY on the white area, took care of that. Of course if you just want cool wood, leave any white streaks in-- they are quite dramatic! But I was going for a 19th century period appearance. Winchester didn't use zebra-striped wood back then.

November 20, 2005, 09:30 PM	#1
Big Cabin Member Join Date: November 12, 2005 Posts: 71	PUMA 357 & 44 Mag. I just bought a pair! Wow am I ever happy. Winchester needs to learn a thing or two about delivering a smooth action to a consumer! My rifles which I tried out today are great. Both were smooth, accurate and a pleasure to shoot. They digested anything fed to them and drilled great groups with them. The quality of the wood, fit and finish were great! If anyone out there is looking around for another lever gun, check them out! By the way, I have an original Win 92. that left the factory in 1893 that is wonderful as well. However somewhere along the way, Winchester lost it. Their current lever guns don't hold a candle to the Puma rifles which I think are made in Brazil. D

November 24, 2005, 12:59 PM	#2
Hafoc Senior Member Join Date: August 20, 2005 Posts: 552	I had one of those in .45 Colt that I rather foolishly let go, because I thought I was going to get out of shooting that caliber. Yeah, that was dumb, I should have known better. I'm not entirely bummed that I sold it, because I had the sporting rifle type and I wanted a "Border Special" short rifle. Mine was imported by Legacy. It had a rather ugly and flimsy-looking pivoting safety lever in the top of the breechblock. I understand the EMFs and possibly the Navy Arms versions are also made by "Rossi" or whoever owns the Rossi line in Brazil now. I think it's Taurus, actually. The Pumas were made by Rossi in Brazil, but I think Taurus bought them out. When I get its replacement, I'm going to have "Kiowa Jones" buy a short rifle EMF for me and do an action job on it before he sends it to me. Check his website, he describes this. It really is a fine action, the 1892, and I think inherently smoother than the 94. My Legacy rifle was pretty good just as it came from the box. However, I did do three improvements on it. First, I installed a Lyman #2 tang peep sight. No problems there, it went right on once I had the right model. Second, I kind of did an action job-- which I did by cycling the action 3000 times, without dropping the hammer. It was reasonably smooth before I did this, but afterward it was SMOOTH. Third-- well, the Puma stocks are miserably finished. They're covered in a black gunk. I think they dip them in a tank of very dark walnut stain. The reason they do this appears to be that whatever South American hardwood they use is very inconsistant in color. It's an excellent wood, hard, dense, with a good grain, but while most of it is a classic stock-wood color, it also has streaks that range from black to slightly greenish white. Refinishing the stock is easy, although labor-intensive. I've done it on two rifles and it came out well each time. First, you can remove the stain from the stock a little at a time using Hoppes No. 9 and paper towels. I figured that Hoppes is usually no problem on stock wood, and maybe it would take the stain off. It does. It's going to take a lot of Hoppe's, and a lot of time. You can remove the black color a bit of a time until what's left is to your liking. In my case I kept going until I had a red-brown the color of the walnut on 19th century Winchesters as seen in some gun books I have. The wood had a nice even grain, and looked like it might be walnut. One of the rifles I refinished had black streaks and half the foreend that greenish-white color. I left the black streaks alone-- there was nothing I could do with them, and they looked kind of cool anyway. But for the white streak, I got some mahogany-colored gel wood stain and applied it carefully, only on the white areas. That brought its color down to the same as the rest of the stock. Looked very natural. Then I put on a hand-rubbed oil finish, using Tru-Oil. Pretty common stuff, that- I think I bought it at Wal-Mart. It worked very well. Pretty nice results, yupyup.

November 24, 2005, 09:28 PM	#3
Big Cabin Member Join Date: November 12, 2005 Posts: 71	Can you send me pics of the rifle after you refinished it? The stock on mine is very dark but appears to have a great pattern to the grain that would be beautiful when brought out. D

November 26, 2005, 10:58 AM	#4
Hafoc Senior Member Join Date: August 20, 2005 Posts: 552	Sorry, I don't have a picture. The advantage of using Hoppe's, though, is that you can just do it a little at a time. If you want, put some on a paper towel and rub the stock with it. See if some of the color comes off. If it does, you can repeat until you get the color you like. No need to sand or anything. No need even to remove the stock from the gun. Unless you want to put the Tru-Oil on. That step would be optional, I guess. It does stick on the metal parts, and while you can scrape it off with a thumbnail it's a pain, so it's best to have the stock removed for that part of the job. It gives the wood a soft glossy finish and provides some extra protection. The advantage of an oil finish over urethane, say, is that if the oil gets scratched you can just rub more Tru-Oil on the scratch, and it will blend right in.

November 26, 2005, 11:05 AM	#5
Hafoc Senior Member Join Date: August 20, 2005 Posts: 552	I should add that one reason I used Hoppe's is that I thought it might color the wood a bit itself; also, it should thin the stain and make what's left penetrate deeper into the wood. The result would be, I thought, that you'd end up with a deeper and very even staining job. Whatever the theory, in practice it worked well for me. The only problem was those white streaks, and MinWax mahogany gel stain, dabbed very carefully ONLY on the white area, took care of that. Of course if you just want cool wood, leave any white streaks in-- they are quite dramatic! But I was going for a 19th century period appearance. Winchester didn't use zebra-striped wood back then.