HSM .44 Mag "Bear Load" in a Rossi 92?

[boomer49]

Does anybody have any experience with this HSM (Hunting Shack Munitions) ammunition in a Rossi 92 action? It's made in Montana but available in Canada ... 305 grain WFN (Wide Flat Nose) Gas Check lead bullet at 1250 fps with 1075 ft.lbs. of energy at the muzzle. It's a pretty stout load. I'm not worried about the strength of the action ... the same Rossi 92 is also chambered in .454 Casull ... but I am a bit concerned about possible "feeding" issues ... perhaps caused by the Wide Flat Nose bullet, or a variation in the cartridge's overall length.

My Rossi has had the standard "Steve's Gunz" tune-up treatment.

Thanks!

 

[boomer49]

We'll have an answer tomorrow. I'm going down to Calgary to pick up a box from Kate at Ammo Supply ... a $65 experiment.

A couple of days ago I received a thorough email reply (325 words) from Steve Young at Steve's Guns in Texas. Lots of background and history and engineering issues ... but the bottom line is that he's tried these exact shells in several Rossi 92 actions. Some worked. Others didn't. This shell's OAL is 1.635, according to the manufacturer HSM. Which is significantly longer than the standard SAAMI spec of 1.610.


My Ranch Hand 92 has had the SG tweaking by Wanstall's go-to gunsmith (three years ago), but I am still not too hopeful.

 

[boomer49]

They work great!


I just emailed the following message to Steve Young at Steve's Guns down in Texas. A few days ago he had responded to my related email with a detailed and thorough explanation of the issues ... which ended by saying that "Some do, and some don't."



Hi Steve,

Just a quick note to tell you that I “lucked-out” with those longish 305 gr WFN hard cast lead cartridges from Hunting Shack Munitions in my .44 Magnum Ranch Hand.

I bought them in Calgary yesterday afternoon but, fearing that I’d be disappointed, I didn’t try them until a few minutes ago. And … hooray … they cycled flawlessly.

I think that I had mentioned to you that I’d had to return the firearm to the Canadian distributor/importer (Wanstall’s, in Mission, B.C.) in the summer of 2011 as soon as I’d received it. It had major feeding problems and they were going to fix it under warranty. Knowing that their go-to gunsmith was going to have the gun in pieces anyways, I sent along your tune-up kit and video … and asked that they have-at-'er … and bill me accordingly.

The gun has worked flawlessly since that time, and Wanstall's graciously declined to bill me for the kit installation. I suspect that their skilled massaging (with your Texas engineering) was responsible for today’s good news.

Thanks again.

R