Finally got the new Beretta Goldrush/lightning rifle!!!

[jtaylor]

After a good month+ just deciding whether to get the Uberti, Taurus or Beretta, I got the Gold rush rifle, .45LC.
Fit and finish are flawless, detail work is impressive. No jams, works great out of the box. This is made by Uberti, for Beretta.
It has an improved loading mechanism and a transfer bar in the hammer. It will not slam fire, but so far it seems reliable and loads smoothly.
Holds 13 rds, has adjustable sights and nice case color and figured walnut.
It's dead on accurate as well, no surprise, since it seems the Taurus and Uberti are too.
I've so far only used some reloads with 7.5g Unique and a 250 RNFP Oregon Trail .45LC.
Check out pictures here:
http://web.mac.com/jarrod_taylor/iWeb/Site/Guns.html

I'd recommend these to anyone!

 

[Mike Irwin]

I'll buy one when they bring back the large frame in .50-95...

A boy can dream, can't he?

 

[SundownRider]

If you're in an area where you can do it, walking and firing from the hip is a lot of fun with these pump rifles. This time of year is great for targets, cause pumpkins blow up nicely.
I have a Thunderbolt, and really enjoy it. Watch your OAL, sometimes this casues issues.

 

[jtaylor]

ok, shot about 200 rnds today, all loading is super smooth on this! No jams at all.
There is one thing going on though, hope it's an easy fix... I had 10+ rnds not fire, most of these 10 fires on the 2nd strike. I reload with Winchester LPP.
I'm going to switch to Federal primers I think. Even my Uberti .45 has the occasional misfire and will go the 2nd time. I think the Winchesters are too hard for these light actions.
Is there somthing else I should look for? The goldrush seems to be flawless and works smooth, maybe it needs to loosten up a bit still? ( It is only 1 day old now...).
Other than this, not one compliant, what a great gun! I'd say it's as fast and has the potential to be faster than a lever gun, if the shooter gets into the right rhythm while operating the action.
Any suggestion to help fix the light primer hits would be helpful. Should I try Federal or Remington primers?

 

[CraigC]

Ain't nothin' like a classic pump rifle in a cartridge you can shoot all day! I've been eyeballing these too.

I'm not too familiar with how these rifles are put together but there is definitely something wrong. I use the lightest Wolff springs you can buy in my Rugers (17lb) and don't have any ignition problems whatsoever with what is supposed to be the hardest of primers, CCI's. Could be the hammer is dragging on a burr or some roughness somewhere in there causing the hammer some trouble in getting to where it needs to go. With a light spring, the action needs to be plenty smooth. Make sure the transfer bar is coming up far enough to make good contact with both hammer and firing pin.

 

[Cowart]

I had 10+ rnds not fire, most of these 10 fires on the 2nd strike

Clean the primer pocket before seating the primer. You can get inexpensive special tools for doing this. After seating each primer, feel the case head to make sure that the primer is seated completely flush.

 

[jtaylor]

Cowart, that's probably it! I'm new to reloading, but I have noticed that store bought ammo works reliably 100%. This ignition problem is only in my reloads, thats why I thought it was the primers. I'll look into it, or try a brass brush on the dremel. Thanks-

 

[FirstFreedom]

I know that it's sacrilege on the BP/CAS board, but I want one that is a carbine with a p-grip stock, standard vertical buttplate with rubber pad - ya know, a tactical cowboy carbine.

Still, congrats - pretty rifle.

 

[38splfan]

FirstFreedom

FirstFreedom,

Since we're dreaming, I'd really love it if they took your idea a step further. A Lighting rifle in Uberti's Millenium matte finish (to match my Uberti SAA) with a pistol grip stock made of very dark semi-gloss ebony, with the Winchester-style crescent buttplate. In .45 Colt, of course, to preserve ammo compatibility. All the hardware in unpolished brass, just because I like it.

But, short of a massive custom undertaking, it's just a dream.

I will hold out for the pistol grip stock though. Think if we started an e-mail campaign for it they would eventually make it?

BTW, a shorter barrel (16 1/2 or 18) would be a must.

 

[skinnygun]

Speaking of a pistol grip

I put a pistol grip and a scope mount on my Taurus Thunderbolt.

I like the slam fire ,this rifle can do 15 rounds as fast as I pump almost like a semi-auto.

Only neg is 255 gr. is about the limit Taurus said no 300-325 Buffalo Bore ammo.

The Gold Rush is one fine rifle can it shoot the 325 Buffalo Bore ammo?Thanks

 

[Tuckerp229]

Question about these lighting models

I too have been looking at these models. I am curious if anyone knows how strong the chambers are. I reload in .45 LC for my Ruger Vaqueros and they can handle some pretty stout loads.
Has anyone seen any data on these Berreta or Uberti models?

Thank you.

 

[CraigC]

Has anyone seen any data on these Berreta or Uberti models?

I've wondered that myself. Have yet to see any data on loading these higher than SAAMI standard pressures. My gut feeling is that they are probably stronger than Winchester's 1873 toggle link design but probably nowhere near as strong as the bank vault 1892. Although these traditional pump actions would probably be prone to pop open under too much pressure.

 

[jtaylor]

I've gone as high as 9 grains of Unique with a 250g .452 RNFP bullet. Seems fine, that's not above the norm anyway. What would you consider a heavy load?
I ended up loading 50 rounds with black powder to try in the goldrush. It's so much more fun, but waht a mess. The low boom and smoke make really make it fun to shoot. It's messy, but not too bad to clean up. I just don't want to mess up the nice beretta case colors by having to use harsh BP solvents.
Does anyone know which brand of BP is the cleanest? I may try some of my own which I make with Willow charcoal, I think it's cleaner and hotter than Goex.
After shooting about 20 rnds, the barrel was very hot. I can't imagine how they used to use 1860 Henrys in battle without a wood foregrip!! Must have gotten bad burns from that!

 

[Pukindog]

Beretta Gold Rush

I just came across this article and thought it would be a great idea to share my experiences with my Beretta Gold rush.
I bought one in .357 about a year ago. From day one I was getting soft hits on the primers. After recocking the hammer some of the cartridges would fire; some not. In the meantime I hade a Marble tang sight fitted to the rifle and took the rear sight off the barrel filling in the slot with a sight blank. Three weeks ago I was out with the rifle. Picked it up out of the rack and loaded it. Brought the rifle up to fire and noticed the front sight was off to the side. The barrel could actually be rotated in the receiver. Maybe this was the problem with the light hits. Took the rifle back to the dealer and he sent it to Beretta. Beretta service deptment called me on Tuesday stated the rifle could not be repaired and they would replace it. OK, figured I would have to drill and tap the tang again. ( I did remove the Marble before sending the gun back ). The service rep then told me they would replace the rifle with the 1873 Renegade in .357 since the Gold Rush has been discontinued. Well that beat all to hell. The 1873 came yesterday directly to my house. What a POS. I own a Uberti 1873 Deluxe rifle in .45 Colt and there is no comparison at all. The Beretta is made by Uberti. The fit, finish, overall quality is terrible for a rifle listing at $1250.00. The wood looks like it came off of a Marlin reject and the biggest surprise is that the rifle wears a recoil pad. How stupid is that? The wood seems to have no finish on it and is totally lusterless. Compared to the Gold Rush it is a big disappointment.
I called beretta today and told them exactlly what I thought of their rifle. I would have preferred a refund but was told they only replace the product with the same monatary value. Asked the rep who pays for the drilling and tapping of the first rifle? Oh well, my loss. I did tell the rep that the Gold Rush at least gave me a sense of pride when I was at the range. I doubt if I will ever take this POS out and shoot it.
The dealer I bought the rifle from tells me this is the second one he has sent back. That one was replaced with a Renegade too.
Guess I'll stop my rant now.

Jeff