Freedom Arms 454

[Old Savage]

Looking at joining the 454 Freedom Arms brigade with a 4 3/4" Model 83.

[J Miller]

A 4.75" 454 Casull? HOLY FIRE BALL BATMAN!!!!!!! You best wear your Joe Cool shades and three sets of hearing protection. Oh and don't forget your nomex gloves.

Joe

[kimwcook]

I suggest not letting anything get in your way of getting an FA 83 in 454 Casull. I will say try someone's with that short tube before you buy one. With medium to full house loads they are a blast cannon on both ends. Just my experience and opinion. I love the 7.5", but the short bbl.'s are beasts. Unless you get a second cylinder in 45 Colt, then you'd be okay until you hit the high ends with them. It was just no fun.

[Old Savage]

Well Joe, it is more likely to be a 45 Colt or loaded down 454. There may not be any full 454 go through it by me. But my son bought a 7 1/2" 454 for his first single action and thinks the recoil is over rated. I traded him a Ruger Single Six 32 Mag for a Mod 94 45 Colt so he has both ends.

[CowboyTutt]

Bob Baker told me once that the F.A. round butt grip frame is much better for the shorter barrel lengths. I'll be down for a week in November O.S., hopefully we can put some rounds down range with it. I'll bring my S&W 460 snubbie and 8 1/2" Raging Bull for comparison! -Tutt

[Buffboy]

The short tube is what I have on my D-Max. Kimwcook is quite correct, full power loads are pretty brutal. I don't shoot it much with them. They are a bit rough in my trapper too. I love the shorter barrel, so much handier and packable. If I had the beans for a SA, I would have it just like you are thinking about. Never have liked longer barreled handguns.

I usually load mine with a GC325gr cast bullet that's a dead ringer for the picture Jmiller posted in a thread a couple days ago. I push it to around 1200 out of that short tube and it runs about 1600 out of the trapper. At this level it is a joy to shoot in either, still more than enough power for anything short of a grizzly and probably do for that too. Full power would add about 3/400fps, a whole bunch more recoil, noise and not much to its killing ability.

[Old Savage]

Tutt, right now it has the Pachmyars on it, I would look at getting the regular grips and I guess you will clue me on components etc. since you have been involved with this for quite a while. They also have a holster that looks a lot like Bianci Lawman.

[Buffboy]

Mine has factory Pachmayers, I'm not sure I'd want to shoot it with a wood grip as it has the SBH style grip frame.

I remember shooting my SBH with those until I tried a set of the Pachmayers on it. World of difference in felt recoil and a lot better control than the wood grips. Try it with both before you peddle the Pachs.

[Old Savage]

Thanks Buff, I would be inclined to keep both. I think you can get bitten by the quality of these revolvers.

[Mich Hunter]

I have a fixed sight FA 83 in 454 with a 4 3/4 barrel. It is a very nice shooter and the recoil is very easy to handle. It's not as bad as some will say.

[SteveR]

OS,

I have a one with the 7.5 in barrel, I would go with the shorter 4.75 in barrel if I had to do it again. I find that the extra length is a pain to carry around all day hunting or whatever.

I like the black micarta grips that came with the gun, it allows the gun to move during recoil, making it so much easier on the hands.

I wouldn't waste the money on a second cylinder for 45, I just load down to match the 45 loads I want, then using the 454 brass, you wont have to worry about cleaning the ring from shooting 45 loads.

Steve

[Kansas Ed]

I think the 6" is the best of both worlds. IME the 4 3/4" can be a handful with full house loads as the muzzle whip can get to you after a box of ammo, and the 7.5" is a little awkward for a good packing gun. But the 6" seems to fit perfectly in the middle.

Ed

[KSFlatheadhunter]

The short tube is what I have on my D-Max. Kimwcook is quite correct, full power loads are pretty brutal. I don't shoot it much with them. They are a bit rough in my trapper too. I love the shorter barrel, so much handier and packable. If I had the beans for a SA, I would have it just like you are thinking about. Never have liked longer barreled handguns.

I usually load mine with a GC325gr cast bullet that's a dead ringer for the picture Jmiller posted in a thread a couple days ago. I push it to around 1200 out of that short tube and it runs about 1600 out of the trapper. At this level it is a joy to shoot in either, still more than enough power for anything short of a grizzly and probably do for that too. Full power would add about 3/400fps, a whole bunch more recoil, noise and not much to its killing ability.

Hi Buffboy,

Where is Gann Valley? I used to live in Elk Point and then against the Big Sioux River outside of Jefferson down in Union County. I worked for Gateway Computers at the time.

I bought several of the 454 D-Max's from Dan Ruppelt in Springfield. He made the barrels and cylinder's for the D-Max back in the day. I liked the 4 3/4" D-Max a lot. My wife shot it ONCE and handed it back to me and said "Never again!!"

Take care,
Darin

[Ravenman]

Old Savage
You can't make a mistake with a Freedom Arms M83 whatever caliber you select!
Friends of mine have different Freedom Arms revolvers. Most have 454 Casull and one has a 50 AE. All Freedom Arms revolvers are very accurate and work like a good swiss watch. The palm of my hand prefers the wood grips. I am sure you will love your revolver Rolls Royce.

[Buffboy]

The short tube is what I have on my D-Max. Kimwcook is quite correct, full power loads are pretty brutal. I don't shoot it much with them. They are a bit rough in my trapper too. I love the shorter barrel, so much handier and packable. If I had the beans for a SA, I would have it just like you are thinking about. Never have liked longer barreled handguns.

I usually load mine with a GC325gr cast bullet that's a dead ringer for the picture Jmiller posted in a thread a couple days ago. I push it to around 1200 out of that short tube and it runs about 1600 out of the trapper. At this level it is a joy to shoot in either, still more than enough power for anything short of a grizzly and probably do for that too. Full power would add about 3/400fps, a whole bunch more recoil, noise and not much to its killing ability.

Hi Buffboy,

Where is Gann Valley? I used to live in Elk Point and then against the Big Sioux River outside of Jefferson down in Union County. I worked for Gateway Computers at the time.

I bought several of the 454 D-Max's from Dan Ruppelt in Springfield. He made the barrels and cylinder's for the D-Max back in the day. I liked the 4 3/4" D-Max a lot. My wife shot it ONCE and handed it back to me and said "Never again!!"

Take care,
Darin

Darin, Gann Valley is about 140 miles NW of Elk Point as the crow flies. I bought my D-Max from Dan as well. I used to see him pretty regular at shows but haven't in quite a while. At the time he was doing all the warranty work on them. This one had been assembled with a longer barrel(the 4 5/8" was not a factory option that I know of) but the front sight had been installed offset. He'd picked it up as a "second", shortened it up, recrowned and reinstalled the front sight. IMO he also did a bit of trigger work on it as it's always had a good trigger. He did things like that pretty frequent back then and he peddled his "creations" at shows. I bought mine at a gun show in Pierre. Another dealer at the show wanted my preban M-17S real bad so I had a pretty big wad of cash but the 44 AMT Automag at the show was still too much $. We'd been discussing my buying one of his revolvers for quite a while. He had this one with the shorter barrel on his table that day so I was a pretty easy mark, not that he gave me a bad deal on it. It's been a pretty good revolver.

[CowboyTutt]

4 3/4" is just WAAAAAY too long! 2 3/4" is where its at! At least in double action. Here's a movie still taken from me shooting my 460 snubbie Smith. I always grin when I see this.



Ed, would you have any mid-range loads for O.S.? I never did any work with that type of load, only reducing max charges by 1-2 grains so they would shoot in any 454 gun. Any recommendations for him?

-Tutt

[Scott Tschirhart]

I have a fixed sight 4 3/4 inch gun. It is a handfull to be sure, but I don't need to push it that hard.

[CowboyTutt]

Wow, age old memory!!! I remember that!!! It's still the most accurate handgun I own with a handload, its so heavy, it helps accuracy. It is very well balanced when fully loaded.

Thanks Scott, -Tutt

[Scott Tschirhart]

Wow, age old memory!!! I remember that!!! It's still the most accurate handgun I own with a handload, its so heavy, it helps accuracy. It is very well balanced when fully loaded.

Thanks Scott, -Tutt

That's a great photo Tutt! Theres a similar one taken of me shooting Big Nose Kate at the Shootist Holiday with a black powder load. Lots of fire!

[CowboyTutt]

Scott, can you post it (Big Nose Kate) here again? I would like to see it. I'm very grateful to have you and Jim T. back here again. In truth, we all are. You guys originated this forum, and we are truly grateful to have you back here again. Thank you!

-Tutt or Andy Tuttle

[Scott Tschirhart]

Scott, can you post it (Big Nose Kate) here again? I would like to see it. I'm very grateful to have you and Jim T. back here again. In truth, we all are. You guys originated this forum, and we are truly grateful to have you back here again. Thank you!

-Tutt or Andy Tuttle

I'll look and see if I can find it.

Thank you for your kind words, but I think you give me too much credit. I don't consider myself to be in the same category as Jim T or any number of other fine men.
I'm just an old lawman with an interest in guns and history.

[Woodsloafer2]

Great guns. I had a 4 3/4 a few years back. Had an excellent trigger and the grip frame handles recoil very well. I shot two nice bucks with mine. They are exceptionally well built and very enjoyable. I shot 300 grain xtps mostly over H110...38 grains if I remember correctly.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Great guns. I had a 4 3/4 a few years back. Had an excellent trigger and the grip frame handles recoil very well. I shot two nice bucks with mine. They are exceptionally well built and very enjoyable. I shot 300 grain xtps mostly over H110...38 grains if I remember correctly.

That's certainly a jigger full of H110!!