Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Freedom Arms vs...say a Bowen, etc.

Getting back into revolvers and am thinking of tripping a couple of rifles, saving some moolah and getting a NICE revolver.

Now, there's ZERO doubt that a Bowen or Huntington is top notch, but is a FA a noticeable step down? I see a lot of Casulls for sale around $1500-1800.

I have no experience with either (actually, ANY high end handgun) and am wondering if the true customs are worth the extra green.

Note, I am not looking for a one-off, personalized type of deal but rather thinking of a stock PG FA vs. say, a Bowen Nimrod.

Anyone with experience with both?

I've got both. Nothing at all wrong with a Freedom Arms Revolver. Top notch Quaility and very accurate.

The Bowen Customs, are a work of art! Wouldn't take for mine. But it's gonna cost ya a lot more than the Freedom Arms. I could be happy with either, if I could only own one. Both will hold their Retail value, too.

I own and shoot both. Have 4 Bowen's........all full-blown Longhunter and 1 Nimrod. Also have 2 FA's....one a dual cylinder 45/454 and one 475L.

The FA's are excellent quality and vault tight. I would say fit and quality is definitely on par with a full custom (with custom cylinder and barrel). Get a FA and maybe upgrade to a Bowen later.

What caliber are you looking for??

I was debating a big honker like the .475 Linebaugh but the practical side of me kicked in and figured I could be perfectly happy with a .45 Colt, hence the interest in the FA Casulls I see all over the place.

I have an FA 83 and a number of full-blown custom 5-shot Rugers and I prefer the customs for a number of reasons. I am not particularly fond of the FA's action, and I don't like the fact that it doesn't have a transfer bar or similar safety mechanism. I also prefer blued steel to stainless. That said, you can still find good deals on used FAs.

But, I think that this is a tough act to follow:

I love my FA model 97 but the lack of a safety transfer bar in the model 83 will keep me from ever owning one. Not an issue with the custom Rugers.

Let's not leave out the BFR's they customize very well.

The FA 454's are relatively inexpensive only because they are common.

A matter of preference IMHO. I grew up shooting OM Rugers and have only kept or acquired pre-'73 OMs.

Don't like the safety bar NM BHs, as 5 beans in the wheel are enough for me in the applications I reserve for my SA revolvers. YMMV

Nice! Is that a JRH custom??

Here's a few shots of the FA after it came back from Mag-na-port for dual traps and cut to 4-3/4" with inverted crown. I'll port my FA's, but no way with the customs!!! The 45 Colt cylinder stays in it. Haven't even shot any 454's and don't really care to.

And the Bowen's! L to R:

Longhunter 5-shot 45 Colt Vaquero Bisley w/Grashorn Sheep Horn
Longhunter 480 Ruger 4" SS "Lightweight"
Longhunter 6-shot 44 Mag w/Fishpaw Walnut
Nimrod 500 L w/Grashorn stag



Bowen's 5-shot 45 cylinder:

Clearly, you prefer your Bowens and hence, have no need for this. You need to trip it!

Freedoms are not a large step down from high end customs. They are up there with them. Customs are fantastic too, Bowen being my favorite. JRH is also top notch. Freedom makes a gun that you will hand down many generations. They are absolutely fantastic in both fit and function. I have found them to be one of the most accurate guns produced. Maybe grab up a freedom then sometime down the road order a custom. Here is my present freedom as well as a ruger that Bowen worked over.

Both are awesome! Very nice...

I just might do the FA thing first and custom down the road. We'll see...

I think a lot of guys bought M83 FA when the .454 Casull was the hottest thing in town. Then they shot them and decided maybe they really didn't need that much recoil after all...

OP, if you shop around you should have no problem finding a nice freedom 83 in the $1200 price range.

A friend has one FA in 454 Casull and a 4.75" barreled 475 Linebaugh FA. While I am far from a big bore pistol man the recoil on those 2 are really rough. The Linebaugh had me after round 1.

Get the FA first. They are what I call a semi custom maker and offer a lot of options. I ordered my gun using their website and have what I consider a custom gun.

To me, gunmakers that use other people's actions as a basis for customization are just that: Customizers; not true custom gun makers.

How do you figure? Should they make the frame from scratch? Freedom doesn't cast their own frames, so I don't understand your point. All of the top custom revolver builders make the cylinders from scratch, and tweak just about all else and replace the barrel, etc. They are not what I would consider "just customizers."