It's a difficult question to answer because it would be impossible to claim something that is machined to that level is not worth the money. They are incredibly well built.
But for me, they are not worth the coin if you are going to order one brand new. I do not like the size of 83. To me they are just too tank like. I do like the 97 and that is what I ordered, but the incredibly tight tolerances ended up being what I disliked about them. The action never rolls and clicks in your hand like a SAA or Ruger Blackhawk and the throats were so tight that I would have to rotate the cylinder and press extra super hard onto the case to get it to seat fully so I could rotate the cylinder. The folks at FA believe this is perfectly normal. I do not.
I don't need the throat on a .44 Special to be that tight. There is little doubt that a Freedom Arms revolver can shoot better than 99% of their owners, and that's really cool. But to leave close to $3K out of fun money circulation for that type of firearm is just silly in my opinion. Especially when you consider that they're making more every day and probably will continue to do so for some time. Now, if I could find a screaming deal on a 83 or 97 that was used, I'd probably be all over it. But I don't think that's what we are discussing based on your question.
If I was in your situation I would buy something that they're not making any more so you and your kids can enjoy them while you're still around. Old Colts and old Smiths would bring a lot higher pleasure to dollar ratio in my opinion.
I've seen the throats too tight and sent one back FA fir correction and asked for a lighter trigger they said we'd have to pay for the trigger work. They corrected the throats and performed the trigger slick up all for free
