I had a 6'' Freedom Arms .454 Casull pretty much identical to the gun in videos for a long time, along with a 7 1/2'' Ruger Super Redhawk .454 and my current big bore is a 5 1/2'' Ruger Blackhawk .45 Colt. I would much rather shoot full tilt loads in the FA than in the Super Redhawk or really hot .45 Colt loads in the Blackhawk. I have no dog in the hunt as to whether they were using balls to the wall loads or not, but I will say the FA revolvers are exceptionally well built and handle recoil extremely well. I don't think shooting hot loads in another platform is a good basis for comparison to say it couldn't be done with a Freedom Arms.
That said, a 300+ grain hard cast bullet at 1200+ fps out of a .454 or hot .45 Colt will penetrate just as well as the same bullet at 1600 fps and probably significantly better than a jacketed hollow point at 1600 fps. Regardless of what the chronograph read, I think the shooters on video did a good job of proving that a big bore single action is more than capable as a bear defense tool.
Hmm...compared to the Jeff Quinn video (and others) shooting the .454 Casull, much less *apparent* recoil demonstrated. Most of the videos that I've seen show the barrel being thrown up and back to almost 90 deg from the firing position. The shooters in the video show quite good control AND recovery over their firearm with what we are being told are ~65,000 psi loads.
May need to get me one.
SheriffJoe, Jeff Quinn lets the revolver ride. This is why it clocks the brim of his cap when he shoots revolvers with some recoil. I use a different technique and apply a lot more grip tension (and use my support hand to keep it down) when I shoot. I often get accused of shooting reduced loads because I don't get a lot of movement out of my heavy kicking revolvers. The difference is that as a hunter I put a value on being able to follow-up with subsequent shots if need be. See the video below as it shows the technique that I use. May not be right for others, but for me it works exceedingly well. In the .454 I'm shooting Federal's 300 grain Swift A-frame loads.
Also a video of me shooting one of my .500 JRH BFRs and the load is a 440 at something north of 1,400 fps. Doesn't appear very raucous, but it is. It's just technique.
I had a 6 inch almost 30 years ago,As fine a revolver as I have ever held. I dont remember if I was using the 240 grain or the 260 grain factory loads but whatever they were hell on wheels as far as recoil.
When I would shoot it I had to wear a pair of jersey gloves as if I didnt I would get 2 little almost paper cuts in the web of my hand from the Frame.
Did not take me long to figure out 44 magnum recoil was more to my liking,whether using a 6.5 inch S&W with factory 240 gr hollowpoints or a 4/58 Ruger Blackhawk using A LBT WFN 300gr bullet I cast from water dropped wheelweights with 21gr of 296.
Hmm...compared to the Jeff Quinn video (and others) shooting the .454 Casull, much less *apparent* recoil demonstrated. Most of the videos that I've seen show the barrel being thrown up and back to almost 90 deg from the firing position. The shooters in the video show quite good control AND recovery over their firearm with what we are being told are ~65,000 psi loads.
May need to get me one.
SheriffJoe, Jeff Quinn lets the revolver ride. This is why it clocks the brim of his cap when he shoots revolvers with some recoil. I use a different technique and apply a lot more grip tension (and use my support hand to keep it down) when I shoot. I often get accused of shooting reduced loads because I don't get a lot of movement out of my heavy kicking revolvers. The difference is that as a hunter I put a value on being able to follow-up with subsequent shots if need be. See the video below as it shows the technique that I use. May not be right for others, but for me it works exceedingly well. In the .454 I'm shooting Federal's 300 grain Swift A-frame loads.
Also a video of me shooting one of my .500 JRH BFRs and the load is a 440 at something north of 1,400 fps. Doesn't appear very raucous, but it is. It's just technique.
I put the original up for those who say they want the biggest baddest handgun in bear woods but haven't thought about how fast they can actually get off a second shot. Bears aren't a large problem in areas I spend the majority of my time. I'm not Phill so I want something bigger than a 9mm but these cannons are out of my league. Plus, while it may be fun on occasion a steady beating from recoil just wears me out and causes my flinch to act up that much more. I have a hard enough time controlling it anyway. Thank GOD for .22's and pussy loads.
Those who are always shooting off at the mouth usually aren't shooting straight.
Build a man a fire and he’ll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life.
Maybe, when I learned how to shoot by cocking the revolver with my left thumb, never saw that before, I can say for sure, my full power Casull loads with the 335gr LBT's at 1585 fps would NOT be fun.
In my 30's I had a few different Freedom Arms. I felt like they were reasonably controllable. The reason I got out of them was I didn't care for them being 5 shooters, but when you had to leave one out under the hammer, now you have a 4 shooter. In those days I wasn't as comfortable being around bears as I got to be later on. But back then I could handle them pretty well. Could I do it under 3 seconds, I doubt it. Probably twice that. That was then, and this is now. At 68 it's not happening. The guys that were even close are impressive. Bryces Target was very impressive. I'd have hung that on the wall.
I used the thumb over a long time ago on revolvers. It just makes sense. I think it's a great idea. I suspect Max shoots revolvers far more than semi's. Just a guess.
NRA LIFE MEMBER GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS ESPECIALLY THE SNIPERS! "Suppose you were an idiot And suppose you were a member of Congress... But I repeat myself." -Mark Twain
Count me as another that uses that technique with the thumd of my supporting hand over the thumd of my shooting hand and my supporting index finger on the front of the trigger guard. Works really well as Max has demonstrated, but I never really tried to shoot at the speed these guy's are shooting.
The technique of cocking with the thumb of the supporting hand (for those that are unfamiliar with it) was in wide use when I was shooting SASS years ago. Great way to shoot a single action without having to re position your shooting hand every time.
My hat is off to any of these guy's that can shoot one of these big bore single actions with full house loads with the speed and accuracy displayed. I've shot them enough to know the dedication and practice it must take to achieve those results.
I’ve been useing that technique for a few decades to control heavy kickers. I first started cocking the hammer with my off hand thumb in the 70’s. Useing the offhand thumb is faster and doesn’t require your strong hand to reposition after cocking the revolver.
I got banned on another web site for a debate that happened on this site. That's a first
I’ve been useing that technique for a few decades to control heavy kickers. I first started cocking the hammer with my off hand thumb in the 70’s. Useing the offhand thumb is faster and doesn’t require your strong hand to reposition after cocking the revolver.
